Richard O’Barry

Richard O’Barry Instagram – 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 | Posted on 12/Sep/2023 23:32:38