Dolphins prefer fish that swim around the bottom for feeding. These creatures, which can even eat fish such as shrimp and squid, can sometimes follow fishing boats to feed on leftovers. In the past, dolphins were hunted for their meat and oil (for cooking and lamp making). Today, as far as is known, there is not much dolphin hunting(!)
But as seen in the documentary Seaspiracy released on Netflix in 2021, dolphins were either killed or left to die because they were undesirable species caught in nets by commercial fishing. Thus, we understand that such atrocities against dolphins by human hands have not come to an end. Come hear from us how humans invaded the freedom of dolphins.
Do not the dolphins imprisoned in aquaparks have bitter smiles(!)
You have all heard of dolphins that are imprisoned in water parks for various shows and shows. You may even attend these shows as a spectator. Dolphin therapy is often the reason why dolphins are confined to these places. Even calling it dolphin therapy is actually a capitalist discourse. Because you can think of this as a marketing method in which capitalism produces populist therapy approaches to encourage more consumption and uses dolphins as a tool for this.
Another popular issue, for example, is the general acceptance that dolphins smile. However, only the mouth structure of dolphins resembles a smiling face according to the perception of humans, that is, these animals do not smile. Since dolphins are wild animals by nature, they are not a friend that warms people’s hearts with their smiles.
Normally, dolphins can be aggressive towards humans when not trained because they are carnivores and predators. In other words, the dolphins that we see, play and make visual shows in those dolphin parks are trained and made tame, and these trainings take place in very bad conditions for the dolphins.
Most dolphins have to submit to training because they know they will receive a reward meal for their action. In other words, these animals do those movements at the expense of not starving. If they don’t, there is a penalty. These animals, which are trained with the reward-punishment method, can die after a while because they are cut off from their natural environment. Isn’t it painful?
In fact, to give another interesting piece of information about dolphins, some of the people who were made to swim with dolphins for the purpose of dolphin therapy stated that the dolphins attempted to rape them. Since these therapies were carried out by trainers, this attempt was eliminated by removing the dolphins from humans.
Dolphins are animals with a very high libido that can encroach on many living things, and such problems are likely to occur as long as this existential reality is ignored and dolphins and humans continue to be brought together.
The interaction of dolphins and humans makes dolphins vulnerable to other aquatic predators.
In a study by Murdoch University, dolphins exposed to human interaction for touristic activities become powerless against other aquatic predators such as sharks. Why, because the socialization and reproductive behavior of dolphins can be disrupted when they interact with humans frequently. The study found that more than 82 percent of dolphins at resorts in Hawaii have been in contact with vacationers.
Constant encounters with swimming people or boats mean that these animals are deprived of their rest. After dolphins roam in search of food, they need to rest. But, according to the research, this is unlikely because they have to entertain people and perform acrobatic stunts.
Dolphins, a species disliked by the commercial fishing industry:
In the documentary Seaspiracy, boats that catch small fish such as tuna for commercial fishing are treated with dolphins entangled in their nets, and many of them being violently thrown back into the waters or killed. It is even clear in the documentary that the sustainable fishing company Sea Shepherd provides reliable dolphin-friendly certificates to the commercial fish industry, but that this industry is not actually friendly to dolphins.
Likewise, Peter Hammarstedt, who was previously captain of the Sea Shepherd; He says companies that support the commercial fishing market take into account the harm that non-targeted prey such as dolphins can do. The captain even mentions that this is not shared with the public, it is hidden.
As we have seen with all these examples, it is understood that people are not only interfering with the natural habitat of dolphins, but also endangering their lives. The documentary also touches on the Japanese town of Taiji, which traditionally goes hunting for dolphins every year to sell them to capitalist companies.
When will we stop causing such sadness to these creatures who are happy in their own nature and in their own way? What do you think about it? You can write your comments in the comments.
Sources: Earth, Netflix, Haytap, The Japan Times
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