World Sailing ‘disappointed’ over Japan dolphin show

The world sailing federation voiced disappointment on Tuesday after a dolphin show was held at an Olympic test event near Tokyo, sparking criticism.

The dolphin display was part of opening ceremonies for the World Cup series on Enoshima island on Sunday, which hundreds of athletes and officials attended.

The event drew criticism, including from British yachtsman Luke Patience, who won a silver medal at the London 2012 Games.

“Couldn’t be more embarrassed with what I’m witnessing. We are sailors, and apparently a ‘green’ sport,” he wrote on Twitter, with a photo apparently depicting the dolphin show.

He later tweeted, “I was shocked when World Sailing took us to a dolphin aquarium for an opening ceremony. As a sport, I hope we can show more morality than this.”

World Sailing, the sport’s governing body, said in a statement it was “disappointed” that the opening events included a dolphin display, which animal rights activists say is cruel exploitation. “World Sailing does not condone displays of this nature and apologizes for the misjudgment and any offense caused,” said the statement.

It said that all ceremonyrelated content must be preapproved, but “no such approval was given nor sought” from the organizing committee for the show.

“As part of World Sailing’s Sustainability Agenda 2030, there are specific targets linked to marine life,” said the statement. “One of which is to mitigate negative impacts sailing can have on marine cetaceans by 2020 by producing guidance, as necessary, which will be provided to our event partners to ensure this does not happen again.”

The news came a day after officials said there had been major progress in preparations at Enoshima for Tokyo 2020. A World Sailing official said that they had “really seen a big change” since April when the federation criticized Tokyo 2020 for being behind schedule.