Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

German activists take on Dolphinarium

The Black Fish | 25.08.2010 21:08 | Animal Liberation | Ocean Defence | World

"We will not leave Münster until this dolphinarium, in which the dolphins are kept in conditions that do not allow for even their basic needs, is closed," say activists of The Black Fish, an environmental and animal conservation organization. The activists, some of whom recently returned from a high-profile campaign to protect the whales against Japanese whalers in the Antarctic, says that they moved to Münster specifically to coordinate the campaign against the dolphinarium.

Sea Shepherd crew on the ship Bob Barker show support for the campaign
Sea Shepherd crew on the ship Bob Barker show support for the campaign


"The conditions in which these four dolphins are kept are appaling. Dolphins are very social and freedom-loving animals who travel very far in the wild. We must not keep them as exotic objects for the purpose of human entertainment." Furthermore, the organs that dolphins use for echolocation waste away in the barren concrete tanks.

Prior to contacting the Dutch owner of Münster's dolphinarium the two activists already launched a visual petition where the people of Münster could have their picture taken while holding an underwater photograph of dolphins in the wild. The activists managed to win the endorsement of former animal-trainer Ric O'Barry, who used to train the dolphins for the 60's tv series "Flipper." O'Barry has been an outspoken critic of dolphinariums for many years.

However, the owners of the Münster dolphinarium say that the legality of their business is beyond any doubt. "We meet and exceed the guidelines for the hunsbandry of mammals," stresses dolphin trainer Jörg Feldhoff. According to Feldhoff the conditions in which the dolphins are kept are monitored regularly and the license of the dolphinarium needs to be renewed every five years. Feldhoff furthermore argues that, "the Münster dolphinarium only keeps bottlenose dolphins, that is, dolphins whose natural habitat are coastal waters;" even in the wild these animals do not travel great distances.

The Black Fish activists disagree with this view. "Dolphins belong in the open sea." The vegan does not only speaks out for dolphins, but also for whales and other marine animals. In the past they have also campaigned against the fur trade and rodeo events. As members of the international animal protection organization "Sea Shepherd Conservation Society" they have been involved in several of their campaigns over the years.

In Australia many of The Black Fish crew worked as crew members for Sea Shepherd; some traveled to Ghana to receive a new vessel, a former Norwegian whaling ship, for the organization, and overhauled and repaired the vessel in Mauritius before embarking on the long journey down to antarctica together with 32 other crew members. "On the last campaign we managed to save the lives of 527 whales." The Black Fish is confident that they can also help the Münster dolphins and return them to freedom.

The solidarity fund XminusY has supported the dolphinarium campaign in Münster. For more information about their work see: http://xminy.nl

The Black Fish
- e-mail: info@theblackfish.org
- Homepage: http://www.theblackfish.org

Additions

Previous article

08.09.2010 16:24

Campaign launched to close down German dolphinarium
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/07/456276.html

The Black Fish
mail e-mail: info@theblackfish.org
- Homepage: http://www.theblackfish.org


Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech