Letter to the Editor
Cayman Net Newspaper
Wednesday 5 April 2006


Dear Sir,

I read the recent letters to the editor "What is the 'fuss' about dolphins?" and "More about the dolphins" with interest. As Captivity Officer for the Marine Connection, a marine animal welfare charity in the UK I felt I should respond.

I must question the idea that dolphins should have to 'tell' people that they are not happy in captivity. Yes, we may not know exactly what dolphins are thinking but there are numerous indicators to warn us that dolphins are not suited to captivity. Surely the fact that a captive dolphin might only have a tank 15 metres across by 6 metres deep, while a wild dolphin swims for countless miles across oceans and dives hundreds of metres, is enough to know captivity is not going to be suitable? Well, if not, captive dolphins very often suffer from skin diseases, stereotypic and repetitive behaviour, stress-related conditions such as ulcers as well as heightened aggression (not so good for those swim-with programmes) when in a captive environment. These symptoms speak volumes and surely we should be taking notice of these for the very reason that a dolphin cannot speak our language? Would you wait until your family pet 'told' you it was ill before taking it to the vet? I think not.

As for the capture of dolphins, there is no 'kind' way of removing an animal from its close-knit family, lifting it out of its natural environment and into a lifeless tank without currents, live fish or a family. Yes, there are more brutal ways of removing dolphins such as at the Taiji dolphin drives in Japan where dolphins are rounded up with nets whilst members of their family pod are brutally slaughtered around them - many of these animals die of shock before they can be killed or lifted from the blood-red waters. However, by allowing more dolphinariums to be built around the world we are perpetuating not only the trade in marine mammals, but also the devastating practice of dolphin drives such as in Taiji.

The Cayman Islands' are, and are advertised as, an area of natural beauty with impressive dive sites and, guess what? You can even see wild dolphins! Therefore the implementation of new dolphinariums is a completely unnecessary addition to a beautiful area where people can see a wealth of marine life in the wild.

The Cayman Islands' are in a unique position to reject captive dolphin facilities. An important point to consider is the growing public awareness of the unsuitability of captive dolphin facilities. Tourists are becoming much more reactive to captive facilities and increasingly prefer to travel to areas which have environmentally friendly, sustainable and ethical roots which are present in many other areas.

The Cayman Islands' are a popular tourist destination and have been for many years, I simply cannot imagine how a captive dolphin facility will add anything to this set of wonderful islands encased by natural beauty apart from controversy and disappointment from many (oh yes, and maybe a little revenue).

Andrina Murrell
Marine Connection