Dolphin trainer of 'Flipper' arrested during protest of Japan's dolphin hunting season

Animal rights advocate Ric O'Barry, known for training the five dolphins used in Flipper, has been arrested in Taiji after participating in a demonstration against the Japan's dolphin hunting season.

MUNTINLUPA CITY, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - Ric O'Barry, 75, was arrested in Japan for allegedly failing to carry his passport and for drinking and driving, despite passing the breathalyzer test.

O'Barry was in Taiji, Japan to protest the kickoff of the annual and controversial beginning of dolphin season. Every year, dolphins are corralled in an area near the bay and are butchered by the hunt's participants.

In other parts of Asia, movements against the slaughter and capture of dolphins are also being hosted. In the Japanese Embassy located in Pasay City, south of the Philippines' capital Manila, protestors held cards expressing their outrage against the event. A dolphin mascot led the march towards the Japanese Embassy.

O'Barry has been a very active animal rights advocate and was known as Flipper's trainer during the show's run back in 1960. He was arrested after failing to carry his passport with him during the protest.

According to police, they "had a report that he was drinking alcohol and driving, so officers were dispatched to find him and check his breath."

O'Barry's breath did smell of alcohol, however he is reported to have passed the breathalyzer test.

It is uncertain whether O'Barry will face charges, but he will not be held for more than two days in police custody. However, he might be required to pay a fine of 100,000 yen or $830.

Police have dispatched more officers to control possible disputes against protestors and locals as the dolphin hunt draws near. Immigration officers have already denied the entrance of anti-whaling demonstrators in the country.

The activist originally hunted and trained dolphins, but realized dolphins kept in captivity died several years earlier than they would in the wild. Outraged that the dolphins were dying, O'Barry stopped hunting and became an activist and participated in the Oscar-award winning documentary The Cove.

The film caught world-wide attention and outed Japan's annual Dolphin hunt. Although the hunt this year has been pushed back due to unforgiving weather, animal welfare activists are still fighting against the tradition that begins every year on September 1.

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