Source: www.pbs.org

People living in the Solomon Islands have long relied on the sea for resources. Dolphins were hunted mostly for their teeth, which were seen as valuable, and to a lesser extent, their meat. The method used is also dolphin drive hunting, and the hunting season usually lasts from December to April.

In the early 2000s, international dolphin traffickers started exploiting these dolphin hunts and began paying for the capture of live bottlenose dolphins. The low incomes on the Islands further fueled  this lucrative trade. In fact, the dolphins in Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore, were exported from the Solomon Islands.

In 2005, a ban was imposed on the export of dolphins, but this ban was later lifted in 2007 by a court decision. In 2010, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed, the islanders would be paid to stop hunting dolphins. However, the agreement broke down due to disputes regarding payment, and the hunting resumed in 2013 and continued into early 2014.