TUI, a huge international travel company based in Germany, has just removed visits to watch captive cetaceans perform from its tours. Given that captivity causes tremendous suffering to whales and dolphins, the move, although positive, was well overdue.
Other leading companies are dragging their heels, to say the least.
Virgin still, for example, offers tickets to the notorious SeaWorld - infamous for its captive orcas - under “Orlando excursions” and deals for the just as bad Georgia Aquarium under “Atlanta excursions”. It also, at least until recently, included a visit to a brutal dolphinarium in Dubai in tours, claiming the facility was a “rescue”, which it certainly was not.
Richard Branson, Virgin’s CEO, recently made strong statements against the Japanese dolphin hunts, which also happen to capture live dolphins for aquariums. It’s time for the company to back up fine words with action.
Tell Virgin to remove all excursions to watch or interact with imprisoned whales and dolphins from its travel tours, trips and deals.
