Boycott Cruel Dolphin Encounters

Thanks to the hard work of animal advocacy organizations and ongoing public education campaigns, awareness of the inherent cruelty of keeping orca whales in captivity has grown in recent years. Public opinion has shifted significantly, with many now rejecting captive whale performances as unethical entertainment.

However, many are still unaware of the cruelty involved in another form of aquatic mammal tourism: dolphin encounters. Marine parks, cruises, and resorts often offer tourists opportunities to swim with dolphins, presenting these encounters as educational or therapeutic for humans and enjoyable for the dolphins. This is far from the truth.

Swim-with-dolphin programs cause immense suffering to these intelligent, social creatures. Confined to small tanks or enclosures, dolphins endure constant stress from forced human interaction, unnatural living conditions, and separation from their families. Many are taken from the wild through brutal capture methods, devastating local populations and ecosystems. Others are bred in captivity, ripped away from their mothers at a young age, and never allowed to experience natural behaviors or live in family groups. In captivity, dolphins suffer physical injuries, malnutrition, and boredom, often displaying signs of depression and anxiety. These programs exploit dolphins for profit, stripping them of their freedom and natural behaviors, and condemning them to a life of confinement and misery for fleeting human entertainment.

In the wild, dolphins sometimes swim for hundreds of miles in one direction, dive hundreds of feet deep, and spend only 10-20% of their time at the surface. In some tropical resorts, dolphins are kept in open sea pens that are still too small to meet their biological needs. These pens often collect garbage, such as discarded fishing gear, which dolphins can inadvertently ingest, sometimes leading to serious injuries or even death.

The exploitation of dolphins goes beyond swim programs, marine parks that force dolphins to perform demeaning tricks for the public are never humane. These parks contribute to a cycle of suffering, where dolphins are not only kept in confinement but are also trained to perform unnatural behaviors for entertainment. Tragically, many of the dolphins held in captivity worldwide were captured during the Taiji dolphin drive hunt, a horrific annual event in Japan. During this government-sanctioned hunt, thousands of dolphins are herded into a hidden cove, where terrified families are torn apart. Some are violently slaughtered using brutal methods, like stabbing or driving metal rods into their spinal cords near the blowhole, often failing to kill them quickly, leaving the dolphins to bleed out slowly. Others are speared, stabbed, or left to drown in the blood-filled cove. Some "lucky" survivors are selected for captivity and sold to marine parks. These once-free creatures, who swam vast oceans and lived in tight-knit family groups, are condemned to a lifetime of confinement, performing tricks for human entertainment. Though the U.S. now bans the importation of dolphins from Taiji, many marine parks around the world still hold dolphins captured in this way.

The Taiji dolphin drive is currently underway, with the capture and killing set to continue for another month. While not all wild dolphin captures are as brutal as the drive in Taiji, all dolphins taken from the wild experience unimaginable stress and suffering throughout their lives.

Dolphin encounters also pose risks for humans, as stressed or confined dolphins may become aggressive, leading to injuries from biting or tail-slapping. Their powerful bodies can unintentionally cause harm during close contact, resulting in bruises, broken bones, or other trauma. Additionally, the risk of infection from bacteria in dolphin saliva or skin increases, and zoonotic diseases can also pose serious health threats. Despite claims of therapeutic benefits, there is no evidence that dolphin-assisted therapy offers any advantages over similar programs with domesticated animals, like puppies, kittens, or farm animals.

Although it may seem appealing to spend time up-close with these majestic marine mammals, there is no ethical or humane way to participate in dolphin encounters. As animal lovers, we must make choices that prioritize compassion and the well-being of animals rather than our own desires to interact with them. With the horrors of Taiji unfolding and the winter months inspiring many to take tropical vacations, we urge you to join us in preventing the suffering of dolphins by pledging to avoid dolphin encounters. Add your name today to take a stand!