Captive dolphin at Sea World

Until every tank is empty

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Image credit: Dean Sewell / World Animal Protection

For a dolphin, a life spent entertaining visitors is misery in captivity. These sociable, intelligent animals are imprisoned for up to 50 years.

In their natural ocean home, a dolphin would have100 square kilometres to range freely, and deep dive.

But kept in barren, shallow, chlorinated pools they only have a fraction of that space.

This is not a life, it’s a life sentence.

Dolphin in captivity at Sea World

Join a growing global movement 

The tide is turning against the keeping of dolphins in captivity for entertainment.

Last year, global online travel company Expedia Group announced it would end its support for whale and dolphin interactions and circus-style performances by prohibiting their sale.

It joined other major travel brands including TripAdvisor and Booking.com that had already stopped selling tickets to dolphin shows and encounters.  

As well as changes from the travel industry, New South Wales passed a ban on breeding dolphins in captivity or importing them into the state.

This is part of a global movement towards better treatment of these wild animals, which includes the nations of Canada, France, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, India, Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland, and the UK.

Now Queensland needs to follow. With you by our side, we won’t stop defending dolphins until the last tank is empty.

Dolphin in captivity at Sea World

Image credit: Carol Slater / World Animal Protection

Most people who visit captive dolphin venues do so because they love wild animals and want to learn about them.   

But seeing dolphins perform ‘circus-style tricks’ doesn’t provide the educational experience you may think, it simply paints a false picture of these incredibly intelligent animals and their natural behaviour in the wild. 

Visitors who want to experience dolphins in a responsible way should see them in the wild instead. 

If you believe all dolphins deserve to be living wild and free, then sign the petition today.

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Dolphin facts

Common name: Dolphin. Scientific name: Delphinidae. Distribution: Temperate and tropical waters around the world

Dolphins are warm-blooded marine mammals that breathe air. Learn more about these highly intelligent, sociable and playful animals.