Barcelo Riviera Maya Hotel in Mexico has one of the smallest Dolphinariums in the country and holds five adult males, some captured from the wild. The hotel swimming pool is much bigger than the dolphin tank.
The dolohin tank is concrete, way too small, shallow and with no shade, exposing the dolphins to the hot sun all day long. It's common to see blindness in their eyes due sun exposure but also due to the high levels of chemicals put in the water to filter out the dirt.
Due to being confined day in day out the dolohins are forced to defecate in the same space they live in. In spite of the filters in the tank and the heavy chemicals it's impossible to remove all the bacteria and the dolphins are prone to painful skin infections and other illnesses. They need a lot of medicine and antibiotics to stay alive.
There is no permanent vet on site in case anything goes wrong. They must wait for a vet to be called from larger dolphinarium, during which time the sick dolphin could be in a distressed state, or it's necessary for the dolphin to be taken by vehicle to a bigger dolphinarium, which in itself is hugely stressful.
There's nowhere for weaker dolphins to escape bullying from other dolphins, due to the tank being so small. Often the hotel holds large music events. Previously one dolphin died after an electronic music festival which lasted several days. Staff arrived to find the alpha dolphin had attacked another dolphin. They tried to rush the injured dolphin to Cancun dolphinarium but he died on the way.
Dolphins in captivity suffer chronic stress due to being confined in small and unnatural environment. Chronic stress has been shown to cause physical illnesses and shorten life span
Barcelo Hotel has over 250 hotels but only one with a dolphinarium.
Animal exploitation as entertainment is outdated.
We're calling on Barcelo Hotel Group to close down this dolphinarium.
