Operation Dolphin Drop

Airline Stops Flying Dolphins

Animal Rights – Hong Kong Airlines has agreed to stop the transfer of live dolphins on its cargo planes after more than 6,400 people signed an online petition last week.

The public outcry came after the airline admitted to flying five live dolphins from Osaka, Japan to Hanoi, Vietnam on January 16.

“Since it is believed that transportation of this nature can result in endangering wildlife elsewhere, Hong Kong Airlines will immediately ban shipments of this kind,” the company said in a statement to animal welfare groups Wednesday.

A leaked internal memo showed a photo of the dolphins in narrow plastic berths on the plane and heralded airline staffers for the $100,000 earned by transferring the marine mammals.

Because the plane originated in Osaka, it is widely believed that the dolphins were from Taiji, the area featured in the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, where thousands of dolphins are captured and slaughtered every year.

The documentary also articulated that the hunters occasionally sell live dolphins to international buyers.

Hong Kong Airlines refused to disclose where the dolphins came from or were sent, but many sources indicate they have been placed in an aquarium or theme park in northern Vietnam.

Read more at the Times Live.