The Ten Million Dollar Dolphin

Ok, strictly speaking it was "yen" not "dollars". But there is more than enough reason to be afraid. The Japanese are turning their backs on the human race and are joining up with the Animal Uprising™. They are assisting in the creation of bionic dolphins!

Fuji's handlers at the Churaumi Aquarium in Japan's southern most island of Okinawa say the fake tail may have saved her life as she had put on dangerous amounts of weight from being inactive after she lost her tail.

"Because she was not exercising enough (after her tail was amputated) she gained weight and from blood samples we took we realized that her cholesterol levels were too high. We then were afraid that this might trigger other diseases so we had to come up with something," handler Masaya Koami said.

The tail was custom made for Fuji by a friend of the handler who works at Japan's leading tire company Bridgestone.

The rubber prosthetic device is slightly smaller than the tail of a dolphin of Fuji's size. It is made of material used for Formula One race car tires and the black silicon rubber was reinforced with artificial bone made of carbon-fiber.

Bridgestone spent ¥10 million on the the thing. So next time you go for a swim in the ocean, if an overweight semi-mechanical dolphin gets you, don't say we didn't warn you.