Why dolphin captivity is considered by most welfare scientists to be fundamentally incompatible with these socially complex, wide-ranging animals.
Captive dolphin welfare presents similar fundamental challenges to orca captivity - complex social animals with large natural ranges cannot have their needs met in concrete tanks. Captive dolphins show stereotypies, inter-individual aggression in forced housing groups, and shorter lifespans than wild populations. The environmental complexity of wild dolphin life - three-dimensional ocean habitat, complex echolocation landscapes, wide-ranging social networks - cannot be replicated in any tank. The captive dolphin industry is sustained by consumer demand for swim-with-dolphin experiences and dolphin entertainment, demand that welfare education is gradually reducing.