TOKYO • The plight of a lonely dolphin and dozens of penguins that have been abandoned in a derelict aquarium in Japan since the start of the year sparked protests this week, with activists and ordinary Japanese alike calling for the animals to be saved.

The female bottlenose dolphin, nicknamed Honey, was captured in 2005 near Taiji, a western port town that has become notorious for its annual dolphin hunt that was featured in the Oscar-winning 2009 documentary The Cove, reports say.

The practice of Japanese aquariums buying dolphins from Taiji came under heavy criticism following the release of the film. The hunt involves driving hundreds of dolphins into a cove, where some are taken alive for sale to marine parks, while others are killed for meat.

The Japan Association of Zoos and Aquariums has since agreed to stop buying dolphins from Taiji.

The operator of the Inubosaki Marine Park Aquarium in the city of Choshi in Chiba prefecture, just east of Tokyo, shuttered the facility in January, citing a decline in visitors.

Honey and 46 penguins, along with hundreds of fish and reptiles, remain at the aquarium, an official with the Chiba prefectural health and welfare department said.

News of the abandoned animals spread quickly over social media, with Twitter users posting photos captioned "Save Honey".

A resort hotel's offer to give them a new home sparked a flood of retweets. "I beg the authorities to get in close contact with each other and push ahead with this," wrote one Twitter user.

REUTERS