In Reply to: dolphins in captivity posted by Angela on Tuesday, 19. September 2006 at 17:35 Bali Time:
I protested at the dolphins being held captive at Warragamba outside Sydney many years ago (the pool is long gone) and what I found out about dolphins in captivity was horrifying. Many of the mother dolphins killed their babies - I guess that was a fair enough comment by them on the horrible living conditions. There is no pool on the planet that is ok for dolphins to live in - imagine being a powerful animal that can swim fast (up to 30 knots if I remember rightly) and the whole ocean is your home - now imagine being put in a tiny concrete pool (and ANY pool is tiny when 2/3 of the planet is your home). It would be the same as you being locked in a loo for the rest of your life. No-one should support this - by going to such a hotel and swimming with the dolphins in a pool you are ensuring this dreadful practice will continue. It is only possible to enjoy swimming with captive dolphins if you wilfully close your eyes to their suffering.
On our last holiday we had the incredible privilege of our boat being surrounded, for hours, by wild, free spinner dolphins zooming through the water and having a wonderful time - that was magical, not seeing poor sad captive dolphins.