Undercover Video Reveals Brutal Dolphin Slaughter in Peru

An undercover investigation by several marine life conservation groups has revealed dolphins in Peru being indiscriminately slaughtered by fishermen for shark bait.

An undercover video published by the UK-based investigative agency Ecostorm and The Ecologist magazine reveals Peruvian fishermen spearing dolphins and dismembering them while they are still alive. The video (below) reveals a live dolphin being stripped of its skin, which the fishermen slice into strips and bait onto fishing hooks used to catch sharks.

Stefan Austermuhle, executive director of Mundo Azul, a Peru-based conservation group, has said an estimated 10,000 dolphins are killed in a similar fashion each year by long-line shark-fishing fleets in Peru.

In the video, a shark caught with the dolphin flesh is shown having part of its face sliced off by a knife before being gutted on the floor of the boat, revealing a litter of shark pups that come spilling out of its belly. The fishermen make no attempt to save the shark pups, which could have been easily done by tossing them overboard.

The Peruvian government is not ignoring the issue, according to the marine conservation group BlueVoice, which reported that officials in Peru have expressed a willingness to create a plan to end the dolphin slaughter, which is already illegal under Peruvian law.

"Government officials and the national media say they consider the revelation of the dolphin killing to be a huge national embarrassment," BlueVoice wrote in a news release.

Hardy Jones, executive director of BlueVoice, said Peruvian officials must act quickly or risk villianizing themselves as more people learn of the dolphin slaughter.

"If the government in Lima doesn't act immediately and forcefully Peru may eclipse Japan as the world's villain when it comes to the slaughter of dolphins," Jones said.

Austermuhle said reining in the shark fishing industry is likely the most effective way of ending the dolphin slaughter in Peru. As long as they fish sharks on the high sea they will kill dolphins, said Austermuhle, who supports a ban on shark fishing until there is sufficient evidence that shark populations have rebounded, too.

"The existing data is enough to declare an immediate and unlimited shark fishing ban till scientific studies show the recuperation of the population," he said.

The video below contains disturbing content. Viewer discretion is advised.