It's a shame it was in the Mail, but it's about time a mainstream paper covered this

[ArielThePiraticalMermaid]

This is barbaric, revolting and upsetting and I don't like linking to DM articles, but it needs to be said and talked about and spread. People have been bravely campaigning against this atrocity for years yet it continues. Please be assured that every time you visit a place like SeaWorld that, no matter what they tell you, you are helping perpetuate this hideous, hideous trade.

I have talked about this on MN before and have had outraged mummies telling me I am trying to spoil their children's fun

[ArielThePiraticalMermaid]

Apologies for the accusatory use of the word "you". Didn't mean it like that. I meant "people" in general.

[AlistairSim]

I'm with you.
I would never visit somewhere that had captive dolphins/whales etc.

[claig]

I have nver heard about this before. It is terrible cruelty. Shocking.

[Otherworld]

I'm speechless. I had no idea. Truly horrific. Thanks for posting.

[ArielThePiraticalMermaid]

I'm really glad I brought it to your attention, claig. It kind of gives me hope that the reason most people pay money to get into these places is because they don't know about the atrocities involved. At the risk of sounding like a zealot, the word needs to be spread, and the industry will wither. It's to Britain's credit that we don't have any of these places - they were shut down due to public pressure.

[claig]

Yes, thanks for bringing it to our attention. I am sure that most visitors have no idea what is involved and the suffering that these beautiful creatures endure. I don't know much about zoos and the suffering that those animals endure either. I am sure that they suffer too. It is horrible. Slowly, slowly these things have changed and improved a bit over time. Hopefully, we will one day treat all creatures with respect and avoid cruelty to them.

[ArielThePiraticalMermaid]

The other thing the article doesn't mention is that the animals who are slaughtered are sold as meat, and fed to children in their school dinners. Dolphins and whales, as they are top of the food chain, have accumulated huge amounts of toxins in their bodies including toxic amounts of mercury, which causes brain damage. They are damaging their own children, a nation which prides itself on its educational and technological prowess. This may sound like hysterical hyperbole, but it's absolutely true.

[InTheNightGarden]

:( :( :(

awful!!!

[HoppedOnAFairy]

:-( Are dolphins in UK aquariums from the same 'source'? You'd think there was some law preventing this...

I did think of taking my LO to the London Aquarium. Now I won't.

[ArielThePiraticalMermaid]

No, no go! The London Aquarium is fab. We don't have any captive facilities in the UK. The last one was in Brighton and because of public opposition it was shut down and the dolphins released. We do however have lots of dolphins in the wild around our shores :)

[ArielThePiraticalMermaid]

That's the one. Discovery Cove. Tell her all about it - it's probable she doesn't know. It's the dolphins' great misfortune that they have a face shaped in a smile. Their misery in those pools must be infinite.

If she's intent on swimming with dolphins, it can be done in the wild, including in Florida. Though I would have second thoughts about swimming and embracing and hanging onto the fin of an apex predator. They could kill someone in an instant.

[Booyhoo]

this is just appalling. so glad to hear the UK does not partake in this awful practise by buying dolphins and keeping them captive. thise poor poor animals.

[HoppedOnAFairy]

Oh, good. We were looking forward to this :-) So there are no dolphins in the aquarium? Is there a way to see the ones in the wild? It's mental that they are there in the wild around our shores!

[ArielThePiraticalMermaid]

You can stand on the beach and the cliffs in some parts of the country and watch them. It looks as though they are performing tricks for tourists but it's all part of their natural behaviour e.g. New Quay in West Wales, Chanonry Point in NE Scotland, and parts of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset.

[WeAreEternal]

It is disgusting isn?t it.

I would never visit a place such as sea world that has captive wild animals, it is evil.

The ONLY acceptable type of marine/animal park is one that rescues and rehomes injured or sick animals with the hope and intention of rehabilitating and re releasing them to the wild.

[ArielThePiraticalMermaid]

I don't think we can sit on our laurels and think "Well there's nothing of that nature in the UK". I think we owe it to them to tell the people who we know are planning to visit Discovery Cove, Seaworld, MarineLand and the ones in Europe all about it. Let's shout about it (apologies if I seem evangelical, but this is my "thing")

There was a killer whale rescued off the Dutch coast last year. She was rehabilitated and recovered nicely and the animal welfare people were all set to release her back into the sea so that she could find her family again, and then the Dutch government sold her to a facility in the Canaries. The Spaniards are not renowned for their enlightened attitude towards marine animals. Apparently the poor orca is being hassled and bullied by the others in the inevitably way too small pool. There was a petition and an appeal mounted to the Dutch government to overturn the decision, and they refused it and told the protesters that any further action had to be made to the Spanish government. Great.

The life expectancy of a dolphin in the wild is over 40 years. In captivity it's approximately 5 years.

[Booyhoo]

from what i remember from my childhood (about 20 years ago) you can see the dolphins off the coast of sligo in the south of ireland.

[Booyhoo]

Ariel do you know anything at all about 'swimming with dolphin' type things in Australia, more specifically, near melbourne? my Cousin is going this year to do this. it has been a lifelong ambition and dolphins are a big obsession for her as she has Autism and it's one of her focuses. i would hate to upset her but i feel she would want to know if the animals she is swimming with might have been harmed.

[ArielThePiraticalMermaid]

Hmm. I don't know off the top of my head, but can find out for you.

[VivaLeBeaver]

That's terrible. Years ago I went to Loro Parc Zoo in Tenerife. I had no idea at the time that they had whales and dolphins there, was expecting it to be mainly parrots.

The pools that they kept the Whales and dolphins in seemed too small for them. It was sad to see them, they're such intelligent creatures.

I've been on a boat trip in Wales to see dolphins and I think it's much better to do something like that. See them in their natural environment.

[ArielThePiraticalMermaid]

Ok, I have found this one.

The thing you have to be aware of with wild swim operations is that the boat you choose operates in a very responsible fashion. Chasing the animals, splitting a group, speeding through them with propellors spinning are obviously big no nos. This company looks as though they do research and take their responsibilities seriously.