The images in the following program are very sensitive and may be as disturbing to viewers as they were to us. However, we have to show the truth about cruelty to animals.

It's total panic and chaos as the dolphins are driven ashore to the trainers. Some of the dolphins die of heart attack. The trainers are grabbing at them, some are dying in the nets, some are drowning, we see broken ribs, and some of the babies are actually beaten to death.

That's a baby right there, there’s a baby caught right in the net. And the mother, looks like the mother, or an adult I should say, is trying to get to it to help it, but can't, of course.

Caring viewers, this is the Stop Animal Cruelty series on Supreme Master Television.

Following a recent tragic accident in the United States involving an Orca whale at a marine park, members of the media, animal advocates, marine mammal experts and concerned individuals around the world are renewing their call for the immediate release of all captive whales and dolphins. These highly intelligent, social beings experience extreme stress and suffering when put on display in small tanks, with some being forced to perform in shows for the public’s amusement.

On our program today, we continue featuring marine mammal experts who share their insights about the lives of these animals who are literally being imprisoned in pools around the world. Orcas and dolphins are violently captured in the wild and the experience is so traumatic only a few survive afterwards. For those that do live, it is only the beginning of a long, miserable life of confinement.

Days of relentless training are followed by a grueling schedule of performances. An Orca or dolphin must be ready to perform 365 days a year, sometimes doing as many as eight shows in a day. Dr. Naomi Rose, an expert on marine mammal protection from the US-based animal welfare organization Humane Society International shares her thoughts on this tremendously abusive treatment of the gentle beings.

They have to come out on cue and do a show, and then they go into the training all during the day, and then they have to sleep at night, because everybody leaves the park. You know, in nature, Orca are not diurnal animals. They are not active in the day and sleep at night. They sleep when they need to and they are active when they need to be. So the fact they are forced to conform to a human schedule is stressful for them.

The constant pressure of having to perform show after show is deadly. Richard or “Ric” O’Barry is a former dolphin trainer and is the current director of the US-based non-profit group SaveJapanDolphins.org which seeks an immediate end to the annual dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan. He appeared in the documentary “The Cove” which recently garnered an Academy Award and is about this sickening mass killing. He now shares the following tragic story about what these entertainment shows can do to dolphins.

During the show, the dolphin, Sinbad was his name, leaped up on the stage, smiling and people were applauding and he had a heart attack and died. Now, the audience didn't know that he was dead. And at the end of the show, they were applauding what they thought was a happy, smiling dolphin, when in fact, it was a dead body and they walked out of there thinking, “That's a happy dolphin.” Captivity for dolphins is much more stressful than for the other animals in the zoo.

Dr. Lori Marino, a senior lecturer in the Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology Office at Emory University, USA has extensively studied the intelligence of Bottlenose dolphins. She now provides her perspective on the cruelty of dolphin captivity.

We really know enough about other animals to know that (they) deserve respect and compassion. What we know about dolphins, their intelligence, their social lives, their needs, how they live their lives, is that some of the ways in which we treat them are just in violation of their natural needs and what they need to be happy and healthy and thrive.

The exhausting, relentless, merciless life of captivity takes its toll on the dolphins and Orcas. Many develop ulcers and other stress-related illnesses. Most of them die prematurely. Of the 136 Orcas taken into captivity from the wild since 1961, 123 of those have died, with an average lifespan in captivity of only four years.

In captivity, they very rarely get older than 20. You know, male orca very, very rarely get to 30. In fact, I think only three have ever made it to 30. That’s versus in the wild, where 30 in the male is the average life expectancy. The maximum is 50 or 60. Females can live to be 70 or 80 years of age. And there is just no captive female that even comes close.

Dr. Thomas White, director of the Center of Ethics and Business at Loyola Marymount University, USA and author of “In Defense of Dolphins,” believes that dolphins are very similar to human beings. He states that when we place them in captivity, a part of this noble animal seems to die.

When you look in the eyes of a dolphin you know there's somebody there. Particularly when you do this in the wild. You have a very strong sense that they are masters of their own domain and very intelligent, very capable. You'll never get that experience by seeing them in a captive situation.

Given all that we have heard thus far, why do we continue to have marine parks? How can we end these ruthless operations? When we return we will focus on these important issues. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

So people pay admission and enjoy the dolphin shows but not realizing that they’re actually sponsoring the slaughtering of thousands of these gentle creatures. For me the dolphin is a very special creature.

I found that one of the main messages of your film was it was an investigation of the most dangerous animal on Earth – which is us. Just ourselves.

That’s absolutely true. It’s like one of the tragic ironies of this movie is that the dolphin is the only wild animal throughout history to save the life of a human being.

