Appeal for Dolphin Protection

     We, the represented organizations and individuals, value our oceans and the marine life within. To protect one of the seas' greatest treasures - dolphins - we ask leaders in government and the tourism industry to consider the following facts:

• Dolphins were born to wander. They swim dozens of miles per day, exploring all the wonders of the endless world around them. While some dolphins establish a home territory, others migrate, visiting numerous continents in their lifetimes. Freedom and movement are hallmarks of a dolphin's life.
  
  
• A dolphin's most amazing gift is its sonar. It uses this skill to examine the huge world around it, search for food and identify friends and foes in the area. Sonar to a dolphin is like the human senses of sight, sound, touch and smell, all rolled into one. A dolphin that becomes deprived of its sonar in captivity is greatly incapacitated.
  
  
• As the most intelligent creatures in the sea, the lives of dolphins seem to mirror our own in many ways. They can be expressive and joyful when they are at play, riding waves at the surface or racing to great depths. Dolphins are protective of their young, who stay with their mothers for several years. And family units, bound by lifelong ties, express profound grief when a member of the pod is lost.

     A dolphin's natural world provides everything it needs: room to move, family to love and endless opportunities to exercise its intellectual gifts. These fundamental needs cannot be met in the artificial environment of captivity created by the entertainment industry.

     Tragically, dolphins continue to be chased down by speedboats and taken from their homes and families forever. The captured animals are then sold and shipped off to swim-with-dolphins centers or theme parks. Worse yet, dolphins are now being bred in captivity solely for their market value. These offspring will never know the freedom that was once a birthright of this species.

     This group of concerned animal protection organizations calls upon the decision makers in government agencies to reject any proposal for new captive dolphin programs of any kind. Further, we call upon the entertainment industry to end its exploitation of dolphins and other marine creatures. We invite the public to join us in this appeal today.

--ends--