Dolphin shows flippin’ sad
A FORMER Tweed teacher who is fighting to stop a Thai "dolphinarium" from opening has been disappointed by Australians' attitudes towards marine animals being used as entertainment.
Celi Harper and husband Huw Roberts, who run Gecko School in Phuket, Thailand, were unhappy to see promotions for a new Sea World dolphin show while visiting the Tweed.
Ms Harper said many students had joined the fight against keeping dolphins in captivity and had pledged to never go to a dolphin show.
This year, Ms Harper is taking a band of students to Taiji in Japan - as shown in documentary The Cove - where thousands of dolphins are said to be slaughtered each year. Most of the dolphins for the Phuket dolphin shows are from Taiji, Ms Harper said.
"They do get stressed (in enclosures)," Ms Harper said.
"They can get ulcers, they commit suicide."
Sea World did not comment but its website states "the health and well-being" of their animals "is of the utmost priority".