This is the Stop Animal Cruelty series on Supreme Master Television. Why do we continue to keep majestic marine mammals captive? Some say their performances in marine parks help people better understand and appreciate these beautiful animals. Ric O'Barry who is the current director of SaveJapanDolphins.org and appeared in the Academy Award winning documentary “The Cove” says this is a false conception.

It is in fact a form of bad education and that’s what this issue is all about. It’s not just about the 1000 dolphins in captivity; it’s as much about the hundreds of millions of people who go through there, who come out of there thinking, “They belong here.”

Another justification frequently cited for making cetaceans serve as entertainment is that the dolphins and Orcas seem to enjoy performing. However the reality couldn’t be more different.

They’re cooperating with training commands or whatever, because it’s something to do. I think one of their biggest problems is that they’re dreadfully bored most of the time. These are intelligent social animals who live in a very sterile environment, and I think that they actually are extraordinarily bored a lot of the time. And so they cooperate with their trainers and they cooperate with a lot of things in captivity. I think because it gives them something to do.

Some say that as marine mammals in parks are very well fed, they have an easier life than their counterparts in the wild and thus their confinement is justified.

One of the things that always fascinates me is that proponents of captivity try to portray that they feed their whales great food three times a day as a benefit of captivity. They say they live in lots of luxury; we take care of them when they are kept in captivity. But in fact out in the wild all that foraging, and, moving around looking for food that they do is how they make their living. It’s their job, and it keeps them occupied, it keeps them healthy, to be swimming around like that.

And, as an analogy, I point to people who are couch potatoes Their job might not require them to leave the house even. And they become unhealthy, they become lethargic, some of them become depressed, they have their groceries delivered at the door, and they get ill, and they die young. And that is what in fact is happening to whales and dolphins in captivity. Yes, all of these things are provided for them, but it takes away their reason for living. It takes away their purpose.

And when the curtain falls and the show is over, what happens to the marine mammals who are no longer needed? Noted Hollywood film actor and television star Billy McNamara, shares the heart wrenching story of Flipper the beloved dolphin who starred in a 1960’s US television series of the same name and who was trained by Ric O’Barry. After the series ended, Mr. O’Barry thought Flipper was being well taken care of until he went one day to check on her and found her in a tiny pool.

And her back was totally sunburned because she was left out in the exposure of the sun and just burned. And it’s been three years. Flipper saw him, recognized him. She came up to him and she nuzzled him and he nuzzled her.

He realized what he had done was terrible and he was heartbroken and devastated and traumatized. So his whole life changed. He was on the forefront of the voice of the dolphins for the last 40 years. He’s the real deal. He’s done all these incredible things. He’s amazing.

How can we halt the cruelty to marine mammals who are kept in captivity for entertainment?

One of the most important things is one of the simplest things. "Don't buy a ticket." Because it's based on supply and demand. These captive dolphin facilities are just like Coca-Cola or any other products. If I'm wearing ivory, I'm the reason, me, the consumer, I'm the reason the elephant is becoming extinct, not the guy out there with the shotgun. It's me, the consumer.

So it is true, in the dolphinarium business, if you're buying a ticket, these dolphins are dying to amuse you. So don't buy a ticket to a captive dolphin show.

You have to realize that as we learn more about these animals, the whales and dolphins, the idea of keeping them confined in concrete tanks into the future makes absolutely no sense .

We’re also learning as time goes by that in fact these animals aren’t suited to captivity. So if we are a moral species and we’re morally evolved, we should perhaps draw the conclusion by now that what we thought would be alright 30 years ago, we know better now. And it’s not alright. And we don’t need to remove animals from the wild and put them into captivity to be ambassadors for the next human generation.

Many thanks to Drs. Naomi Rose, Thomas White, and Lori Marino as well as Ric O'Barry and the countless other individuals and organizations who are working tirelessly to stop slaughter of marine mammals and their inhumane use as entertainment. Let us soon have a more peaceful and compassionate Earth where all beings live in freedom.

For more information on captive marine mammals, please visit:
Human Society International www.HSUS.org/hsi
Save Japan Dolphins SavetheJapanDolphins.org

Thank you for joining us for this edition of the Stop Animal Cruelty series. Coming up next is Enlightening Entertainment following Noteworthy News, here on Supreme Master Television. May we always consider the needs of our animal friends.

How does one communicate telepathically with the animals?

It is all about just getting quiet inside, opening your heart, communicating with the animal, mentally and then allowing their answers or information to flow in.

Join us on Friday, March 26 and Saturday, March 27 for Parts 1 and 2 of “A Whole New World: Tapping into Telepathy with Animal Communicator Mary Getten” on Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants.