Why Dolphins Should Not Be Held In Captivity

Dolphins Should Not be Held in Captivity Have you ever been to an aquarium that has performing dolphins? If you have, you know what a magical experience it can be watching those wonderful creatures jumping out of the water and doing flips in the air. Most people fall in love with dolphins from the moment they see them, with their playfulness and charm, it’s not hard to see why. Amusement parks are more than aware of the ability these cetaceans have to captivate us as humans, and unfortunately they also exploit it. Industries that argue the benefits of dolphin captivity are inherently harming everyone because this practice is not a form of conservation, is not healthy for these mammals, and is not providing the correct educational information everyone deserves to know.

This sounds like it would be a logical as well as honorable reason to keep these animals in captivity, however, it isn’t entirely true. Yes, dolphins are at risk due to many factors including habitat loss, commercial harvest, and entanglement. Because of this, businesses claim there justification to keep these animals captivity is to secure the populations return to the wild, should they ever become extinct. According to the Born Free Foundation, those that rely on captivity create a false security and therefore draws attention away from the wild populations and their habitats. These habitats could potentially be destroyed, and therefore the captive animals would have nothing to go back to if there wild counterparts did become extinct. Instead of spending the money it cost to keep animals in captivity, they could instead use that same money to help preserve the animal’s habitats, protection, and ultimately the species