The captive dolphin and whale industry has been around for nearly 80 years. Since the time of Flippy, the dolphin who performed in America's first dolphin show in 1938 in Florida, the public's opinions of cetaceans has changed drastically - going from an indifference or even fear, to being thrilled and entertained by their presence, and finally becoming increasingly intolerant of their captivity, due to the suffering we now know is endemic to captivity.
Along the way, many organizations, including the International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP), have been working to grow the public's understanding of these beings and demonstrate why we shouldn't be using them for any reason -for food, research, or entertainment.
This video by our friends at Take Part breaks down some of the history of this industry.
Here are some additional points that have helped shaped the growing movement to free cetaceans from captivity:
1979: Keiko, the orca whale who starred in the hit movie Free Willy, was captured from the waters around Iceland. In 1995, the Free Willy - Keiko Foundation, an effort spearheaded by many IMMP staff, was launched, and Keiko was taken to a rehab facility in Oregon. In 1998 he was flown to Iceland where he was reintroduced to his native waters. His successful rehabilitation and release provides both the model and the precedent that will hopefully help release or retire other captive cetaceans.
2004: The Save Japan Dolphins campaign was launched by IMMP. In 2009, the campaign gained public noteriety within the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, which also educated the public about the connection between captive dolphins and the drive hunts, which supply many of captives to aquariums helping subsidize the continued slaughter. Since the campaign was initiated, the number of people in Japan eating dolphin meat has dropped dramatically, and the number of dolphins killed in Taiji has decreased as well. In 2015, the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) voted to stop sourcing their dolphins from the cruel hunts, dealing a significant blow to the cruel industry. IMMP had led a 10-year effort to get JAZA to stop sourcing their captive dolphins from the hunts in Taiji.
2013: The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) denied a Georgia Aquarium permit to import 18 wild-caught beluga whales from Russia. The permit was the first of its kind in many years, and an approval by NOAA would have likely opened the floodgates for many similar proposals, thereby generating a renaissance of sorts for the captivity industry. Instead, however, NOAA denied the import, citing their concern that it would increase demand for wild cetaceans. IMMP and other groups joined the lawsuit filed against NOAA by the Georgia Aquarium to successfully defend the permit denial.
2016: The Whale Sanctuary Project is launched. A group of cetacean experts, including IMMP’s Director David Phillips, unveiled plans for the first-ever dolphin and whale sea-pen retirement facility, designed to handle both releasable and non-releasable dolphins, orcas and beluga whales.
The trend is clear: people around the world are increasingly realizing the harm that captivity causes cetaceans. IMMP will continue to campaign against companies like SeaWorld until they opt out of captivity for good.
