What can we do to stop the brutal dolphin hunts?
Every year, 1,700 dolphins are hunted and captured for marine parks around the world. Closer examines the cruelty of the tradition...
In the wild, dolphins roam the world’s oceans, swimming up to 60 miles a day in tight-knit family groups, communicating with each other through squeaks, whistles and clicks – a form of language so intelligent that scientists have debated whether it’s as sophisticated as humans’.
But tragically, thousands of bottlenose dolphins will spend their lifetime languishing in chemically treated pools or small, polluted sea pens in marine parks across the world, forced to entertain tourists.
Last week, TOWIE star Gemma Collins campaigned alongside PETA, urging all marine parks to release captive animals. The animal lover posed nude in a bath to highlight dolphins’ cramped tanks –with the slogan, “Could you spend your life in a bathtub?”
Gemma said, “I am absolutely distraught every day by what
I am seeing on social platforms about how animals are being treated.
“When we see all these cutesy videos… it’s a wild animal taken from its mother in the wild – all to live their life in a bathtub.
“This isn’t acceptable – people are making money off of parading these animals. These animals should be free. Let’s campaign to get all of the marine life into a sanctuary, where they can have some actual enjoyment in their lifetime.”
Many performing dolphins are hunted and caught in
Taiji, Japan, in a 400-year-old practice that seizes up to 1,700 dolphins between September and March every year.
TERRIFIED
Off the shores of Taiji, a migratory route used by dolphins for thousands of years is intercepted by fishermen on boats. The fishermen hammer on metal poles to create a wall of sound, herding the terrified dolphins – whose primary sense is sound – to shore.
Once they’ve arrived, dolphins – who can feel empathy and grief – become separated from their pod and are penned in by long nets. Marine park trainers then choose which dolphins to purchase. Trainers typically buy female bottlenose
dolphins for as much as £125,000 each, before flying them across the world to different marine facilities – a journey that causes the animals immense discomfort and stress. Butchers select dolphins for the meat trade in Japan, which sells each animal for about £600 – however, dolphin meat has been less popular in recent years because it’s been discovered that it has dangerous levels of mercury.
During the latest six-month hunt, 740 dolphins were either killed or taken captive for marine parks. But across the world, there are hundreds of dolphins already kept at marine parks.
Yvonne Taylor, director of corporate projects at PETA, tells Closer, “In marine parks, dolphins, as well as other marine animals such as orcas and sea lions, are prevented from engaging in even their most basic natural behaviour.”
Although tourists might think that dolphins enjoy performing and learning tricks, Yvonne explains this is not the case. She adds, “Dolphins can sustain painful injuries due to forced close contact with humans and being confined to crowded, cramped tanks that sound, look and feel nothing like their natural habitats. In captivity, they rarely survive longer than ten years, a fifth of their life expectancy in the wild.”
INHUMANE CONDITIONS
Worryingly, two dolphins became so frustrated due to their inhumane living conditions last year, a British mother claimed that during a “swim with dolphins” experience in Mexico, the animals became vicious and dragged her seven-year-old daughter under the water.
Yvonne continues, “Confining intelligent, social dolphins is physically and psychologically destructive and can lead them to attack other dolphins and anyone who enters their pitiful enclosures.
“Luckily, people are turning their backs on abusive marine parks. In India, it’s illegal to keep dolphins captive for public entertainment, and in Barcelona, the USA, and Australia, facilities are shutting their cetacean exhibits – with some closing down altogether. However, marine park attendance remains high in China, the Caribbean and Mexico, where dolphin experiences are sadly still popular. Yvonne says,
“It’s time we saw these marine parks closed for good. They are dangerous, unethical businesses that imprison marine mammals for profit.”
By Bella Evennett-Watts