The cruel truth behind dolphin shows; held captive and abused. All for money and fame.
By: Praew 9.2
From the view of the bleachers, you can see the dolphins twist and turn gracefully into the air. The tricks and jumps are mesmerizing, and the crowd fills the air with laughter and delight. But it isn’t the same for the fellow performers. Behind the smiles of these dolphins, they are going through agony and pain. Not only are these dolphinariums killing these dolphins with their neglectful conditions, but they are also endangering the world’s species of dolphins. The dolphins are not doing this because they want to. They are doing this because they were captured, forced to perform those seemingly wonderful tricks. As the number of tourists and people visiting these merciless dolphinariums continues to increase, there seems to be a rise in ignorance towards the pain these creatures feel. They don’t know how these shows are affecting the well-being of dolphins. These wild species deserve to thrive and live in the oceans where they belong, NOT in tanks.
Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) are found worldwide, commonly residing in rich and shallow seas. They are distributed over great ranges. Bottlenose dolphins were most commonly captured from the species of cetaceans. The dolphins that you see in tanks were inhumanely and heartlessly abducted from their families in the wild. The homes of these dolphins exceed the range of 100 square km and regularly dive 55m deep while hunting. When compared to wildlife conditions, it is clearly impossible to provide adequate conditions in limited captivity areas. The show itself is performed in shallow waters which made the dolphins viewable from every angle. Just like us, these dolphins need privacy. In the world of dolphin shows, that right seemed to be non-existent. Even worse, when the dolphins aren’t performing, they are held in even SMALLER areas. Confining the dolphins together in unnaturally close proximity has caused enormous amounts of stress which often result in aggression against each other. The owners of these shows claim that it is for ‘education’ which abruptly struck controversy between firm believers of this barbarous cruelty.
In addition to that, these dolphinariums offer the opportunity for people to swim with these poor creatures. They are able to touch them and pet them which results in distress. Most of these dolphins held in captivity die prematurely. In a tragic case of a bottlenose dolphin called ‘Duncan’. He had never had the chance to live naturally. He never had the chance to live in a pod and was shipped to various parks in different locations for the sake of our entertainment. Death is when he was finally free.
Stress that has been created regularly comes from limited space, unfamiliar groupings, water quality, sun exposure, and a LIFETIME of training. When put into unfamiliar groupings, communication between the dolphins is almost impossible. Some dolphins have shown self-destructive behaviors, showing signs of depression and self-harming by repeatedly smashing their heads against tank enclosures. They were robbed at any chance to live a natural life. Dolphinariums limit the opportunity for dolphins to exhibit natural behaviors, the amount of food they receive- as they always need to leave room for them to keep them performing tricks in order to receive more- and sexual reproduction which some even use artificial insemination, a procedure done manually to achieve pregnancy.
The saddest part about this is that there are still people who aren’t aware of this and continuously visit these dolphinariums in Thailand and other countries. Many countries have been taking action to stop this animal cruelty. It should be time for this to come to an end. We need to stop dolphin hunts. Dolphin pods should no longer be taken apart. Dolphins belong in the ocean, not tanks.
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