There’s something special about dolphins. These happy, good-natured mammals seem to be altruistic, great performers and even bolster your wellbeing through dolphin-assisted therapies. After all, as everyone can see, the dolphins are smiling. However, according to neuroscientist Lori Marino, who has been studying dolphins and whales for 25 years, dolphins may not be as smiley as we think, and their wellness may be at stake.
Marino explains, ‘Much of our attraction to these creatures derives from their appealing combination of intelligence and communication skills. However, their “smile,” which is not a smile at all but an anatomical illusion arising from the configuration of their jaws, makes people believe—wrongly—that the animals are always content. Not only are the dolphins living in captivity unhappy, but there’s also no compelling evidence that they can heal. What does exist is a great deal of evidence that they are being harmed—along with the humans who believe in them.’
‘Marine mammals were first captured for public display in the United States by circus mogul P. T. Barnum in the 1860s,’ Marino details. ‘Yet the popularity of dolphin shows, in which trainers engage them in daring gymnastics, grew dramatically in the 1960s and ’70s. In 1964, the TV series Flipper was first broadcast. Flipper was a bottlenose dolphin who lived in a cove and helped his two young human pals save people in trouble. But if Flipper increased public interest in dolphins, it also led to concerns over the animals’ welfare. So marine parks re-branded themselves as centres of conservation and learning—by emphasizing their breeding programmes and efforts to educate people about marine animals—rather than as sites for entertainment. Regardless, the public’s fascination with dolphins continues.’
The public’s fascination with dolphins has now developed into an interest in the animal’s healing ability, but Marino points out that the benefits are dubious. ‘Dolphin-assisted therapy typically involves several sessions of customers swimming or interacting with captive dolphins, along with performing more conventional therapeutic tasks such as puzzle solving and motor-skills exercises,’ she notes. ‘DAT practitioners say that the sessions are particularly successful in treating depression and motor disorders in addition to childhood autism. But DAT can sometimes be less scrupulously advertised as being an effective treatment for everything from cancer to infections and developmental delays.’
Marino continues, ‘Meanwhile, many parents bring their children with autism home after their DAT sessions and are disappointed when the kids withdraw again. At first, the fathers and mothers don’t want to consider that they could have wasted their time and money. But later they may acknowledge that not much has changed and that the benefits were due to the excitement of the trip and the attention their child received. Anthropologist Betsy Smith, who has been credited with creating dolphin therapy in the 1970s, stopped doing it in the 1990s and now calls it “the exploitation of vulnerable people and vulnerable dolphins.”’ So what can be done?
‘Several nations, like the United Kingdom, Australia, and India, prohibit keeping dolphins in captivity,’ Marino points out. ‘Short of a ban, the public can campaign for the end of SWD programs (in the United States, swimming with dolphins in the wild is already illegal) and for a significant reduction in the number of dolphins in parks and other facilities. Dolphin therapy programmes should be required to make their long-term results public so that families are able to decide—based on the statistics—whether to participate. Even with evidence debunking DAT, it’s understandable that desperate people will continue to turn to dolphins to find some help for their children. But they should know that the dolphins are suffering too.’
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