Let’s Ban Whale Stadiums from Civilized Society: There is something profoundly obscene about a magnificent creature such as Lolita living and dying in a concrete and glass STADIUM. Unfortunately this abuse is going to continue until the consumer stops buying tickets. There is no other way to stop this madness. It’s all about supply and demand. The government regulators won’t fix the problem—they ARE the problem. A portion of each ticket sold goes to government in the form of taxes—ever since 1938. We’re talking Billions💰 Please take the pledge not to buy a ticket at DolphinProject.com *Painting by Mai Li O’Barry (acrylic on canvas)
A LETTER TO TOKI/LOLITA: “Imagine if Miami Seaquarium had said something like this: “Dear Toki, we are sorry for what humans did to you. We feel enormous guilt that humans stole your entire life from you, and we fully realize the trauma and the irrevocable losses you have suffered since the capture team netted you and dragged you away from your mother, your pod, and your vast ocean world. We are truly sorry.” — Helene O’Barry. Photo by Claire Beatrix Paris, “Until Lolita is Home” (Full story at DolphinProject.com)
“O’Barry’s is the first and only case in Japanese history where a foreigner was deported from Japan by the government and fought the system in court and won.” ~ Takashi Takano, The Law Offices of Takashi Takano. —Full story at: DolphinProject.com (BLOG) Note to the trolls: We came this way to support the Japanese citizens. I was quite happy standing alone on the sidelines. Frankly, I was uncomfortable when the Japanese organizers led me to the front and center of their event. So please keep your unproductive criticism to yourself.
Rambo check-in 🐬 Since the gates were opened at the Umah Lumba Rehabilitation, Release and Retirement Center last September, Rambo has chosen to remain in a nearby area. Our team still has regular sightings of him as he now lives on his own terms. It’s a beautiful thing! Dive deeper into his journey at: https://bit.ly/3N6U1qM #DolphinProject #UmahLumba
Freeing Flipper: Li’i should have gone to a temporary dolphin sanctuary by now—and it’s not too late. Nothing complicated about building one in a well chosen location somewhere on the Pacific coast where his species belongs. We built this simple dolphin sanctuary in less than a week in Laguna, Brazil. Many different configurations will work, but a straight line is the shortest distance between two points. So, this is the fastest, cheapest way to do it in an emergency. We built this one for the last captive dolphin in Brazil, his name was “Flipper.” This temporary sanctuary should not be confused with our floating seapen sanctuary in Bali: Umah Lumba. This sanctuary in Laguna, Brazil is a “fixed” seapen, the poles are driven into the sand bottom, as opposed to a “floating” seapen. As it turned out, Flipper was an excellent candidate for freedom. We simply opened the gate after a few months of intense rehabilitation and gave Flipper a choice. (Freedom is about choices and decisions.) If he had stayed we would have taken care of him forever. He chose freedom. He was seen and photographed 366 days later, 300 miles away. And 22 months later he was still in the area, videotaped by tourists. Measurable progress. Actual proof of success. I’m not suggesting Li’I is a candidate for freedom. Pelagic species like Li’I travel in huge groups, for one thing. It’s complicated. One never knows which dolphin is a candidate until you empty the tank and transfer the dolphin to natural sea water and start the rehabilitation process. #dolphinsanctuaryproject
United we stand, divided we fail: Dolphin Project Supports ALL Japanese citizens, including animal rights activists working hard to abolish the dolphin massacre in Taiji. And it is especially important for EVERYBODY to support the Japanese citizens who are legal residents of Taiji, and brave enough to stand up and be counted. They are very special. We hope many more Japanese citizens will take up residence in Taiji. Why not! It’s very inexpensive to live here. It’s absolutely beautiful, one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world. And the majority of residents are kind and gentle country folks. Please do not let a small minority of dolphin hunters, and dolphin dealers, discourage you. They are not the majority. So if you are a peaceful Japanese citizen looking to relocate out of the city, you might consider moving to Taiji, or a neighboring village. Wish I could do that too, but I’m not a Japanese citizen. But maybe it’s possible in the future, since our lovely daughter Mai Li O’Barry is considering attending the University of Tokyo in the future.
