Plight of captive dolphins spurs effort to rehabilitate them

 The animals, popular at some resorts, are overworked and mistreated, some say.

 SANTA LUCIA MILPAS ALTAS, Guatemala – When the sun sets over this town, Turbo and Ariel leap into the air in a ritual that dolphins have known for millions of years. Their thick, slick bodies arc gracefully through the cool mountain air in a moment of fleeting freedom before they resume their current reality: swimming circles inside a training pool that is 40 feet across.  The two were abandoned in late May by the owner of Latin America’s last traveling dolphin show after Guatemalan authorities expressed suspicion that the pair had been captured illegally in coastal waters. Their plight, animal and conservation advocates said, is a sad result of the brisk business in capturing dolphins who are trained to perform tricks or give swim-along rides in a rapidly increasing number of Caribbean and Central American resorts.  The growth of these shows, animal advocates said, has been spurred by their success in American aquatic theme parks and the fact that tourist are willing to pay $100 or more to cling onto a dolphin and glide through a pool. Though the shows and swim-alongs are touted as having educational or even therapeutic benefits for humans, advocates said they are little more than prisons for the dolphins, which have been displayed in such odd places as a Swiss disco and a Canadian mall.

 “Dolphins in the mountains,” said Ric O’Barry, as he watched Turbo and Ariel swim slowly in their pool here. “That’s bizarre.”  He should know. O’Barry made his name training the five dolphins that starred in the “Flipper” television series. But he has been an ardent opponent of shows featuring captive dolphins ever since one of the “Flipper” dolphins died in his arms more than 30 years ago.   He has been asked by the Guatemalan government to return Turbo and Ariel to the wild – the first time any Central America nation has rescued illegally captured dolphins. In doing so he will not only give the dolphins the freedom they briefly savor in their leaps but will also earn a bit of absolution for his past.  “I learned a lot about dolphins,” O’Barry said of the years he spent working on the popular 1960s TV show. “I caught them, trained them, watched them give birth to babies, and I put them in the ground when they died. I did everything but turn them loose.”  O’Barry spent 30 years heading his own protest group, the Dolphin Project, before becoming a consultant to the World Society for the Protection of Animals, a London-based coalition of 400 conservation and preservation groups.

 While the society has returned some captive dolphins to the wild, it has focused its efforts on a campaign against the dolphin shows popping up at hotels, resorts and aquatic theme parks.  In recent months, parks have opened up or been announced for the Caribbean islands of Antigua, Tortola, Anguilla and the Dominican Republic. At Manati Park in the Dominican Republic, O’Barry said, up to 200 tourists a day pay $100 for a brief dip with the dolphins.  “It’s just New Age snake oil,” O’Barry said. “The Dominican swim program is the worst. The dolphins are overworked. People go to these places and think it’s a great experience. They pay 100 bucks. The dolphin pays with its life. They are just there to amuse an endless stream of people.”  None of this would have happened, O’Barry said, had it not been for the success of dolphin shows and swimming programs in the United States at places like Seaworld or the Miami Seaquarium. O’Barry used to work at the Seaquarium during his “Flipper” days, and he sometimes returns there to protest.

A spokeswoman for the Miami Seaquarium refused to comment on O’Barry. Brad Andrews, vice president of zoological operations at Seaworld, said O’Barry has no credibility as an expert.  “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” he said. “We spend millions of dollars a year in conservation. We have many guests who want to experience this in a controlled, safe environment.”  O’Barry contends the notion that these programs have educational value is as illusory as the dolphins famed smile.  “It’s about jobs and money,” he said. “They say they want to educate people to protect the dolphins. Protect them from whom? It is inherently hypocritical to destroy their quality of life to enhance ours.” And, he added, his group intends to let the captors know that “the porch light is on and somebody is home.”

No one was home, though, until four weeks ago at the hillside complex here where Turbo and Ariel were trained by Ruben Roca. He Owns Mundo Marino in Venezuela, which is a theme park and the home base for his traveling dolphin show. While Roca, who could not be reached for comment, told authorities Turbo and Ariel were legally caught in Honduras, Guatemalan authorities suspected they had been caught illegally and began legal proceedings.  Roca fled Guatemala about two weeks ago, leaving the two dolphins stranded in the 12-foot-deep pool, whose filter was barely working. A local environmental group contacted the world society, which ultimately was given permission by the Guatemalan government to rehabilitate the dolphins and set them free.

 O’Barry now spends his days feeding the dolphins 30 pounds each of fish and observing their behavior. Assistants have prepared a nylon net they will soon use to lift them onto stretchers and place them in padded boxes before flying them by helicopter to a large pen nestled in a bay on Guatemala’s Caribbean coast.  There, O’Barry and his wife will begin to wean them off people and dead fish, hoping their natural hunting behavior will be rekindled.  His critics have said that not all captive dolphins can or should be released, since they lose the ability to forage for food or defend themselves after becoming accustomed to humans.

 In the late 1990s, O’Barry and an associate were fined $59,000 by the federal government for improperly releasing two dolphins that were later found in poor condition.  O’Barry disputes that claim, but said he paid the fine rather then spend years and more money on legal fees.  O’Barry said he has returned 14 dolphins to the wild over the last 30 years, said he would not release the animals unless he was sure they were disease free and able to be independent.  As for not being an expert, the man who trained the dolphin known all over the world just laughed. “They’ve called me a terrorist, said I don’t have a biology degree or that I’m not a veterinarian,” he said. “I say, Ray Charles can’t read music. That about sums up my attitude.”

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