‘Naked and Afraid’ survivalist films himself eating a dead baby dolphin

A survivalist on The Discovery Channel’s “Naked and Afraid” is facing backlash after filming a video of himself eating a dead baby dolphin washed up on Aliso Beach in California.

The video shows Golding slicing the dolphin open to see if there was plastic inside its body, according to Media Entertainment Arts WorldWide. He then says that he doesn’t want the “poor creature” to go to waste.

“I’m a scavenger on ‘Naked and Afraid’ and I’m going to live up to what I do,” Golding said, according to the Orange County Register. “I’m going to eat dolphin heart and I guess I’ll eat what you call dolphin back scrap. I don’t want it to go to waste. [...] I’m going to nourish myself with it.”

Golding then takes pieces of dolphin, including its heart, and begins grilling and eating it. He says that it tastes“definitely gamey,” according to MEAWW.

The video footage wasn’t a filmed segment for “Naked and Afraid” or aired on the Discovery Channel.

Laguna Beach Lifeguards and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are investigating whether Golding violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act, according to the OC Register. The act makes makes taking “marine mammals in U.S. waters” illegal, according US Fish and Wildlife Services.

“The Humane Society of the United States strongly condemns the alleged conduct of a Naked and Afraid contestant who was recently seen apparently slicing into the body of a dead dolphin on a California beach,” Sabrina Ashjian, California State Director of the Humane Society of the US, told Fox 11 in a statement. “Not only is eating a dead marine mammal disturbing, but it is also potentially illegal.”

This story was updated to clarify that the video was not aired on Discovery Channel and that Golding was a survivalist on ‘Naked And Afraid,’ and not a host.

This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 9:54 AM with the headline "‘Naked and Afraid’ survivalist films himself eating a dead baby dolphin."