Femke, a broken-hearted mother

She could behave like other typical captive cetaceans: she could gnaw against the concrete pool sides, throw herself against the walls and attack other captive dolphins… But Femke, born free and captured off the Florida coast, is not there yet. After almost 40 years of captivity, she is totally adrift and seems to be dying of sadness. When she was filmed last October, Femke stayed away from the other dolphins and had stopped participating in the presentations. She was fading away, isolated in her despair after her only reason to survive in these tiny, sad pools was torn away from her.

Arriving in Park Asterix in 2008, Femke gave birth to Ekinox, her only son - a blessed moment in her long life in captivity. She also survived a normally fatal serious illness. Today, she is unable to swim normally because of her poor deformed and scarred body.

In 2016, her child, who was still very young, was taken away from her to stock the Attica Park pools, a Greek zoo which is a member of the marine circuses network organised throughout Europe. Ekinox, released with the other males, who have also been separated at a young age from their mothers, will probably waste away there. But in the name of genetics, transfers must be encouraged…. So families are torn apart, individuals are crushed.

As for Femke, she seems to have given up already. The images filmed at the beginning of the "season" are distressing. What sort of a show has a limp dolphin present, meandering lethargically in its bowl whilst the others perform!

"Femke's mental and physical state is extremely worrying and requires urgent specialist veterinary expertise", attests our veterinary consultant, Pierre Gallego, who observed her at length on the 19th of April. One Voice has referred this request to the prefect and doesn't count on just doing that whilst Femke's state deteriorates.

This tragedy affects all dolphinariums. Share the story of Femke and Ekinox on your networks and sign our petition! Let's stop this suffering…