The suffering of captive dolphins: the legal fight on the poolside
Planète Sauvage (Wild Planet) is fighting One Voice at the Tribunal of Nantes at 9am on the 27th of October to demand the annulment of the official bailiff’s report, which was carried out under the judge’s authorisation and deals with the dolphin’s detention conditions and their state of wellbeing. One Voice does not understand this fierce opposition from Planète Sauvage and is demanding new investigations following the births of the two baby dolphins.
One Voice had reported on the particular situation of the young Galéo, 7 years old, born at Park Asterix in 2009, who was taken away from his mother four years later. Since his arrival at Planète Sauvage in January 2015, this young dolphin has become the whipping boy for the other dolphins. His body is covered with injuries and worrying skin disfiguration.
In April 2016, One Voice rushed Dr Ingrid Visser, the world-recognised New Zealand marine biologist, with many expert witness testimonials under her belt, to Planet Sauvage. Her conclusions regarding Galeo’s state of health led to a complaint being filed for maltreatment and a petition being launched (more than 10,000 signatures collected to date). In her 20 years of experience following captive and wild cetaceans, Dr Visser has never seen a dolphin in such a poor state, also condemning the inadequate detention conditions there. Confronted with these circumstances, One Voice had to obtain a bailiff’s report on the state of the dolphins, Galeo in particular, and their detention conditions.
Planète Sauvage objects to the publishing of the bailiff’s report, which highlights the absence of shade to protect the cetaceans from light, the brightness of the pools, the presence of algae, the complete lack of enhancement of the pools, the bare concrete walls with nowhere to retreat to… and records Galeo’s turnout, “a small dolphin […] with many teeth marks inflicted by the dominant members of the group.”
The dolphinarium is hiding behind the latest verification carried out by the DDPP* following One Voice’s complaint. But this report is clearly incomplete and out of date. Two dolphins have since been born, and the five adult dolphins, including Galeo, are now confined in the show pool.
In Planète Sauvage’s smear campaign against One Voice, they haven’t hesitated to question the competence of its president, of its committee, of the European coalition Dolphinaria-Free Europe of which One Voice is a member, and of Dr Ingrid Visser, who it introduces as a Doctor of Philosophy when she is, in fact, a Doctor in marine biology.
Muriel Arnal, One Voice’s president states:
“We are asking the tribunal to validate the official bailiff’s report or to allow us to undertake another one. I am very worried about the birth of the two baby dolphins. In the dolphinariums, they are brought up by mothers who are isolated and unsure how to bring up their young in this artificial environment, from whom they are taken away very early. They can’t benefit from the handing down of culture and group dialect and are sentenced to turn in circles in empty pools. We won’t give up on Galeo, One Voice will continue to fight for his freedom and that of all captive dolphins.”
* Direction départementale de la protection des populations: Local French authority concerned with animal welfare (amongst other things)