Photo/Illutration A sign warns beachgoers against petting dolphins at beaches in Fukui Prefecture. Dolphin sightings are not rare as some migrate to the Sea of Japan while others live there year-round. Photo taken on July 26, 2022 (Keibu Horikawa)

FUKUI--Bathers here are being warned not to approach dolphins after a flurry of reports of swimmers being bitten by the mammals, resulting in slight injuries.

Authorities in this city facing the Sea of Japan are preparing to install devices at some beaches that emit ultrasonic sound waves to keep the creatures at bay.

Police turned to social media to urge bathers to remain alert when they are in the water.

A report of a dolphin attack reached the city’s Fire Department around 8 a.m. on July 24.

“A man in his 40s was bitten,” said the woman who called, adding that she was near the victim.

The attack took place off Koshino beach, about 20 kilometers west of the center of the prefectural capital.

According to the Fire Department, the victim suffered a light injury to the wrist.

But it was not the only reported dolphin incident that day. Other attacks also occurred at the same beach on July 24, local officials said.

The Fire Department was also alerted to a dolphin attack that resulted in a person being bitten at Koshino beach earlier this month.

The incidents came after local officials tasked with managing the beach put up warning signs that read, “Never touch dolphins” following sightings by the public of dolphins swimming in shallow waters before Koshino beach opened for the season.

Dolphins were also spotted at the city's Takasu beach, located more than 10 km to the northeast of Koshino beach.

Local officials deployed buoys fitted with transmitters for ultrasound waves to protect bathers from dolphins after Takasu beach opened to the public on July 8.

Marine experts say it is not unusual for dolphins to come close to beaches.

The mammals inhabit a range of waters around Japan, according to Tetsuya Matsuoka, who manages the Notojima Aquarium in Nanao in neighboring Ishikawa Prefecture.

Some of them seasonally migrate to waters in the Sea of Japan, while others apparently remain in the same area throughout the year.

“People have this image of dolphins as cute creatures, but they are wild animals after all,” Matsuoka said. “You should not go near them or touch them because they have sharp teeth.”

(This article was written by Kenji Oda and Keibu Horikawa.)



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