In fact, the dogfish at the Toba Aquarium doesn’t even attack the other critters in its surroundings, including a Japanese spider crab, the “star” of the gloomy tank. For 30 years ...

Japan was once home to dozens of the cute mammals ... 15-year-old Kira and 18-year-old May, both female, in Toba Aquarium in Mie Prefecture; and 16-year-old male Riro in Marine World in Fukuoka.

They dive as deep as 30 metres to collect abalone, shells and agar-agar.After World War II there were 6109 ama divers in the area; today about 1300 still live and work in the region."Young women don't ...