Is this dolphin happy?
Our natural instinct is to think “Yes, of course. He’s obviously smiling.” But the reality is that this dolphin’s facial expression really tells us nothing about his emotional state, and this is due to an unfortunate physiological trait that’s fed directly into the myth of happy, healthy dolphins in captivity. The industry has been quick to use this to feed into a false narrative which helps perpetuate our exploitation of cetaceans.
Our brains are hardwired to derive a great deal of information about the emotional state of fellow human beings based on a complex arrangement of facial muscles, intensity of the gaze in the eyes, and so on. Evolution clearly selected for an ability to gauge another person’s intent based on this type of information, and we’ve come to be really good at reading facial expressions.
The problem is that this skill – the way our brains are hardwired to interpret facial expressions – doesn’t necessarily translate well to other species. Or rather, what we believe we’re reading in another animal’s expression may not be what we think it is. And our interpretation can cause us to be mislead. The myth of the dolphin’s smile is a perfect example.
“A dolphin’s smile is the greatest deception. It creates the illusion that they’re always happy.”
Dolphin advocate Ric O’Barry,
as stated in The Cove (2009)
The myth of the dolphin’s smile enables marine parks to mask their captives’ misery, and to deceive the public into perceiving their dolphins as healthy and happy to be where they are.
The truth is that when you pay to see a dolphin show, to swim with them or to have your picture taken with them, they are not smiling. They do not project happiness when forced to interact with you. This is a misperception on your part – one which does real harm. When they are kept in captivity we deny them the freedom of the natural habitats they prefer. They are forced to silence their voices because the reverberations off the walls of their tanks are unbearable. They are kept hungry so that they will be incented to perform in return for bits of dead fish they would never eat in the wild.
Having once swum from 40 to 100 miles in a single day with other members of their pods, they are now confined to a space no more than 1/200,000th of the volume of a dolphin’s typical range. Never again to swim at speed in a straight line. Endless circuits of a featureless concrete tank. Entertaining an incessant parade of tourists day after day. How much would you be smiling?
We deny them their families with which they had intense bonds before they were separated. In fact, their hearts are likely broken because of what we’ve taken from them. If live-captured from the wild they may have memories of having seen loved ones slaughtered around them on the day they were taken. And as awful as you could imagine such an experience to be, know that it is every bit as bad for them as it would be for you and me. There is zero embellishment in what I’m telling you here. None. They are not smiling, and they are not happy to be there.
Quite simply, the best thing you can do for them is to not add to the demand for this reprehensible industry. Don’t visit captive dolphin facilities. Share what you know with others who may be considering including such a visit on their next trip, and encourage them to boycott these facilities as well. Happy dolphins are found in the wild – they certainly can’t be found in captivity.
For The Orca’s Voice,
Dakota, Canadian Cetacean Alliance
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