richard o’barry sues japanese aquarium that has a baby albino dolphin in captivity

In the 1960s, Richard O’Barry captured and trained dolphins to perform tricks. In 1970, on the first Earth Day, O’Barry launched the Dolphin Project, a campaign against the dolphin captivity industry. Over the past 40 years, O’Barry has rescued and released more than 25 captive dolphins.

O’Barry is also a leading voice in the fight to end dolphin hunts. He’s one of the activists featured in the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, which follows a covert mission to expose the annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, Japan. According to an article posted this morning, O’Barry is now suing an aquarium in Taiji for denying him entry:

The lawsuit filed by former dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry says the Taiji Whale Museum refuses entry to Western-looking people who want to check on a baby albino dolphin it has in captivity. … Katsuki Hayashi, who heads the aquarium, says it routinely denies entry to non-Japanese activists, such as members of Sea Shepherd, who come annually to protest the town’s dolphin hunts.