dolphin defenders guidebook
A Guidebook for Dolphin Defenders
by Richard O'Barry
Like any other business, the dolphin captivity industry is based on supply and demand. As long as there are people willing to buy tickets to watch dolphins perform tricks, dolphins will be captured from the wild and trained to perform for huge paying audiences. Therefore, the key to putting a stop to the exploitation of dolphins is to reach the consumers. I am sure that if the public knew what really goes on behind the glittering scene of the captive dolphin spectacle, most would revolt against it. In other words, rather than buying tickets to watch dolphins perform, they would be helping us free them.
Getting worldwide public opinion on our side, getting people to see what we see at a dolphin show, that's our big goal. And we're making some progress overall, winning in some parts of the world; losing in others. If people understand our message, they'll join us. I'm sure of that. If they can realize that when we talk about “dolphin abuse,” we don't necessarily mean that they're being kicked or neglected. Being in captivity itself is abusive. For a wild dolphin swimming free, being captured and plunged into a tank that's like a teacup, how could that not be abusive?
The other side, and why they hate us
Owners of dolphin shows and the people who work there have a huge advantage. For openers, many people like the shows. They're amused by the silly dolphin antics. Or they love the spectacles of animal domination, and the more amazing the animal, the more they love it. Chances are they'll never understand what we are trying to do. But a lot of others are borderline. They will listen to us and to their own heart.
The other side has lots of money, billions of dollars. As part of the establishment, they make money and pay taxes. They're good citizens. They advertise, they support the chamber of commerce, and as far as the government is concerned, dolphin shows are just another taxable business.
But it's an ugly business, and that's our key to winning.
Since many people are amused by dolphins doing tricks, the key to our campaign is to show them that it's not amusing, that in fact it's disgusting. If we could convince even a third of the people who go to these shows that it's actually exploitation of the most unforgivable kind, the shows would end tomorrow.
Why do they hate us? They hate us because if we succeed, they go down in flames.
Getting Organized
When launching a campaign it is a good idea to get in touch with animal protection organizations that already work on this issue such as Animal Welfare Institute, Earth Island Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy, In Defense of Animals.
Animal protection organizations are practically everywhere, but not all of them work on the dolphin captivity issue. Unfortunately, some groups simply post information about the dolphin captivity issue on their websites for fund-raising purposes. Do your homework and ask them exactly what they are doing on this issue. Log onto your computer and surf the web, call newspapers, check at city hall and the chamber of commerce for organizations that are already working on the kind of campaign you wish to conduct. If you find one, join them. If none of the organizations you contact work on the dolphin captivity issue, maybe you can get them interested in starting such a campaign.
In working for dolphins or any other cause, you'll discover that you need to communicate with some government agencies, as well as people in the media, law enforcement officials and civic organizations. You'll need to write to these people from time to time, they'll get to know your name, you'll make appointments to talk to them at their office and later, perhaps, you'll get to know them well enough so that you can just drop by if you have a special problem or a question. You may get lucky; some of these people may be closet animal protection supporters.
If you have a special problem, something that needs immediate attention, consider calling in the media. Their job is reporting special problems.
And don't forget civic clubs. If you like to speak publicly, every civic club in the world is looking for someone interesting to talk to them. If you do a good job at your first one, they'll all want you. This is an excellent way to recruit more members to your cause.
Dealing with the law
The legislation concerning dolphin captivity is different in every country. You will need to research what the law says in the specific country you are dealing with. If you find it's too complicated to do, contact an animal welfare organization in that country. They will be more than happy to help you find the information you are looking for. In fact, they probably already have the specific legislation on file and can send it to you in a matter of a few days.
In some cases the legislation regarding the keeping of cetaceans will support you in your efforts to stop a planned dolphinarium. But be prepared that in most cases it won't.
The media
Unless you can get your story out to the public, you will get nowhere in your campaign. You need the media for that. But don't call it “publicity.” A reporter or journalist of any media is not interested in your publicity. Reporters are interested in news or a good story. The reporter comes to you because he or she needs facts for the story. So you must deal in facts. Don't guess. Don't offer your opinion, your suspicion, or your hope as fact. And if you don't know the answer to a question, just say so. But if you know anything at all that the reporter needs to know, say that. Be helpful, and honest.
Don't even think about manipulating the press. You don't want to be manipulated, do you? Well, neither do reporters. And they know immediately when you try to manipulate them. Instead, think in terms of getting the information out to the public. That's what the reporter is thinking. Don't fool yourself about what the reporter should be doing. He/she is never looking for the truth. Two and two are four is true, but reporters never write about it. The reporter is looking for a good story. But only if it's true. If you help him/her, the reporter will appreciate it by calling on you in the future.
Play it straight. And don't be surprised if the media is not on your side or even fair. They usually listen to all sides of a controversy and sometimes they might favor the other side. Remember that most aquariums and amusement parks spend a fortune advertising in the local media, and newspapers and TV stations don't want to alienate their client.
Providing background
When you supply information to a reporter, have the background and supporting data of your story available. If you're talking about the law regarding dolphins, for instance, acknowledge that the law doesn't reflect our views about abuse and we're working to change it. From our viewpoint, captivity is abusive in itself. But in a climate of abuse, captivity as a form of abuse seems to be invisible to many people. Our campaign is to get them to see what we see. We want them to realize that putting dolphins in captivity is an abuse of power. Dolphins didn't volunteer to be clowns in our world. They were captured in a froth of violence and plunked into a business to amuse people, a world where they must play the fool just to stay alive. Some of these dolphins were born into this dead end job.
