Today, Khun Mai and Khun Nii from the organisation “Phuket Says No to Dolphin Shows” have been visiting Barnhem to tell us why you should not visit the new dolphinarium on the island.Khun Mai and Nii was absolutely amazing and had everyone, even the youngest children, to listen carefully and understand.
They started with some fun games to get the kids to relax and listen, after that they showed a short clip from one of the dolphin shows which of course made us all want to go there. The dolphins were so cute, playful and seemed so happy - but then they began to talk about the reality behind these pictures that they showed us.
They told us stories and showed videos of how people scared the wild dolphins in to a cove in Japan, where they then were captured. To this place people who wanted to buy dolphins for dolphin shows came to select the beautiful and young dolphins, these got separated from their families. The old dolphins that no one wanted got killed and sold as whale meat in Japan.
They described how bad dolphins in captivity are doing when they are separated from their families and live in small spaces, these animals are used to being able to swim freely. They also told us that they only fed the dolphins with dead fish; when they usually eat live ones. They finished by telling us that the dolphins who does not behave gets punished by not getting any food at all.
They illustrated their stories very well by comparing the dolphins’ situation with situations in our own lives.
We will absolutely not visit Phuket delfinarie now that we know about the reality for the dolphins.
Many thanks to the organisation “Phuket Says No to Dolphin Shows” for taking the time to come to Barnhem and tell us about the dolphins’ reality.