A group of dolphins swim freely between Bali and Java free traveling circuses dolphins and restaurant pools photos by Mick Curley
"We just want to protect dolphins, but we must wear bulletproof vests? It's ridiculous! "Femke said the Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN) as 12 men in black uniforms cursed JAAN" save the dolphins "efforts outside the place of @america at Pacific Place Mall in Jakarta. Ric O'Barry, star of the Oscar award winning documentary the Cove dolphins and representing the Earth Island Institute (USA) was there with JAAN to meet with the Minister of Forestry Mr. Zulkifli Hasan and US Ambassador Scott Marciel to discuss freeing captive dolphins used as dining attractions in pools and in traveling circuses. just to bring all the speed, Indonesia is one of the last countries in the world to allow traveling circuses of dolphins, but will hopefully be over.
Save an animal or marine mammal in this case should never have to come as far as wearing body armor in fear of aggression. Fortunately nothing but threats were made by men black and looks good out of this first public meeting 6th February to @america. During the brief meeting, the Minister of Forests Hasan admitted JAAN these types of traveling circuses and dolphin pools restaurants are illegal and was surprised that they still existed. In his words, he promised to find where they were and, "If necessary, I will go myself and dissolve."
There are two known places in Bali that include dolphins in pools as attractions. one is the Akame restaurant in Benoa, and the other is the Excelsior hotel Melka in Lovina which is marketed as, "the first hotel in the world with dolphins in their pools for swimming." as you can see, this is not something normal or authorized in other parts of the world.
reports are that a pool holding Central Java is responsible for the sale of these dolphins shows and mobile circuses. a law on the Indonesian biodiversity is being used as a loophole to allow the operation of the dolphin pool on the grounds that the dolphins were saved. from the pool to the circus pool or restaurant becomes a trade area gray, but that is the basic mechanics of how dolphins are available for sale.
The problem is that captivity in small pools is seriously detrimental to the health of dolphins and many of them die young to work. The chlorine in the water helps keep pools clean through several cycles of customers, but is horrible for throat and skin of a dolphin. Dolphins need large open spaces for their sonar to work, and without their senses are dulled. Dolphins in captivity inadvertently live a much shorter life because of these abnormal circumstances.
Ric O'Barry photo by David Higgs
Ric O'Barry claims a spectacle of dolphins suicide once before the Office after giving up trying to learn tricks in his pool captivity. But with a supply handy replacement dolphins, restaurants in Indonesia have made their attractions daily dolphins for years. Of course there are foreign waterparks such as SeaWorld in America which shows that deal probably good enough living space and food dolphins, but O'Barry's response is that it is "not happy with Sea World or any sort of captive dolphin park. "O'Barry is the original dolphin trainer for the classic TV show Flipper, make lots of money in the process. Something has changed, and soon after, he became the greatest advocate for dolphins , helping to expose the massacre horrific dolphins in Taiji, Japan. Indonesia is his new mission.
circuses dolphins traveling are not much better in the treatment of their show performers. Being flown and trucked in tiny crates around Indonesia is almost clear to any person or animal, or is exposed to extreme gravity changes during flights when your natural habitat is in the ocean. in the shows dolphins are made to jump through hoops on fire among other dangerous acts. it was actually when a person concerned has witnessed a die dolphins during one of the shows and made a call to ask if JAAN there was anything they could do to stop what started the movement to stop the dolphin circuses. To date JAAN is the only Indonesian foundation doing this.
JAAN with Ric O'Barry, began the first pen of the sea Rehabilitation dolphins in Karimun Java to bring the dolphins to health and release them into the sea. The rehabilitation center 50,000 US $ is fully operational and most advanced of its kind, but without any active help from the government, it was not a dolphin he admitted.
Additional support has been coming from across Indonesia as well. affected residents in Bali held a demonstration at Kuta Central Parkir where the dolphin circus took place last year. The event was very effective because it delayed the opening of the show and made it unpopular. Other businesses in Bali as Carrefour, Coca-Cola, the ACE hardware and have vowed never to allow dolphin circuses in their premises.
In Yogyakarta, a group of young Indonesians put together a dolphin puppet show for children for the wrong show these dolphin circuses. For home message, they brought the puppet show in the same places the circus dolphins visited.
And that is why these men in black suits pushed their weight around outside @america when O'Barry (in a bulletproof vest) met with Minister Hasan. dolphin shows and sales of dolphins are worth a lot of money and there is much opposition to end this financial windfall. The men in black were called the "Alliance of Indonesia" and were later found to be paid by those in the business of dolphin to intimidate those at the meeting. Since that first meeting, another meeting was held in late February between O'Barry, JAAN and Forests Minister Hasan as a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to free the dolphins was signed.
After signing the MoU, Minister Hasan traveled to Bali and witness Akame pool Dolphin restaurant where he ordered the two dolphins, Wayan and Made to be released and sent to rehab station JAAN Java Karimun. Strangely it took a few days after this order for the plans to be realized, then right before transporting the dolphins disappeared into thin air. Nobody knows where they are and they have mysteriously disappeared from Akame restaurant and away from the rehabilitation of the pen Karimun sea where they are supposed to be. Research is ongoing with press reports calling the dolphins removed. It is quite difficult to believe that dolphins are so well hidden.
Until the missing dolphins surface, it is a mystery where they are. Although the movement of the dolphins got government support, there are still other powers at work that will try to perpetuate this black market. Tips to stop this industry is not supporting simply by not going to dolphin shows and restaurants. Public opinion and movement are strong enough and solidarity they can change the course of these companies.
Other alternatives are peaceful strengthen dolphin tours that bring people to see dolphins in their natural habitat. This kind of eco tours are really what people want to see - dolphins in their natural environment -not chained in a pool. You can also help by supporting JAAN, and Earth Island Institute Ric O'Barry. This story is still developing, so stay tuned for more information on one of the most intelligent creatures on earth, dolphins.
JAAN SITE: http://jakartaanimalaid.com/blog/programs/aid-for-dolphin/
The draft O'Barry dolphins http: // dolphinproject.org/