Abuse of Dolphins

Essay # 58101

Environmental Studies > Wildlife Protection

Abuse of Dolphins

A thorough examination of the phenomenon of dolphins in captivity.

2,350 words () | 8 sources | MLA | 2005

Paper Summary:

This paper argues that, while many human rights activists argue against captivity of dolphins from an emotional, exaggerated, and subjective point of view, an objective analysis of the circumstances of captive dolphins indicates that these animals respond negatively to use as creatures of entertainment. It also explains that their living environments are simply inappropriate for their needs, and their exploitation for entertainment and profit communicates a negative message of man's right to dominate and abuse wild creatures, providing strong support for the passage of laws, which prohibit holding dolphins in captivity.

From the Paper:

"Man's inhumanity towards his fellow creatures takes many forms and falls into two categories: the obvious and the subtle. Humanity's confidence in its superiority over other creatures and attitude towards these creatures as not only sources of food and necessary clothing, but as luxury clothing, sports and entertainment has motivated various obvious acts of cruelty . Among these acts are hunting and killing wild animals for pleasure, slaughtering elephants for their ivory, trapping minks and skinning them for the fur, and using creatures such as white mice for lab testing, to name only a few. On the more subtle level, at least to the majority, cruelty takes the form of capturing wild animals, removing them from their natural habitats, locking them up in small cages or water tanks and using them for human entertainment. This treatment has given rise to a great battle between animal rights activists on one side, and zoos and water amusement parts on the other, with each apparently unwilling to compromise with the other. One of the creatures that is a subject of great debate is the dolphin. Animal activists, such as the biologist director of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Ben White, states that captured dolphins, trained to entertain people through cute tricks such as fetching Frisbees or jumping through rings, "are literally dying to amuse us," and that "to ignore dolphin suffering is like protesting child abuse but refusing to help a child being beaten before our eyes." Those who support holding dolphins in captivity, among them vets, animal trainers and biologists, such as Stoskopf, , argue that these creatures are offered a better quality of life than they have in the oceans and seas, "such as high-quality medical care, constant supply of food and freedom from predators" (Stoskopf qtd. in Riley and Faulkner). Careful evaluation of the nature of the dolphins as social, communicative and intelligent creatures who are transformed into captive tools for human entertainment, and assessment of the psychological reactions of the dolphins to their captivity, often motivating suicide, as observed by several animal experts such as Jean Cousteau (Riley and Faulkner) , illustrates that while some of the more reputable amusement parks such as Sea World, do treat captured dolphins well and offer them the best available care, dolphins must not be held as prisoners for human entertainment. While many human rights' activists do argue against captivity of dolphins from an emotional, exaggerated and subjective point of view, an objective analysis of the circumstances of captive dolphins, indicates that these animals respond negatively to use as creatures of entertainment, that their living environments are simply inappropriate for their needs, and their exploitation for entertainment and profit communicates a negative message of man's right to dominate and abuse wild creatures, providing strong support for the passage of laws which prohibit holding dolphins in captivity."