On J u l y 4 , wh i l eAme r i c ans c e l ebrat edIndependenc e Da y, ad o l p h i n a t O k i n a w aChuraumi Aquarium inJapan made her own bidfor freedom. Kuru, a typeof dolphin known as a falsekiller whale, was caughton video escaping the tankduring a show. In perhaps the most heart-wrenching part of the scene, therest of her pod gathers, distressed, to look on while the trainers hose Kurudown and wrap her in mats to lift her back into the tank with a crane.

Apparently, this kind of thing happens from time to time at Churaumi,which is why they have mats close-at-hand around the pool. Hideshi Teruya,the manager of the park’s dolphin section, said, “It was playing around andjumped out by accident from the momentum.” It sure didn’t look like amiscalculated leap or accidental tumble—you can see her nosing over theedge several times before she makes the jump onto the pavement.

Ric O’Barry, star of the The Cove, the Oscar-winning documentaryabout the annual slaughter ofdolphins in the Japanese village ofTaiji, had a very different take onthe dolphin’s behavior than Teruya.

“The habitat of that false killerwhale is so unnatural it leaped outin desperation. It wanted to end it.

Why does a person jump out of abuilding?”

Was it a suicide attempt? It’s possible—there are stories of suicide inthe animal world. O’Barry himself has seen depressed dolphin behaviorbefore. In his pre-activist days, he was a trainer on the popular televisionshow, Flipper. He says that one of the dolphins he worked with on the showcommitted suicide. “She came into my arms and looked me right in the eye,took a breath and didn’t take another one. I let her go and she sank straightdown on her belly to the bottom of the tank.”

This latest jump is just further proof that keeping marine mammals incaptivity is cruel. They need more out of life than swimming in circles anddoing a few flips a day to amuse a human audience. O’Barry says, “Theyare free-ranging creatures with a very large brain. They’re self-aware andputting them in a small tank in a stadium setting is abusive.”

Teruya says Kuru only suffered minor scratches and bruises on herhead and fin, but she has a healthy appetite and is doing fine. Well, exceptfor continuing to living her life in a glorified bathtub.