Nature series Our Big Blue Backyard drew one complaint to media watchdog that it should not have given the program a G, or general, classification
[…] In the offending scene, a female dolphin is targeted by a pack of male dolphins that mate with her.
“She’s trapped at the surface, and the males take turns. Once they’ve all mated with her, they leave her alone,” the narrator says, accompanied by underwater footage of the encounter and dramatic music.
The BSA said the footage included “the male dolphins swarming around the female with their genitalia visible, and at one point a male visibly entered the female … accompanied by audio of dolphin cries”.
Other coverage:
- The Telegraph: New Zealand broadcaster reprimanded over ‘brutal’ dolphin mating scene
- RNZ: Drama and tension in dolphin mating documentary scene upset child viewers
- Stuff: Documentary featuring dolphins mating exposed children to potential harm - BSA
- The Spinoff: Nature doco breached BSA guidelines by showing ‘distressing’ dolphin pursuit
- Broadcasting Standards Authority press release: Incorrectly Classified Wildlife Programme Exposed Children To Potential Harm
I just went and watched it. Would not recommend. Dolphin gang rape is not pleasant. I was laughing before, but I 100% agree with the BSA - not “G”.
If you’ve got the same disturbing curiosity as me though, it’s the last segment of this episode, starting at about 38:40.
Wait till they find out about ducks…
It amazes me that ducks are literally in an arms race to make their species unable to reproduce.
This sounds like it could be interesting. Please do explain! I have zero knowledge of duck mating habits.
I don’t have any personal experience of duck mating either, but from what I understand, the females kept developing longer and twisted vaginal canals, leading to male ducks having a penis that looks like a corkscrew. Plenty of images on google to wow your coworkers!
Basically correct, here’s a really good explanation for more detail:
Thanks but I think I’ll be ok not clicking that link. It’s nothing personal, I hope you understand. I really appreciate you taking the time to find that information for me though.
🤣
Thanks for the information, I really appreciate it. My first thought was “what the fuck”. That was also my second and third thoughts.
Evolutionary speaking, just fucking what though…
As I understand it the problem isn’t that they broadcast a dolphin raping scene, the problem is that they gave the programme a “G” rating.
Yeah… This is DEFINITELY not g rated. Violence is one thing, ie animals eating each other to survive. Sexual violence is completely different. ‘seemingly brutal assault’ would not be my choice of words, tvnz. No context was given either, like, is this a big problem? Does it happen often? Is this normal? Does it affect the dolphins?
Definitely a gross thing to broadcast. How do they decide on content ratings? I sort of assumed it was done by the government.
I think for TV, the broadcaster is responsible for setting the content rating. And they’re answerable to the BSA if they get it wrong, which is what this is about. But don’t quote me on that.
