Wednesday October 14, 2009, 12:24 am
Richard (Ric) O'Barry is a marked man. Whenever he travels to Taiji, a tiny former whaling village on the southern coast of Japan, he has to wear a disguise. There are people there who would like to kill him. Or, at the very least, give him a severe beating and run him out of town. Nevertheless, he goes there every year – he has just returned – dodging police tails and shadowy underworld figures as he tries to put an end to the annual slaughter of thousands of dolphins that he inadvertently helped to start.


"I spend more time with people who want to kill me than with my four-year-old daughter and my wife," he says. O'Barry lives in Coconut Grove in Florida, and though he will be 70 next month, he has the vigour and passion of a young man. And, like many activists, he is thorny, single-minded, committed and difficult. He has to be.

During the 1960s, O'Barry pioneered the underwater training of dolphins for the American film and television show Flipper. A kind of aquatic Lassie, Flipper lived in a fictional marine park in Florida and helped out with sea rescues and crime busting, while keeping an eye on Sandy and Bud, the children of the park's warden and the (human) heroes of the show.

O'Barry, a former Navy diver, started out in the Miami Seaquarium, one of only three dolphinariums in the world at the time. He caught five female bottlenose dolphins in the wild to play the role of Flipper (females are less aggressive and so don't come with the scars that male dolphins inevitably pick up). The five were called Patty, Kathy, Scotty, Squirt and Suzy. The role of Flipper was played predominantly by Suzy, however, and she and O'Barry formed a close bond.

Until then no one had trained dolphins underwater, and it was O'Barry's diving skills that came to the fore. "They'd give me the script and it said Flipper does this, and I'd have to figure out a way to get her to do it," O'Barry says. It was a good life. He lived in the house used in the filming, at the Seaquarium in Florida, with the five dolphins just down the beach.

The show was a worldwide hit and introduced millions of people to the grace and intelligence of dolphins. Unsurprisingly, they wanted to see these amazing creatures for themselves – to watch them walk on their tails, or leap high out of the water through hoops. And so dolphinariums sprung up all over the world – there are now more than a hundred – giving rise to a multibillion-dollar trade in live dolphins.

At the time no one, least of all O'Barry, knew the effects of captivity on dolphins: that, free in the oceans, they swim 40 to 100 miles a day; that the chemicals in the water causes health problems and blindness; that the life span of a captive dolphin is reduced from around 25 years in the wild to about five; that half of all dolphins die within 90 days of capture.

"Very few people see dolphin captivity as a problem," O'Barry says. "The dolphin is smiling, the music is playing, the sun is out, everyone's having fun. What's not to like?

"But apart from the other problems, they also have a problem with inbreeding. The live trade is banned in Europe and America. They want to capture dolphins in the wild but they can't import them in the US or Mexico or Europe. Some are imported through Turkey, however. The Dominican Republic has a large dolphin show called Ocean World. They tried to import 12 dolphins from Taiji for around £1m. We went to the government and asked them to stop it, which they did. So now Ocean World is suing me for $300m. I go to court on 2 November."

The turning point for O'Barry came in 1970. The film Flipper had been released in 1963, and the spin-off TV series ran from 1964 to 1967. After that, Suzy retired and remained in the Miami Seaquarium where she was looked after by O'Barry. He had started to notice her unhappiness, however, and when she died in his arms, he was convinced she'd committed suicide. "Dolphins are not automatic air breathers," he says. "Every breath for them is a conscious effort. She looked me right in the eye, took a breath and held it. She just sank to the bottom of the water. That had a profound effect on me. So the next day I started a campaign to stop the capture of dolphins. It was Flipper's death that made me realise that dolphins shouldn't be in captivity."

Wednesday October 14, 2009, 3:03 am
Noted. Very Interesting story. Great guy. Thanks

Wednesday October 14, 2009, 5:24 am
i never visit zoos or marine parks what did the poor creatures to do deserve life in prison?

Wednesday October 14, 2009, 5:49 am
Sad story and i remember flipper...a amazing dolphin....clearly it did have a profound effect...something you would never forget,im pleased O'Barry is doing his utmost to stop dolphins living in captivity

Wednesday October 14, 2009, 12:37 pm
Will these people blood lust ever stop. These intelligent animals confined in a small tank and they call it freedom. Those savages can not think further than their noses and the skull is empty.

Wednesday October 14, 2009, 12:44 pm
Thanks Claudia!

