When it comes to ending dolphin captivity, we are in a war of attrition.  I believe that we will win this fight in the end, but the question in the meantime is how many years sit between us now and that beautiful day in the future.  Where we put our time and resources will be a critical determinant of that timeline.  The basic reason for this is that undoing the damage caused by captivity – the legal fights, the rehabilitation prior to release back into the wild, the building of sanctuaries and sea pens, transporting the dolphins, and a whole host of other requirements – is very expensive, and requires not only the time and energy of skilled, caring professionals, but the financial support of a significant donor pool.  In short, the marine parks can take new captives far more easily than we can undo the same amount of damage.  

This is why raising public awareness, to slow the sale of tickets to dolphin shows, thereby cutting them off from their primary revenue stream, is so vitally important.  It’s also why preventing the launch of new aquariums is so much easier than dealing with the harmful effects later.  Every time we succeed in doing this, we save ourselves a great deal of expenditure downstream, if and when we ever manage to free the dolphins from this life of torment. 

Which brings us to Burgas, a proposed new facility on the Black Sea coast.  At present, there is a single aquarium holding captive dolphins in Bulgaria – down the coast at Varna.  Somewhere down the road, the people of Bulgaria will eventually decide that keeping dolphins prisoner and exploiting them for our entertainment is unconscionable.   At that point, it will be far easier to have one of these houses-of-horror to dismantle, rather than two.

Consider the complex series of steps that Dolphin Project (Ric O’Barry’s organization) has needed to go through for three dolphins (Johnny, Rocky & Rambo) rescued from the Melka Hotel in Indonesia.  This is a great news story, and the three now reside at the Project’s newly established Bali Dolphin Sanctuary.  But think about what was involved in this so far.  Three is approximately 1/1,000^th of the number of dolphins presently held captive in the world.  We don’t happen to have a thousand organizations like Ric’s to do the work.  Nor do we have anywhere close to the necessary donor pool at present to finance a thousand similar operations.

We’re going to need all the heroes we can get over the next few years, as public awareness continues to grow, and captives regain the prospect of their freedom. 

But it will help beyond measure to prevent the taking of new captives in the first place.  We need to prevent the establishment of these awful ‘entertainment’ facilities before they can ever place their first order, before they can ever confiscate the life of a single dolphin more.  

Say no to a new facility in Burgas.

For The Orca’s Voice, 

Anna, Canadian Cetacean Alliance