Letters | Dolphin shows are cruel: stop the abuse in the name of entertainment
- Aquariums cannot offer dolphins the space they need to thrive and often train them using cruel practices
You’re in a marine life park, watching a dolphin show. They twist and turn and jump into the air gracefully. But are they as amused and excited as you? Are they forced to perform these movements just for your entertainment?
What happens behind the scenes of dolphin shows? Are there large areas for the dolphins to live in? Do they get to interact socially with the other dolphins? No, in the case of most aquariums. Dolphins should not be used for education or entertainment. They are wild creatures that can swim over a hundred kilometres a day in the ocean, but dolphins in aquariums have a small living space less than 100 metres wide.
Why would dolphins do stunts very eagerly only for some fish? Some aquariums use starvation to ensure that dolphins follow their trainer’s instructions, while there have been reports of trainers physically assaulting the animals.
If you were trapped in a space the size of cardboard box, wouldn’t you be depressed and possibly resort to self-harm? When dolphins are depressed, they are physically and mentally weak. Dolphins living in aquariums easily get sick.
Dolphins in aquariums worldwide are separated from their families and are being abused only because people can make a living from entertaining us selfish humans.
Dolphins are clever, caring and emotional creatures. There have been reports about dolphins saving humans from shark attacks. They do us no harm and even lend us a hand when we are in danger. Why do we harm them in return?
We cannot support these inhumane forms of entertainment. Stop visiting aquariums to entertain yourselves while the animals there are abused for our amusement.
Anson Wang, Tiu Keng Leng