Words of Wisdom From Joe Kleiman: “A few things greatly bother me. First, the media circus that surrounded Toki’s removal from the tank all the way through her departure was an embarrassment. And there was the rush to perform a necropsy. NOAA’s killer whale necropsy guidelines are designed for strandings, thus the rush. But that’s not the case here. I spent a number of years doing dolphin and whale necropsies. We had a huge freezer because you can wait a few days and weeks and still get the same results off a thawed body. There’s no reason she couldn’t have been placed in a refrigerated trailer right away and just kept there at the Seaquarium until the Lummi elders had arrived to pay their respects while she was still whole. It’s a continuing disrespect to Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut and her indigenous relatives from the park in both life and death. And by Eduardo Albor’s logic that he just bought the park and is therefore not responsible for her capture (and I have yet to see him apologize for it), the current ownership of SeaWorld holds no responsibility for what their predecessors did. Corporate responsibility is a real thing. You buy a company, you buy a park, you’re also responsible for the historical baggage you buy with it, regardless of whether your brand is SeaWorld or Seaquarium.” -Joe Kleiman
Measurable progress! Jo at #DolphinFreedomUK did the heavy lifting on this campaign. Thank you Jo! 🙏 #dolphinfreedomuk #dolphinproject
Rambo’s Excellent Adventure: A little over 10 months since three confiscated dolphins were offered their freedom, Rambo, the last remaining dolphin residing near the release site has chosen to depart. On June 17, our team was delighted to observe Rambo swimming with a small pod of wild bottlenose dolphins (three in total) near Menjangan Island, just west of the Umah Lumba Center. After this sighting, he was still seen daily in the national park. Again, on July 19, at approximately 10:00 a.m. local time, Rambo left the bay he had called home since his confiscation. Later that day, Rambo was observed swimming with five bottlenose dolphins once again, near Menjangan Island. Since this last sighting, Rambo has not returned. Read about Rambo’s exciting story by clicking @Dolphin_Project’s link in my bio. Rambo-departs-Umah-Lumba-Center.jpg
Protesting Thomas Cook in London with Helene and Dolphin Freedom U.K.🇬🇧 And it worked! #DolphinProject #DolphinFreedom
“Fear and Loathing in Norway“ 🇳🇴 at: DolphinProject.com
For a Jolly Good Time, join Dolphin Freedom UK on October 4th: Schedule for the day Meet 11:00am Expedia Head Offices 11:00am -12:30pm Expedia Head Offices From here the No. 30 bus takes us directly to the Akatoki Prince Hotel in just under 30 minutes. Meet 1:30pm Akatoki Prince Hotel @2:30pm move to Japanese Embassy (5 minutes walk) 2:30-4:00pm Japanese Embassy As stated this will be a full day of action. Please eat a large breakfast, bring lunch or be prepared to grab lunch on the way. There will be a half hour break in between Expedia and the Prince Hotel to eat lunch and refreshments. (Photo taken from Expedia website, dolphin captured from the Taiji drive)
HOPE: There were probably two dozen police officers at the harbor when I returned for the first time in seven years. A bus load of far-right-wing extremism shown up too. They were looking for trouble. Had the police not been there to intervene, violence would have erupted. The racists punks were very aggressive, loud and nasty. When several of them pushed their way through the crowd to get to me the National Police held them back. One particular person who is associated with the police, and is someone that I have been dealing with for several years, called me aside in the parking lot and gave me a replica of the police car I was arrested in. How cool is that? 👮♀️ He can’t be identified for obvious reasons. He will see this post. I just wanted him and all of the other police officers to know we appreciate them keeping everyone safe while we activists do what we gotta do. The cops aren’t the bad guys, they’re just doing their job, following orders, paying the rent like everyone else. No hard feelings. This act of kindness represents common ground and HOPE.