Wednesday October 14, 2009, 1:00 pm
This is so sad I remember Flipper well I absloutely loved that movie. Very sad to hear what happened to poor flipper,but I think it was a direct cry for help for future generations.
Thanks Claudia

Wednesday October 14, 2009, 1:32 pm
Mentalities as this evolves from the concept that(whether through religion or monetary greed and a few others) all was placed here on earth for man's benefit and amusement. That style of thinking has to cease, with a respect and even a reverence to take hold in replacing it. We should not be here in taking advantage of all else that is here. Responsibilty in most is sometimes an elusive factor.

Wednesday October 14, 2009, 2:01 pm
I had no idea of this story of flipper and I am thank you for you sharing it. I am complete agreement and support of what you are doing about it now. Thank you for making a difference.

Wednesday October 14, 2009, 2:38 pm
A very nice article and story. Thanks Claudia

Wednesday October 14, 2009, 2:44 pm
I still have never understood why one would kill these great creatures when they have proved their compassion for man...they could have let the men they found just drown...

Big goirlly hgs

Wednesday October 14, 2009, 3:55 pm
This is too sad! Good work on helping dolphins O' Barry!

Wednesday October 14, 2009, 7:31 pm
Well, this man is a good model to follow! Thank you Claudia.

Wednesday October 14, 2009, 9:27 pm
In light of all the information that has come to light over the years regarding dolphins, we shouldn't even have to have films and reports to convince the world at large that dolphins should be left in the oceans. Mind you, this is coming from a person who has dreamed of "swimming with the dolphins" at some sort of "dolphin esperience" venue. I remember kidding my daughter when she had occasion to swim with a dolphin, that I was the one who always wanted the experience, and she beat me to it.

I've had an affinity for dolphins for so long that I even gave an Informative Speech in an Oral Communications class in college some 25 years ago. Even after that speech, which garnered me top grade, I still wanted to swim with the dolphins, until the last decade or so. The more I heard, read and saw of the damage we humans were causing, even with "just" capturing them, no less than killing them, I could no longer do the swim even if the opportunity were handed to me. While I would still love to swim along side a dolphin, it would only be on the dolphins terms ie, if I were swimming and one came along side me in the wild. Since that is not very likely to happen, it is a dream I put aside with a bit of sadness, but knowing it is the right thing.

Sorry everyone, for another mini essay. Along with Wolves, Harp Seals and Whales, I tend to get a bit overanimated when thinking and talking about these beautiful creatures given to us to take care of.

Lync

Thursday October 15, 2009, 12:31 am
I find it so sad to confine these magnificent creatures for human pleasure, all the while taking away their freedom..Perhaps we should all have a ta of what it must feel for them, and then mabe , just mabe , there would be secon thoughts..Thank you for sharing! I love all animals and not a one should have to suffer this way!

Thursday October 15, 2009, 12:51 am
"Flipper" was played by five different female dolphins. One of them, Suzy, committed suicide by drowning, ie. she sank and didn't come up again to breathe, probably because she couldn't stand the life in a tank any longer.
Dolphinariums should not exist, imho. So cruel to wild animals.

Thursday October 15, 2009, 6:46 am
Its sad to know tht the dolphins are being slaughtered like this....Its at times like this I feel helpless..

Thursday October 15, 2009, 8:28 am

I have long felt that forcing other creatures to perform stupid "tricks" for entertainment was nothing less than slavery, especially those pulled from their natural habitat homes and forced to "work" for human amusement. Cirque du Soliel was a breath of fresh air in this department, allowing human creativity and humour to shine, instead of forcing other beings to "perform" against their will.

Dolphin circuses - let's be honest here, that's what a dolphinarium really is - are no different than those land-based shows that drag around elephants and force them to stand on their hind legs. It doesn't matter which creature is being forced to perform, it's the idea of holding them captive and forcing them to do this and starving, beating, or otherwise "punishing" them if they don't.

There's just no excuse for this - humans need to let go of the idea that other creatures exist for our "use," plain and simple.

Thursday October 15, 2009, 9:36 am
I spent a summer on Dolphin Key, named purely because it was beloved by the dolphins in the area--it had a narrow opening to the inlet, which no predators were able get through---the sharks that could were not looking to eat larger predators...lol.

and I bonded, in an 'interspecies bond', that was that of your very smartest beloved pet cat or dog times 100.
I truly empathise with this man's loss--I cried when I had to leave, the way children cry when they're leaving to go to camp.

And to this day, I still recount the AMAZING psychic connections I had to my kids, and to my brother's kids.

They were HAPPY when they made YOU happy...!!!

The dolphins weren't encaged--they could leave any time they wanted,often waving 'bye-bye' as they left, abd arrivng back with a glorious show of joy of how GOOOD it was to see you, dearly beloved friend.

