Dolphins are one of the most popular of the marine mammals and a common performer at marine parks and oceanariums. Marine parks worldwide claim that captive dolphin performances serve the purpose of being both educational and entertaining for the entire family. They make the statement that people learn about their history and the threats that dolphins face in the wild through captive dolphin shows and hands-on interaction. However, the glitz and glamour of the dolphin show is slowly fading as more and more people are becoming aware of the plight of these performing animals. With this new awareness, marine parks are clamouring to establish new facilities and continue displaying their performing whales and dolphins. The more these facilities struggle to make a profit of the captives under the guise of "education," the more people wonder if these intelligent creatures belong in captivity. Thus the public is discovering that these flashy displays of human dominence do not hold any educational values or promote the conservation of wild species.

Dolphins and small whales were originally captured for display in marine parks as a way for the public to see these marvelous animals and to be entertained by them. The first attempt at housing dolphins and whales in captivity began in 1860, when a pair of Beluga Whales, captured and transported by PT Barnum, arrived in New York. They died after a few days of placement in a freshwater tank. Two more belugas were soon captured and palced in a saltwater tank at PT Barnum's circus. The pair became the first captive cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) to go on display. Sadly, these whales and other animals died in a fire in 1868. In 1913, the New York Museum revisited the idea of holding cetaceans and ddisplayed five Bottlenose Dolphins; the last died after twelve months in captivity. Forty-five years later the Marine Studios in Florida captured Bottlenose Dolphins and displayed them publicly. Dsduring feeding time at Marine Studios, Cecil M Walkier discovered that dolphins were possible to train. "The first killer whale (orca) to be brought into captivity was in California, in 1961." It only survived a few days. Though killer whales are thought to be 'whales', the orca is actually the largest member of the dolphin family. In the United States alone over 2,300 Bottlenose Dolphins were captured for display between 1972 and 1994. (www.wdcs.org)

Methods of capture in shallow water utilized two high-speed boats, one for encircling the animals and the other for transport equipment. Small aircraft called "spotter planes" were used to locate pods of dolphins and are still occasionally used today. Once the dolphins have been located and encircled with a large net, a smaller one is positioned inside the larger, thus further restricting the movement of the dolphins. As the net closes, frightened dolphins begin to strike the net, increasing the possibility of entanglement and drowning. Those entangled in the nets are recovered first and the dolphins are selected according to needs; larger animals for captive-breeding and younger ones for training. During the process of capture some dolphins are killed, but the actual nuber remains unknown. (www.wdcs.org) The captures of dolphins for captivity are carried out in secret, far form the publics eye. (www.freethedolphins.org) The act of capture betrays the trust that dolphins have in humans. Many are ripped from the ocean as they play at the bow of a ship. the earliest known 'marine park' the contained captive dolphins was PT Barnums's circus. (www.wdcs.org)

The natural intelligence of Bottlenose Dolphins have made them easy to train and most people would have seen pictures of these animals jumping through hoops. (www.wdcs.org) the training of dolphins is one of the most damaging things. During the training process, wild-caught dolphins gradually forget their natural behaviors. In the past, dolphinariums have tried to keep as many as thirty-five different species of whales and dolphins in captivity, but few have survived. (www.wdcs.org) Dolphins are not the happy, smiling clowns the captivity industry would have visitors believe. (www.freethedolphins.org) "Dolphins have not been domesticated. They are wild animals, even if they are in captivity and have been trianed to be around people. Dolphins are large, powerful animals that can inflict serious harm on people." (Spradlin, National Marine Fisheries Service) "Yomiuri Shimbun, 37, was seriously injured during a swim-with session when a captive dolphin struck her, breaking one of her ribs and a bone in her lower back." (www.miamiseaprison.com) "In Brazil, for instance an aggessive male dolphin head-butted an over-friendly swimmer, killing him." (www.pbs.com)

The captivity industry is most cruel to young dolphins. Maine parks routinely separate calves that are six months old or younger from their mothers so that the bond the two would from in the wild does not develop. (www.worldanimalfoundation.homestead.com) The reason this is considered cruel is because dolphin calves never leave their mother's side. If the calf is female, it remains in the pod it's entire life and it is taught all the skills it will need to survive by the mother. The mother/calf pair bond is the backbone of dolphin society.

Life in captivity is nothing compared to life in the open sea. Dolphins are free ranging and highly social creatures. They are predators and spend a great deal of their time in the wild hunting for food. Supplying a once wild, opportunistic hunter with dead fish results in less exercise and a lack of mental stimulation, thus causing bordom. Dolphins in the wild live to be about fivty years old, captivity reduces their lifespan by almost two-thirds. Many dolphin that are brought into captivity live an average of only six months. The oceans that wild dolphins inhabit is alive and constantly moving. For captive dolphins, life in a sterile environment is bland and they spen a great deal of time lying motionless on the waters surface. Wild dolphins and whales constantly emit high-frequency sounds to explore their ocean environment. They use it to hunt, explore,and learn about other marine animals. Captivity permanently damages the use of this tool. It is of no use in a concrete tank, because there is nothing to stimulate their natural curiosity. Confined marine mammals that physically abuse themselves, are creating stimuli that the captive environment cannot supply. Sometimes captivity can become so stressful for dolphins that they become psychotic. In captive dolphin facilites, the needs of the public come before the needs of the animals. The tanks are designed to make the animals readily visable, not necessarily comfortable.

