Prosecutor: No illegal sex with dolphins took place at Dolfinarium

No criminal case will be pursued against workers at the Dolfinarium in Harderwijk after an accusation was made alleging a lurid sex crime was perpetrated against a dolphin there, the eastern Netherlands public prosecutor’s office announced on Friday. The investigators determined that no criminal act took place following the broadcast of a video showing a dolphin being masturbated by a human.

“The sexual act with the dolphin is performed in the context of training the dolphin for the release of sperm as part of a breeding program,” the prosecutor said in a statement. “The act was conducted by a scientist in the context of scientific research that focuses on this breeding program.”

Abuse of the dolphin was alleged by television program Rambam. The video footage was obtained by a Rambam worker who got an internship at the Dolfinarium. In addition to claiming illicit sexual crimes against the mammals took place, the program alleged that the dolphins are kept in small tanks for lengthy stretches of time with over-chlorinated water.

The facility operates officially as a zoo, but the television show says it is run more like a circus.

Following the broadcast, animal rights political party PvdD provincial leader Leonie Vestering filed a criminal declaration against the Dolfinarium, prompting the prosecutor’s investigation.