Beluga whales at an aquarium near Tokyo are learning how to paint
pictures as part of an autumn art programme for visitors, an
official said Wednesday.
The sea creatures at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium in
Yokohama will be showing off their skills with specially adapted
paintbrushes that they can hold in their mouths, a spokeswoman for
the aquarium said.
A trainer standing on the poolside dips the brush into paint and
guides the belugas to produce pictures that bear a passing
resemblance to natural scenes.
"This is part of our 'geijutsu no aki (autumn, the best season for
art),'" she said.
"The ideal is that a beluga will emulate what we've prepared for
one of our customers to hold -- a fish-shaped paper cutout -- of
course trainers will guide the whale to do that," she said.
"We'll see how well they manage."
Two female belugas will demonstrate their new skills in rotation
once every weekday and twice a day at weekends, she said.
The beluga, also known as the white whale, is on the red list of
threatened species published by the International Union for
Conservation of Nature.
Some activists object to the training of whales and dolphins for
aquarium shows and Japan is frequently the target of complaints
over its attitude to animals, particularly the annual slaughter of
dolphins in the western town of Taiji.
