‘Flipper’ trainer now urges Pinoys to boycott dolphin shows

He got rich training dolphins, including those smiling mammals that appeared on a popular TV series in the Sixties. But Richard “Ric” O’Barry has since distanced himself from that past and is now in fact appealing to Filipinos to boycott marine park shows that feature trained dolphins. Now O'Barry says those dolphin faces that appear to be smiling are deceptive, and these creatures are not meant to be captive.   “The power is with the consumer,” O’Barry told reporters Friday. “I am urging the Filipino people to please boycott dolphin parks.”  O’Barry, who now works as marine mammal specialist for environmentalist group Earth Island Institute (EII), was credited with training the dolphins in the 1960s TV series “Flipper.” His advocacy to stop dolphin hunting in Taiji, Japan, was featured in the 2010 Oscar-winning documentary “The Cove.”   But according to Ma. Elena Gatchalian-Balino, director for sales and marketing for Ocean Adventure, a marine park that features trained dolphins, O’Barry’s campaign was a money-making drive.   “EII’s and O’Barry’s methods however, clearly demonstrate that it is not an altruistic, morally superior organization, but a cynical, money-making enterprise that uses any means to enhance its notoriety, publicity and of course income,” Balino said in a statement.   “It trades in factually false statements, publicity stunts, including O’Barry’s admitted illegal acts of ‘eco-tourism,’ and illegal business practices to create the emotional storm that encourages individuals and corporations to donate,” she added. Tired of lying   O’Barry, who trained dolphins for 10 years, said he is tired of being “a liar” who fed misinformation to the public regarding dolphin training.   He said a show dolphin captured from the wild can be sold to marine parks for about $64,000 to $150,000. He said marine parks that feature dolphin shows provide “miseducation” among the youth.   “There is no real connection between education and dolphin shows,” he said.   O’Barry noted that since the success of “The Cove,” the killing of dolphins in Japan dropped to 800 cases last year from 2,100 cases four years ago.   House bill seeks to ban school field trips to theme parks   O’Barry, meanwhile, lauded Kabataan party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino’s bill that seeks to ban school field trips to theme parks that feature captive dolphins and whales.   “Raymond Palatino is my hero. He is a real environmentalist. [If the bill be passed into law], Philippines will be the cutting edge in that. I hope he will be successful,” he said.   According to House Bill 2759, which was filed Sept. 5: “Dolphin shows are not adequate educational for a for children… [as] marine animal shows are inaccurate representations of the animals’ normal behavior, and does not necessarily raise ecological awareness and respect for wildlife and nature.”   Balino, for her part, said the bill was “founded on misinformation” that animal rights activists fed to Palatino.   “The resolution attacking dolphin shows filed by Raymond Platino last week was not a policy statement by the Kabataan party-list, and undoubtedly was founded on misinformation supplied to him by animal rights activists,” she said. — KBK, GMA News