‘Freddie the dolphin hooked my arm with his penis, it was all perfectly normal’: How bizarre scandal erupted over animal activist’s alleged abuse in 1990

An animal rights activist’s whole world was turned upside down when a boatload of onlookers told police he was seeing a dolphin masturbating underwater.

In the late 1980s, Alan Cooper was best known in the North East as a passionate animal rights activist.

Using flyers in phone booths and marches, he had tried to rally unemployed miners to turn to veganism and fight against dolphinariums – whose shows he likened to the slave trade.

So when a bottlenose dolphin named Freddie went into the sea at Amble – a small village on the Northumberland coast – he formed a special bond with the aquatic mammal and spent hours in the water with him.

And Alan Cooper thought the animal hooking his arm or leg with his penis was ‘completely normal’ when they went swimming.

But in 1990, his reputation as a committed animal activist quickly turned upside down when he was accused of inappropriately touching Freddie.

It came after an ill-fated boat full of spectators – including Flamingo Land dolphinarium Peter Bloom – spotted the pair swimming together in the harbour.

Cooper’s lawyers would later claim that Bloom encouraged the group to file a police report that would bring about his downfall.

A police statement from Mr Bloom said that while talking to people on the boat he said: ‘You don’t come close, he’s taking the dolphin away.’

Detailing the event, Cooper wrote on his website that Freddie acted like his “normal self,” revealing that it was “completely normal” for the dolphin to hook his penis to his arm and leg.

He says the police couldn’t keep a straight face when they confronted him with the accusation during interrogation.

The animal activist – who swam in the harbor with Freddie for hours – subsequently discovered that his relationship with the animal would have an adverse effect on him.

He continues: ‘Only later, when I received the police statements, did I realize the opposite.’

All eyes were on Cooper when the alleged mammal incident caught the attention of the national press.

Despite being found not guilty when the case came to a Crown Court, the consequences for him were devastating: he was accused of abusing the animal he had fought to protect.

More than three decades after the wild dolphin sex scandal occurred in the 1990s, the incident, as well as Mr Cooper, have become the main subject of a six-part podcast series entitled ‘Hooked On Freddie’.

Becky Milligan, a journalist and podcast host, has brought the topic back to the fore.

It comes more than twenty years after she swam with Freddie herself in 1990 when she made her first documentary during her studies about swimming with dolphins boosting your mental health.

Animal activist Alan Cooper and bottlenose dolphin Freddie spent hours swimming together in the harbour. Because of their close relationship, he thought the dolphin was his ‘normal self’ when he wrapped his penis around his arm or leg (stock image)

Milligan elaborated on the damaging impact of the allegations, describing them as “the most damaging thing” for the animal rights activist, whose sole purpose in life was to care for animals and help people.

She said the guard: ‘It’s hard to express what that did to him, to be accused of abusing what you’re trying to protect.’

The journalist explained that podcast listeners would be able to make their own decision about what happened off the Northumberland coast that day.

The head of the podcast at Wondery, Rich Knight, described the story as “extraordinary” and “joyfully uplifting,” but also called it “very moving.”

He told The mirror: ‘It’s about a magical friendship between species and a bitter rivalry between humans.

‘At its core it is a story about how we should treat wild animals.’

The first two episodes of ‘Hooked On Freddie’ – created by Blanchard House and Wondery – are available to listen to on Wondery and alternative streaming platforms