NAGOYA, JAPAN — A bottlenose dolphin calf at an aquarium has died four days after birth, and cetacean experts suspect her mother, Lulu, may have killed her to spare her a life in captivity.

Life for Lulu, a bottlenose dolphin at the Nagoya aquarium in Japan, has been wrought with suffering. Years ago, she was captured during the annual dolphin slaughter in the Taiji Cove, while her family members were stabbed, gutted, and murdered in the waters around her. Ever since, she’s been put on display at the Nagoya aquarium for the entertainment of tourists.

On September 24th, Lulu gave birth to her first calf. While dolphins are known to be very caring with their young, this case was very different. After only four days, the baby calf was found dead in the water, rake marks covering her body.

Officials at the Marine Mammal Project are reporting the murder may very well have been a desperate attempt by Lulu to spare her child the horrendous life she’s been enslaved to endure. It’s difficult to say for certain what her reasons were, but infanticide among wild dolphins is incredibly rare.