In this operation six aquariums took a total of 26 bottle-nosed dolphins, while two facilities obtained a total of six false killer whales. Shimoda Kaichu Aquarium and Izu Mito Sea Paradise obtained both species. The order in which aquariums chose dolphins on this occasion was apparently decided by drawing lots, while the selecting and moving of dolphins wee done individually for each aquarium. In other words, once the procedure was finished for one aquarium, the dolphins that remained in the enclosure of fishing boats and nets were released into the harbor, after which 30-odd dolphins were again rounded up from among the whole group using loud noises, boats, and nets, which was repeated for each facility. As mentioned before, the surrounded dolphins were of course in a state of panic, and gradually sustain more injuries in their quest for an escape route because they crash themselves into boat hulls and the wall, become entangled in nets, and scrape their underbellies on the rocky bottom in shallows.
Dolphins also collide forcefully with one another as they flee about.
The water therefore gradually becomes red with the blood of dolphins. Because many aquariums were involved, and because they all wanted uninjured females from 1.5 to 2 meters in length, those appearing to be the best were chased around the harbor many times. Owing to this repeated chasing and surrounding with nets, as well as the panic it caused, many dolphins were exhausted and sank to the harbor bottom. Further, on October 30 the two aquariums that had bought the false killer whales returned their total of six to the ocean at Futo, although there were considerable problems with the way it was done. Nevertheless, no matter what the course of events leading to the return, and the way it was done, the release of the captured dolphins by fishermen who themselves removed the nets, and the return of false killer whales that had once been taken to aquariums, are the first such occurrences in Japan.