The whereabouts of two released dolphins are still unknown, casting doubt whether it was appropriate to free them after some 20 years of captivation.

Two Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins were released in to the wildness at waters off Jeju Island last July. The two dolphins, caught in the late 1990s by fishing nets, were sent to a zoo in Seoul, to perform dolphin shows. 


The authorities are failing to keep track of the two dolphins, not knowing whether they are dead or alive, even though 150 days have passed since they were set free.

For the dolphins that were released before, the authorities observed that they joined wild fleets in five to 16 days. 


There were worries at the time of the release that the two dolphins would not adopt to the ocean, considering that they were in captivation for 20 years, fourfold of the other released dolphins.

Experts suspect that the dolphins might have moved to a different region or died, unable to adopt to the wildness.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)