Japanese media has reported that at least one
Japanese media has reported that at least one man was taken to hospital on Thursday after being bitten on Koshino Beach near Fukui. The first man was seeing grappling with the dolphin in shocking footage. He tried to escape but the dolphin chased and then bit him.
Two more swimmers have been bitten by what is believed to be the same dolphin responsible for attacks on at least six tourists at a Japanese beach resort.

Japanese media has reported that at least one man was taken to hospital on Thursday after being bitten on Koshino Beach near Fukui.

One man was bitten on both arms and the back of his hand on Thursday morning. Another attack then occurred in the afternoon where a second man suffered injuries to both fingers on his left hand.

In recent days footage has emerged in Japanese media showing apparent attacks on swimmers in and around the Koshino beach area.

In one, a man is seen grappling with a dolphin, whose fin is seen popping up out of the water as it becomes hostile. He tries to escape but the dolphin chases and then bites him.

Attacks have also occurred on other beaches in Fukui, with another video surfacing online in which people gather along the shore to watch dolphins swimming on Takanosu beach and a man is chased by them and has to run away.


Meanwhile, according to Japanese officials, at least six related previous attacks at Koshino Beach are believed to have been caused by the same dolphin which attacked the two men yesterday.

In another attack, swimmers were bitten after they tried to take a photograph with the animal.

And a separate girl was set upon by the dolphin and bled after it gnawed on her left ankle.


The man was bitten on both arms and the back of his hand on Thursday morning. It is believed that the same dolphin is responsible for at least six previous attacks on the same beach
The man was bitten on both arms and the back of his hand on Thursday morning. It is believed that the same dolphin is responsible for at least six previous attacks on the same beach
Despite the gentle nature of most dolphins, it is not uncommon for them to be hostile towards swimmers.

Due to the influx in dolphin attacks at the same beach, officials have now installed ultrasonic transmitters along the beach to hopefully deter them from the area.

There have also been warnings to swimmers about the dangers posed by dolphins, who have been told to avoid them if they spot them in the water.

Local media has said that dolphins in the area are now used to human interaction and have been seen in water as shallow as knee-deep.

Elsewhere in the world, while dolphin attacks are rare, they are not unheard of.

This is despite the suggestion from scientists that wild bottlenose dolphins find swimming alongside humans 'stressful' because they have found evidence that it disrupts their behavioural routines.

There were consecutive attacks in Ireland in 2013 in the space of ten days by the same dolphin, in which two women were attacked and one suffered a broken rib.

Also in Ireland, a year later, five swimmers were rescued off the coast when they were cornered by an aggressive dolphin.

Dolphins are also occasionally very violent towards sea creatures. Once, a bottlenose dolphin was seen flipping a porpoise into the air in a forceful attack.