Give the dolphins back their smiles....

The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) just launched their ‘Suffering, not smiling’ campaign, which aims to raise awareness on the plight of dolphins and urge Singaporeans not to support marine parks that keep dolphins in captivity. The greatest abuse suffered by captive dolphins lies in confinement itself. Dolphins are highly pelagic animals and have large home ranges of about 30-400 square kilometers in the wild. The Dolphin Lagoon in Singapore measures one hectare, this represents only 0.0003 per cent of the dolphin’s natural home range! Clearly, this is detrimental to the welfare of the animals.

Indo-Pacific hump-backed dolphins (Sousa chinensis) are also notoriously shy animals. Forcing these shy dolphins to perform unnatural acts and forcing them to participate in contact sessions with humans further compromises their welfare. The unnatural acts during the dolphin shows also contradict earlier statements by UWS stating that the dolphins would not be made to perform tricks "which are unnatural".

· The cruel confinement of these ocean mammals
· The conduct of captive research, which is of little, if any, relevance to the conservation of wild dolphins
· The deprivation of the dolphins' instinct and natural way of life, including loss of their social structure and enforced dependence on humans for food
· The dangers of human-dolphin contact, including the possible transmission of disease.