Beluga whales are to showcase their painting skill for Japan aquarium visitors, Yahoo! reported Wednesday.
An official said that the beluga whales are currently under training on how to paint pictures for an autumn art program an aquarium near Tokyo is planning to present to its visitors.
The beautiful and smart sea creatures at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium in Yokohama are expected to showcase their painting skill using specially-designed paintbrushes they can hold and manipulate through their mouths, according to an aquarium spokeswoman.
Yahoo! reported that throughout the session, a trainer will remain standing on the poolside, and he will be tasked to dip the brush into paint from time to time, as well as guide the beluga whales in creating their artsy paintings that are said to resemble natural scenes.
"This is part of our 'geijutsu no aki (autumn, the best season for art),'" the spokeswoman 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, adding, "We'll see how well they manage."
According to her, two female belugas have been assigned to demonstrate their new skill after the training has been completed. They will be performing live for the visitors in rotation every weekday and twice a day during weekends.
Beluga whales, commonly known as white whales, are included in the red list of threatened or endangered species published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Activists who found out about the said training, strongly objects it, claiming that Japan is known as the target of complaints over its attitude towards animals especially to whales and dolphins in aquarium shows. They also cited the annual slaughter of dolphins in the western town of Taiji as a serious threat to the said seas creatures.
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