Even in England, creatures in aquariums (just like zoos) don’t have the space needed. Seahorses even sometimes die, from the shock of being photographed by flash camera. SeaWorld has had lots of issues with orcas (killer whales) attacking keepers (one video even saw them ‘surfing’ on the back of one distressed orca). Another beached itself in a European aquarium, some believed it was so miserable, it was attempting suicide. Especially in areas like Florida, it’s akin to putting killer whales in a bath tub for life.
The shallow water and hot sun leads to permanent sunburn on their backs, as well as distress (in the wild, killer whales are one of the few species where the young males stay with their mum for life). So taking them from the sea to perform tricks is unbelievably unkind.
Welfare experts also say to avoid ‘swimming with dolphins’. It sounds nice, but dolphins are very good predators and could easily harm an autistic child in the water. You wouldn’t put your child in the water with a shark, so why a dolphin? They can be just as lethal, if spooked.
People also often mistakenly assume that captive dolphins are happy, because they are always smiling. In fact, dolphins can’t move their facial muscles so they will always look like that, even if they are thoroughly miserable, bored and depressed.
