The Dolphin Hunters

We join an annual tribal dolphin hunt in the Solomon Islands and ask whether this ancient practice should be stopped.



In a remote Pacific paradise in the Solomon Islands, a village continues a centuries-old tradition that has sparked outrage around the world. They hunt and kill dolphins, often hundreds at a time.

101 East's Drew Ambrose is the first television reporter to meet the community of Fanalei since they revived the controversial practice in 2013.

The village tribesmen say they hunt the marine mammals for their meat and teeth to pay for wedding dowries, easing the impact of rising sea levels on crops and livelihoods.

For two years, the Earth Island Institute, an environmental charity, persuaded villagers to stop hunting dolphins by promising direct cash payments and alternative work programmes worth up to $400,000 to Fanalei and two other villages, a huge windfall in the Solomons.