I often wish EVERYBODY had had this experience--it totally changed my life.

They seemed to understand, intrinsically, that we were all intertwined--so MY happiness depended on keeping YOU happy.

Namaste, and thank you, as always, Claudia! xo

Thursday October 15, 2009, 10:02 am
I didnt know all that.

Thursday October 15, 2009, 12:46 pm
"Delphinus is Latin for "dolphin," and historians have traced the dolphin symbolism back to ancient times. The constellation's image as a marine creature--dolphin, fish, or porpoise--was shared by a number of ancient cultures, including the Greeks, Arabs, Romans, and East Indian and the many stories featuring the dolphin all celebrate this animal's friendliness and service to gods and humans". Centuries ago, man showed gratitude and appreciation towards dolphins. How much has been lost of the ancient moral quality of man due to greed!!

Friday October 16, 2009, 12:47 am
thx Claudia for your relentless work to save Mother Oceans creatures...g'donya Ric, youre a legend...dolphins in captivity iz inhumane and should be banned...

Friday October 16, 2009, 7:01 am
Thanks so much for sharing this; a great inspirational story. As a child, I was taken to several of these and visited Sea World on a trip to San Diego. I, like he, didn't realize or think about how cruel it is to capture them for our selfish entertainment. I believe Suzy would be happy to know that O'Barry is now working to help dolphins remain in the wild!

Friday October 16, 2009, 4:31 pm
Thanks Claudia. But I have another true story to tell:

If it must the cruelty with that you will be them humans, to be civilized, kill hundreds of the famous and very intelligent, little gulfs Calderon! All years this happens on the Feroe Island in Dinamarc! On this massacre participate specially young people!Why?
- To show off that they grow up and adults!!!
In such celebration, nothing is lacking for the fun EVERYBODY PARTICIPATE OF A WAY OR OF ANOTHER ONE, killing or seeing the cruelty "supporting it as the spectator".
This dolphin online approach the man to play and interact to show his pure friendship.
They do not die instantaneamente, healthy cut an or twice with coarse clasps. In that moment the little gulfs produce a well similar shrill sound to the crying of a newborn!
But it suffers and there is no compassion to that this docile be bleeds slowly and suffer with huge wound until lose conscience and die in his own blood.

We must do something!!!

Sunday October 18, 2009, 7:40 am
He was on Paul O'Grady's show ( UK ) a few days ago promoting the film "The Cove". I hope this film can put an end to the slaughter that goes on there. Such beautiful intelligent creatures being killed in such unimaginable pain should not be allowed to continue.

Sunday October 18, 2009, 7:51 am
There are those who have said it better than I can, and long before this:

"To live without killing is a thought which could electrify the world, if men were only capable of staying awake long enough to let the idea soak in."
Henry Miller, The Henry Miller Reader (1959)

As Mark Twain said,
"Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it. It is a trait that is unknown to the higher animals."

The Buddha, living in the East at the same time as Pythagoras was living in the West, said to his followers, "All beings tremble before violence. All fear death. All love life. See yourself in others. Then whom can you hurt? What harm can you do?"

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” Ghandi

"Each animal is an individual who brings to the world the mystery of a mind, a heart, a language, a memory, a unique personality, a biography."

Not to hurt our humble brethren (the animals) is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission--to be of service to them whenever they require it... If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.
-- Saint Francis of Assisi

But now ask the beasts to teach you, and the birds of the air to tell you, or the reptiles on the earth to instruct you, and the fish of the sea to inform you. Which of all these creatures does not know that the hand of God has done this. In His hand is the soul of every living thing, and the life breath of all. Job 12: 7-10

Blessed Be

Tuesday October 20, 2009, 8:34 am
Noted and read. Thank you Claudia.

Thursday October 22, 2009, 2:35 am
Thanks for this article, Claudia.

Thursday October 22, 2009, 2:51 pm
Richard O'Barry how grand!

Thursday October 22, 2009, 5:31 pm
Good on Ric O Barry noted.

Friday October 23, 2009, 1:31 am
My curiosity stands with the question of what ever made any one individual think it was ok to confine and control to begin with. Is this not wrong in any since? Its imprisonment, it’s sad and inhumane. These and many other creatures of our planet have been taken advantage of because they are voiceless, at least to the human ear. Such a stupid excuse. Humans feel threatened, if they don’t understand the next best thing is control no mater what or who it is.
But big hugs and thanks to O'Barry for the the wonderful efforts!!!!!
Thanks Claudia very heartfelt story..