Black Cove
- Dec 4, 2019
- 5 min read

A Lifetime Confined – No Matter The Tank

Updated: Sep 15, 2020

******UPDATE 6 DECEMBER 2019******

Just days after World Animal Protection billboards went up on the Gold Coast, advertising company JCDecaux announced they were taking them down.

‘JCDecaux was persuaded that the dolphins at Sea World are well-cared for and ‘lead healthy, enriched lives in sand bottom lagoons’ according to spokesperson Bikash Randhawa. Sea World went on to claim ‘the billboards were ‘not a fair representation of the facts and JC Decaux agreed that they should come down.’

Interesting, given Sea World constantly tell the public its sand bottom lagoons are ‘natural.’

A Sea World spokesperson also stated that ‘Reproduction is a natural process which enriches the lives of the animals and helps contribute to positive welfare of the animals, which is our utmost priority.’ That may be true, however what Sea World fail to present to the media or the public, is that the reproduction process is also not natural at their entertainment facility!

Dolphin breeding is entirely managed by the theme parks staff, they determine who will have babies – not the dolphins, they don’t get a choice. A female dolphin can’t escape a randy male when trapped in a pen, even if it does have a SANDY BOTTOM!

Sea World management pick and choose which dolphins are going to mate with who and also when that will occur. Sea World even put their dolphins on chemical contraceptives, developed for use in horses, and their entire breeding program is determined by and dependent upon its business operations.

Village Roadshow is simply flexing its corporate muscle; backed into a corner it’s using bullying tactics whilst trying to reign in those who know the truth and want the practice of breeding these poor animals into a miserable unnatural amusement park life to end.

The truth of the matter is – there is no natural to see at Sea World and these dolphins will sadly spend a lifetime confined – no matter the tank.

In response to a World Animal Protection billboard campaign targeting the animal themed park, Sea World Gold Coast has once again defended its archaic practice of keeping and breeding dolphins for human entertainment.

Sea World’s go-to mitigation is that their pens are somehow different to other dolphin facilities; it’s as though the theme parks senior management have a stereotypy – not dissimilar to that we see in the animals zoos and aquariums keep. A repetitive monotone of – “don’t tarnish us with the same brush as other parks – “we have natural sand bottom lagoon…pools.”

Just like other facilities that keep dolphins around the world, Sea World Australia do some good work. They (and the donating public) fund community research, they help rescue animals and they can inspire some people sometimes, but does the good they do really justify the bad?

Here’s some quick points for Aussies to consider:

We know Sea World does legitimate rescue work and provides funding to others for research; there’s no argument that it is able to rehabilitate animals. However, it uses its charity foundation to deflect from the fact that its business exploits animals. It is unethical and unconscionable that rescued animals deemed unreleasable (by the Queensland Government on Sea World’s advice), are ‘saved’ but then forced to live in an artificial world, in an entertainment facility amongst thrill and helicopter rides, theatrical performances, food stalls, bars and a never-ending stream of holiday makers, day and night. The rescued dolphins are trained to perform. They are stood on by trainers and are subjected to hundreds of thousands of people touching them, hugging them and are forced to pose for photos for the remainder of their captive lives.

Additionally, Sea World states it has rescued 600 animals over 5 years, but in reality that’s not a figure to brag about. Unfunded small wildlife shelters can easily rescue in excess of 10,000 animals in that same time period.

Sea World is a privately-owned, publicly-listed company. It is answerable to its shareholders and its shareholders care only about dividends; therefore Sea World cannot, and does not truly prioritise the welfare of its animals – profits will always come first.

Sea World does not provide true education about dolphins to its patrons. Its presentations, such as ‘Affinity,’teach little about dolphins’ natural history. It does not instil any useful information to inspire genuine behaviour change in its visitors that will benefit wild marine animals, or their natural environment. Instead Sea World’s management tell the public that the ocean is a ‘terrible place,’ too dangerous for dolphins – ‘they are much better off under our expert care.’ Its messaging is self serving. It quite literally tells the public that it’s too late to act; it inspires the masses to do very little.

True wildlife conservation means protecting wild species and their habitats to prevent them from going extinct. Sea World breeds bottlenose dolphins, a species that is not endangered in the wild, purely to maintain its stock and the longevity of its business. A Sea World bred dolphin will never be released into the wild.

By its example, Sea World perpetuates one of the major threats facing wild dolphin populations today. Although Sea World no longer captures or imports wild dolphins, it still demonstrates the entertainment-dollar value of dolphins to less welfare-focused countries like Russia, the Ukraine, China. These countries, who all want a piece of the Sea World pie, source the majority of their dolphins from the wild, often from brutal dolphin hunts such as those off the coast of Taiji, Japan.

Finally a ‘sandy bottom lagoon’ in a theme park, even if it is natural – which the Sea World pools are not – does not and cannot ever replicate a dolphins natural and complex environment. It’s a bizarre justification, designed and well rehearsed, to deflect from increasing public awareness – that captivity for these animals is not a life – it’s a life sentence.