Dolphin Outlook Weekly

Protest dolphin captivity at the U.S. NAVY San Diego. For years the U.S. Navy has held dolphins in small enclosures and used them in many areas for warfare and animal testing
Most people in San Diego are not aware of what is happening with the government and our tax dollars. 

We will protest on land and sea!

Need paddle boarders and people with kayaks in the water. We will meet in the parking lot that is closest to the bridge.

Contact: Ellen Ericksen (Boxes of Boredom@ USNAVY)
In Defense of Animals
Barcelona Considers Closing Dolphinarium and Retiring Dolphins
Barcelona, Spain could soon become a global leader and champion for dolphin well-being. International experts and people around the world are watching closely as the city grapples with the question of whether to expand or shut down its dolphinariumREAD MORE

Let’s Shut Down Ridiculous Traveling Circus That Features Dolphins Jumping Through Fire Hoops. 
When left to live in peace in the ocean, dolphins put on some pretty amazing shows. We’ve seen them jump, twirl, and flip in the air. Researchers have closely observed how dolphins communicate and how they could potentially communicate with us (an entertaining idea, to say the least). And, of course, we’ve seen how dolphin families interact with one another, playing and splashing and basically having the time of their lives.
Sadly, some humans are not content with observing dolphins in their natural habitat and instead selfishly rip them away from their families and move them into marine parks or traveling circus shows. In the video above, dolphins from an Indonesian traveling circus perform some pretty ludicrous tricks including jumping through a fire hoop, fetching rings from a pool, and carrying basketballs around a pool with their fins. At the end of the day, they are loaded up into crates, an act that would stress out any animal, and transported to another location where they’ll have to do it all over again.
Dolphins deserve a much better life than this. These marine mammals are super self-aware and dislike boredom just as much as anyone else. When kept in captivity they show disheartening zoochotic behaviors such as swimming in circles repetitively, establishing pecking orders and lying motionless at the surface or on the aquarium floor for relatively long periods of time. Some captive dolphins have even ended their own lives due to their extreme distress and depression.
If you’re angered by this video and think dolphins deserve to stay in the ocean where they belong, sign this petition and together we can help close this ridiculous traveling circus!
Petitioning David Ige : Tell Atlantis NO to their Captive Dolphin Exhibit in Oahu!  
Atlantis, a hotel chain famous for their captive "swim with the dolphins" series of exhibits, has possible plans in the works to include such an exhibit at their newest choice of location: Ko Olina, in Oahu, Hawaii, United StatesClick to sign.

(sources:Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project: End Dolphin captivity in Hawaii; Plans for $2B Atlantis aquarium resort being finalized at Ko Olina)


According to the article, "Captive mammals can net big profits for exhibitors newspaper", in the newspaper entitled The Sun-Sentinal:


"A South Florida Sun-Sentinel investigation found that everyone involved benefits, from Third World fishermen who catch dolphins, to the Cuban government that sells them and cash-poor Caribbean nations that win tourists because of them, to marine parks that can collect $50 or more for every visitor.


Dolphins and whales have become so valuable that parks can use them as collateral for loans. They're worth money even dead, bringing their owners million-dollar life insurance payouts. Facilities write heartfelt obituaries that can bring in sympathy letters and donations."


(Source: Captive mammals can net big profits for exhibitors)


What happens to those whales and dolphins in captivity? The Sun-Sentinel follows up in their article "Sickness and death can plague marine mammals at parks":


"Federal inspectors have cited eight marine parks, zoos and aquariums for water quality problems in the past three years, records show.


The Clearwater Marine Aquarium has been unable to find the right chemical balance in its dolphin tanks for more than two years. Parks commonly use chlorine to disinfect animal wastes and other chemicals to maintain a balance of alkalinity/acidity, just as in backyard pools.


Animals suffer burning eyes, inflamed skin and can even die from fluctuating or excessive chemicals.


In 2001, U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector and veterinarian Sylvia Taylor found potentially "alarming'' pH levels, a measure of water acidity, at the Clearwater Aquarium. About three months later, Sunset Sam, a dolphin kept there from the time he was found stranded in Tampa Bay in 1984, died."


(Source: Sickness and death can plague marine mammals at parks)


Please, join us as we call out to Governor David Ige, the Governor of Hawaii, to expand and enforce Maui's landmark 2002 policy declaration to ban the public display of captive dolphins and whales! Please, before more innocent dolphins are captured, forced into captivity, put on display, and potentially worse! 


(Source: Wild Dolphin Days Tenth Anniversary)


Click to sign.



Dolphin Project Works to Halt Dolphin Slaughters in the Solomons
Solomon Islands Dolphin Hunt
The Solomon Islands are home to the largest dolphin drive fishery in the world, seconded by Taiji, Japan. However, unlike Taiji, the dolphin hunters of South Malaita’s Fanalei Island have sporadically hunted kirio (Lau for dolphin) for centuries. Prized by the ‘saltwater people’ for both their meat and teeth, dolphins are intrinsically ingrained in Fanalei culture.
Solomon Islands Villagers
Solomon Island villagers wearing traditional necklaces made from dolphin teeth and seashells
Dolphin Project, which has maintained a presence in the Solomon Islands for several years, is using grassroots community development to transition island life away from hunting dolphin. We recently built a school for children, and committed to paying two teachers’ wages for two years. This is just one of many initiatives Dolphin Project is planning. Learn more about our work in the Solomon Islands.
"Since Dolphin Project began working in the Solomon Islands, 90 dolphins were killed in 2015, and 30 in 2016. This is down from an average of 850 mammals slaughtered annually. Your support is greatly appreciated and needed to help us facilitate grassroots community projects like the completion of this school, to put a permanent end to dolphin hunting." ~ Lincoln O’Barry, Dolphin Project
Elsewhere, in Taiji, Japan, 68 bottlenose dolphins (out of a quota of 150 live captures) and one pilot whale have already been taken from the wild in the first brutal drives of the 2016/17 season. It was a violent process, where babies were separated from their mothers, and youngers were dumped back at sea without the protection of the rest of the pod. Another 51 dolphins were slaughtered, including a pod of pilot whales which were held for four days without food or shelter.
Between the months of September and March, an “official” 1820 dolphins of various species will be subject to harassment, injury, capture and slaughter. Dolphin Project Cove Monitors will be on the ground during the entire dolphin hunting season to document and disseminate information to the rest of the world.

Visit DolphinProject.com for the latest news from Taiji.
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