ANIMAL rights groups in Japan have raised the alarm over a dolphin, 46 penguins and hundreds of fish and reptiles that are locked in an aquarium that has been closed for months.

The bottle-nosed dolphin, known as Honey, is being kept on her own in a small pool and is showing signs of mental stress, activists say.

The Inubosaki Marine Park, in the city of Choshi, just east of Tokyo, shut down in January because of a lack of visitors.

Park staff continue to feed the marine life at the aquarium.

But with no companions, Honey — who was captured from the wild in 2005 — is condemned to a lonely existence.

Choshi City’s tourism office said it had received nearly 1,400 letters and emails urging help for Honey but that it has no right to interfere in the workings of a private company so it cannot help.

Shunichi Sugasawa, of the Chiba Prefecture hygiene control division, said an inspection last week found the dolphin and 46 penguins were alive and healthy, while the number of other fish had halved. The inspectors reported that Honey’s wounds had nearly healed after being given medicine.  (SD-Agencies)