New Device Shows Entertainment Corporations How to Step Away From the Capture and Confinement of Ocean Animals
For Immediate Release:
July 7, 2011
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
San Diego — A new invention called "The Dolphin Dome" has been recognized by PETA's U.K. affiliate as representing the wave of the future for marine-animal parks like SeaWorld. The animal-friendly device uses video screens and the sounds of the sea to recreate the sensation of being in the ocean with dolphins—without the cruelty and problems associated with keeping dolphins confined to small tanks. The Dolphin Dome's inventor, Paul Obernay of Benthic Pelagic Solutions in the U.K., is being given an award from PETA U.K. for his work.
"Dolphins are sensitive and intelligent animals who can become bored, stressed, or injured in captivity, and they can pose a very real danger to visitors," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "The Dolphin Dome demonstrates how marine parks like SeaWorld could allow people to experience these majestic animals without subjecting them to an unnatural life."
Interacting with the aquatic mammals is sometimes offered as a therapeutic exercise for people with autism and cerebral palsy, and Obernay says that he was motivated to build the $200,000 prototype by his belief that dolphins should not be kept in captivity. The unit, which is currently on trial in a British hospital, is an enclosed dome containing video screens with images of dolphins. The patient lies down in the dome while colored lights are displayed and dolphin calls are played.
In the wild, dolphins swim together in family pods up to 100 miles a day, but in captivity, their ocean worlds are reduced to small, barren tanks. Most captive dolphins live to only half the age of their wild brothers and sisters. Brain scans on dolphins show that the cerebral cortex and the neocortex of bottlenose dolphins are large, indicating a well-developed cognitive capacity.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