Yesterday in Tokyo, Japan. September 3, 2023. Dolphin Project Concert Committee Office: Mostly an archives now. Plenty of memories here of those early days when we were young and strong and running wild. Left to right: Masatoshi Iwanagi, Ric O’Barry, Mr. Suzuki and Hiroshi Asada. These three Japanese revolutionaries made history when they connected up with the “Rolling Coconut Review.” We went from the Coconut Grove Playhouse to the Haromi Dome in Tokyo in 1977 to preform with the leading Japanese artists. Before this date in time, Japanese musicians only opened for Westerners. A kind of musical segregation. Working together we changed that. Finally, Japanese and Westerners played together on the same stage for the first time. Our event was called: “Japan Celebrates the Whale and Dolphin.” It was produced by Dolphin Project USA and Dolphin Project Japan. Photo by Lincoln O’Barry #DolphinProject
The annual Taiji dolphin slaughter will end when the good people of Japan rise up against it. #dolphinproject
(Worth repeating) I Still Believe London Holds the Key: Actually it’s the UK arm of the animal welfare industry that holds the key to ending the Taiji dolphin slaughter. Why? Because protesting animal abuse actually produces positive results—well, sometimes, IF the protest is BIG ENOUGH the international media will show up. When that happens change is possible. So let’s try this protest again—this time let’s get our MILLIONS of MEMBERS to join the regular Londoners in the street for once. We’re going to be in front of the Japanese embassy again making lots of noise! WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4th. Thats WORLD ANIMAL DAY. If all the animal welfare groups in the UK would PLEASE inform, invite and encourage their MEMBERS TO PARTICIPATE we could see 100.000 bodies in front of the Japanese embassy, and occupying Green Park too. Sounds like a big number 100.000, but it’s not, it’s actually a small number RELATIVE to the number of members of various animal welfare groups in the UK. The UK has more animal welfare organizations and members than any other country in Europe, I believe. This is a huge resource that is never used in front of the Japanese embassy. There are millions of members and supporters of various UK based organizations who might appreciate being informed. A percentage of those members will show up. If only 1% shows up we will have 100.000 protesters in front of the Building. But If the members are never informed or invited they will never show up. How could they? Awareness is the first step. One cannot take action until one becomes aware. So why don’t we make the millions of members AWARE? Why keep them in the dark? Let’s change our strategy; It’s as simple as sending out an E-blast or an action alert to the membership before the big demo. If we get this protest right JUST ONCE we’ll never have to do it again. So come on UK, let’s do this! 🇬🇧 (No pressure ❤️)
Thank you to all who took positive action for dolphins in Tenerife, Spain! 🐬🐋 This weekend, local advocates joined together for a #DolphinDefenderMonth event to voice opposition against the brutal drive hunts that happen in Taiji, Japan: “The natural sculpture of the skeleton of a whale about 15 meters long that was found dead on the beach of this beautiful place, many years ago. This sculpture is intended to be a tribute to the great ocean travelers, a symbol of sea conservation and a means to guarantee its survival.” September is Dolphin Defender Month- Help speak up for dolphins all month long! Get involved at: https://bit.ly/3AR48s7 #DolphinProject #LetsProtectDolphinsTogether
Umah Lumba, Bali: From Rambo’s departure from the Umah Lumba Center, to turtle rescues, and news from the captivity industry there has been a lot to share this month. Catch up on our blog at: https://www.dolphinproject.com/blog/
We are working WITH the Japanese people, not against them. They alone can end the annual Taiji dolphin hunt. Our work is in supporting their efforts.
Animal Culture Magazine: “Our July issue is published! Our Cetacean issue is our biggest issue, content-wise so far! Ric O’Barry is our Special Feature and Naomi Rose, PhD of Animal Welfare Institute is our Feature. Their interviews separate fact from fiction. See for yourself by clicking link: : https://issuu.com/karliekawa/docs/23_07_acspecfeature_obarry
“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world…would do this, it would change the earth.” ~ William Faulkner
