Why we care if dolphins die

Turtles? Whales? Sea lions? They might fascinate us, but few creatures inspire the devotion that dolphins do. Maybe it's because zoologists consider them one of the most intelligent animals or perhaps it's because they just look so friendly.

Perhaps we feel an affinity for dolphins because they are warm-blooded mammals like us. Dolphins birth one calf at a time. And let's be honest - those little guys are insanely cute!

Our connection to these marine creatures leads us to feel protective. Dolphin hunts, which are a tradition in the Japanese fishing town of Taiji, have repeatedly provoked protest from around the world. Here, fishermen drive a group of dolphins into a bay and kill them.

Dolphins navigate the waters using sonar signals. The fishermen bang steel pipes together under the water to disorient the animals and herd them into the bay. An entire group can be captured this way, since they travel together in schools.

Dolphin hunts turn Taiji's waters a deep red color. In order to attract less attention, the fishermen now stab the dolphins through the head with a metal rod and then seal the exit wound with a cork to prevent bleeding.

Many of the dolphins are killed for their meat. Dolphins are dished up for eager buyers around the world. A bottlenose dolphin goes for $150,000 (111,520 euros) while a rare albino dolphin calf will sell for as much as $500,000.

Bottlenose dolphins are very popular in marine entertainment shows. They learn fast and are crowd pleasers. But they suffer depression and die extremely young when kept in captivity. They may look like they are smiling, but they are not.

Dolphins have large, complex brains and have excellent communication and cognitive skills. But audiences are usually oblivious to the documented suffering of these marine performers.

Dolphins are popular performers. Here we see a shot from the German hit film 'The Dolphin Miracle.' But are they happy when captured and used this way? Reports say that during the filming of the famous television series 'Flipper', one of the dolphins committed suicide. His trainer, Richard O’Barry, has since become an advocate for dolphin rights.

Dolphins are also used by the US military to defuse mines or even place mines on enemy ships. These wily creatures look so friendly and harmless that they are seldom seen as a security threat.