Alberto Lejarraga
Environmentalists have exposed Spain as the European country with the largest number of dolphins in captivity.
NGO World Animal Protection slams the Mediterranean country for keeping 93 dolphins captive, which accounts for 30% of the individuals of the species in this situation in Europe.
The majority of these specimens (20) are at Valencia’s Oceanografic.
Spain has almost 60 more dolphins in captivity than Portugal, the second European country on the list with 35 individuals.
Followed by Ukraine (33), the Netherlands (25), France (23) and Italy (23).
“Dolphins in captivity have no choice but to perform up to three times a day in exchange for food. The rest of their time is spent in tiny pools which are 200,000 times smaller than the space in which they would live in the wild,” World Animal Protection said.
The NGO added: “They are forced to live in poor conditions, locked in small pools for decades, just for the enjoyment of humans.”
The activists specifically referred to the Oceanografic of Valencia as a negative example of the situation.
“Twenty dolphins are exploited, enclosed in concrete tanks. During the shows, the Oceanografic has a manipulative discourse under the pretext of conservation and education that is totally unacceptable and incoherent,” Sandra Campinas, Campaign Coordinator in Spain said.
She continued: “The dolphins are not ‘ambassadors of their species in freedom’, as the Oceanografic claims. They are prisoners. And they are being held for the sole purpose of entertainment.”
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