Until the law is changed, all we can legally do is inveigh against captivity and take note of more obvious kinds of abuse. If you were to witness a trainer kicking a dolphin, that's clearly abusive. Don't expect to see abuse like that, though. A trainer kicking a dolphin would be fired. And most trainers wouldn't dream of kicking their dolphins.
Collecting facts
Since our value as an organization is based on the facts we gather, let's consider how facts are gathered. Read books about dolphins and take notes. When you read newspapers and magazines, clip out items that relate to dolphins. This will help you learn about them. Develop a file system and date entries in your files. In collecting facts, collect complete facts, which includes exactly who did what to whom and when. Everything you learn about the subject can be put in the files and dated. From time to time, you might want to make sub-files and a key to them that will allow you to go directly to a particular item.
In your reading, you will run across the names of people who are quoted about dolphins. Collect their names and what they said in the stories. Later you can call them for verification and further information.
Gathering facts in the field about captive dolphins is sometimes quite challenging because you can't be sure that the names dolphins have are correct. Little honky-tank dolphin road shows and even the largest, most prestigious of dolphinariums have been known to substitute one dolphin for another whenever it suited them. Get to know the dolphins individually. Check out their dorsal fins, for instance. Dorsal fins in ideal dolphins are always perfect. But the dorsal fins of real dolphins are often flawed. Note the dolphin's general size, his eyes and skin condition. Many have nicks and scars.
Don't be confused by rake marks. When dolphins play or fight with one another, their teeth leave temporary superficial scrape marks on the side of their fellow dolphins' skin, the marks as if you had run your fingernails down their side. This is not necessarily abuse; it happens with dolphins in a tank, and in the wild. But for other signs you can get photos for verification if you need them. Take a video camera with you to record what you're talking about.
Legal concerns
The trick is to expose the people who need to be exposed as much as possible, without getting sued.
During interviews and in your printed material don't let your enthusiasm exceed the facts. Neither should you assume that quoted material you've found in the media is correct. It would be correct to say that John Doe was quoted saying “Such and such” in a certain edition of a periodical, but not that he actually said it. If you need to know whether he actually said it or not, you should verify it with him directly. And even then, it would not necessarily survive cross-examination in a court of law unless you can prove it with a witness who would back you up.
Watch out for libel. But don't be paralyzed by it. I'm not a lawyer, but I have a working theory about libelous statements in the United States: If you deal in facts and your motives are pure, don't worry about it.
Libel is too complicated to examine here except in a cursory way. You should know, however, that libel is not merely a false statement. Nobody is perfect. Libel is a statement that is published (meaning circulated to the public) and injures somebody's reputation. (Your reputation is what other people think of you.) What you write in a private letter is not libelous because it's not published. You also cannot libel the dead or anyone with a bad reputation. And it's very difficult to libel a public figure, the reason being that he put himself in the public eye and must take the risk of criticism.
As a practical matter, any statement that might injure anyone's reputation should be checked and rechecked. If the statement is true and you can prove it, go ahead and use it if you need to. Bottom line: Truth and a lack of malice is an absolute defense to charges of libel, provided you can prove it and there was a good reason to publish it in the first place.
One further thing: libel is not easy to prove. In order for the person libeled to collect in a court of law, he must show (prove) that the statement led directly to his financial loss.
Try to enlist the help of a pro-bono lawyer. If you have the money, hire one that is interested in these issues.
Using the data
So when you've gathered the information, what do you do with it?
Sometimes we have so much material that strongly indicates mistreatment of dolphins, we can go directly to the police or prosecuting attorney. In either case you will be expected to cite the law or regulation you claim is being broken and who broke it, when and where.
If your information doesn't support criminal charges, it may be strong enough for the media. Send a press release to all newspapers and TV stations in the area. They all have reporters interested in legitimate environmental subjects. Generally they're leery of a story that could backfire into a lawsuit that would cost them money - even if they win it. So you can expect them to be skeptical at first. And if they suspect that your information is not completely accurate, they'll show you the door.
Use your spell-checker. People who can spell correctly are taken more seriously.
Writing letters to the editor should always include your full name, address, and telephone number. Newspapers will most likely call you, before publishing your letter, they need to confirm that it was you who wrote the letter.
More than facts
We need facts, but the main thrust of our campaign is moral. We're saying that keeping dolphins in captivity is wrong.
Our objective is to shut down captive dolphin facilities and stop any further captures and exploitation of dolphins. Ultimately, what we want to do is free captive dolphins; return them to the wild if possible. Not all captive dolphins can be successfully released back into the wild, of course. Some dolphins have been in captivity too long and sometimes they've forgotten even how to catch a life fish or eat one. Can we tell whether a captive dolphin can make it in the wild or not? Definitely.
We don't do it by training them to be free dolphins, incidentally. That's impossible. But we can give them a chance for rehabilitation by weaning them away from everything human beings have taught them and reacquainting them with the skills they depended on as dolphins in nature.
If they succeed, they're candidates for freedom. We release them, monitor them till we're sure they're okay in the wild, and then go on to the next case. For those who are not candidates, we can try to transfer them to protective custody. Our coalition would like to establish a dolphin sanctuary for these particular dolphins.