Terms such as 'education' and 'scientific research' have been used by the captivity industry as a justification for keeping and capturing performing whales and dolphins. (www.wdcs.org) the captivity industry exists to make money and to fulfill the demand for interactive experiences with dolphins. The captivity industry opposes the protection of popular species such as dolphins and killer whales because they do not want to risk future laws prohuibiting their captuires. (www.freethedolphins.org) The exact numbers of dolphins that have died during the capture process and from the shock and boredom of captivity os impossible to estimate. (www.wdcs.org) Dolphinariums around the world are coming under increasing pressure to change their exhibits and retire, rehabilitate, or release their animals. As some countries are beginning to react to this change in attitude, others are just now beginning to discover that keeping dolphins in captivity is just too tempting financially. (www.wdcs.org)

Manati Park is a tourist attracktion if the Bravado Region of the Dominican Republic. The park includes a small swimming pool that houses five Bottlenose Dolphins. They live in concrete tanks and they perform several shows a day and are touched by up to two hundred people. (www.captiveanimals.org) "We have never seen dolphins as overworked as these. They have very long working hours and are being exploited to the absolute maximum. They are under constant and strict control by their trainer who uses food control to make the dolphins respond to every command he gives them." (O'Barry) This captive dolphin facility also gives the paying public the chance to swim with the dolphins for five minutes. Six to ten people at a time are allowed to chase and touch the dolphins as they want and to be pulled around the pool.

The dolphins are also trained to flip over on their backs during the photo sessions at the side of the pool. These captive dolphins are rotated every hour or so and perform from 10 am to five pm every day of the week. In 1999 the park was investigated by Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, who claimed the living conditions for the dolphins was unacceptable. Several European TV channels aired a video where a dolphinn attacked a child during a swim-with session. Experts believe that the attack was because the animal was distressed and overworked. Almost three thousand protest signatures have been handed over, but in spite of this the tank is still open.

For $70 per half hour soem marine parks offer tourists the opportunity to swim with captive dolphins in a confined setting. This popular program works very hard to promote the image of happy dolphins swimming in shallow enclosures and relishing the attention and affection of humans. Take a closer look and it becomes apparent that these dolphins are the helpless victims of our cultures demand for entertainment. Swim-with-the-dolphin programs are for-profit bussiness that thrive be keeping dolphins captive. Whether food is used to positively reward correct behaviore or withheld to punish incorrect ones, it still amounts to food deprivation, Swim-with-the- dolphin facilites stress that direct contact wsith dolphins is the only way to cement ideas about conservation in an individuals mind. (www.freethedolphins.org) There is no concrete evidence to support the claim that these programs foster whale and dolphin conservation. (www.wdcs.org) Humpback whales are loved and protected by people who have never seen a humpback, on the flip side tigers and elepahnts are close to extinction even though these animals have been displayed in zoos and circuses for years. Currently the crisis facing dolphins is not one of extinction, but of suffering at the hands of humans. (www.freethedolphins.org)

The swim-with industry will tell it's visitors that the dolphins play and important role in therapy asnd they are cherished as healers. However, there is no evidence to support their claims that spending time with cative dolphins has any healing results. The captivity industry tells visitors that the dolphins were born nto captivity and that performing tricks and living in a tank is all that they have known. They often make the statement that their dolphins are spolied and safe from the dangers of pollution and predators. (www.freethedolphins.org) Of course dolphins face certain dangers living in the ocean, but should the mere possibility of danger be enough to take away a dolphins freedom and keep them in captivity? (www.freethedolphins.org)

Swim-with-the-dolphin programs often create a threatening environment for the dolphins and sometimes their human admireres. Dolphins in captivity are forced to swim in endless circles in fake environments made to imitate their ocean homes, interact and breed with unfamiliar dolphins, eat dead fish, and perform unnatural behaviors whicha re sometimes painful. Beaching themselves as part of the show is very painful for captive dolphins. If left for too long in this position, a dolphin's immense weight would slowly crush its internal organs. (www.freethedolphins.org) Captive dolphins face exposure to human bacteria and infection. They also die from stress-related illness and chlorine poisoning. What dolphin enthusiasts must remember is that once the thrill of swimming with a dolpin or watching dolphin aobatics wears off they will go home, but the dolphins are trapped, forced to perform the same interacts day after day. (www.freethedolphins.org) "Orcas and dolphins in aquariums do not have a constantly changing environment to challenge them and their small tanks are comparable in size to human prison cells." (www.worldanimalfoudation.homstead.com) "Their lives have been gravely affected by humans trying to captitalize of their beauty and intelligence," (www.captivitystinks.org) "Dolphins are innocent sufferers in a hell of our making." (Jennifer)

Anti-captivitists argue it is purely for money while big marine parks argue that the money brought in by performing whales and dolphins is used on education and conservation. Organizations such as Born Free, Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, and Lolita's Legion insist that captive dolphins and whales lead miserable lives and their death rates increase. Ask a marine park employee, however, and they will say their animals are happy, well-stimulated and live long, natural lives. Statistics and polls show that people view captivity as cruel and believe that dolphins and whales do not belong there. "If dolphins are so happy in captivity, why do they die so fast? Why the secrecy about their mortality rates?" (www.inkokomo.com)

"First and formost, people need to stop going to see captive dolphins and whales on display. Once it is no longer profitable for those who exploit the animals, they will no longer do it. Second, urge their lawmakers not to use public funds to support places that house dolphins and whales. Third, write to the congress/sentate and try to get laws passed that will prohibit the capturing and or buying, trading, or borrowing any of these animals. People who are against captivity should try to educate the public about the truth concrening the captivity of these animals. Really the most important thing is to just simply stop buying tickets. These animals are truely 'dying to entertain us'. (Dortch, LL)

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