Flipper the dolphin committed suicide rather than live in captivity
Ric O’Barry: ‘Flipper committed suicide’
WENN.com
Dolphin trainer-turned-marine activist Ric O’Barry decided to dedicate his life to saving porpoises and whales after watching the star of 1960s TV show “Flipper” take her own life.
O’Barry helped to capture and train dolphins for the beloved TV show, but stopped hunting the creatures down when the star of the series stopped breathing rather than live in captivity.
The man behind hard-hitting Oscar-winning documentary “The Cove” is still haunted by the last moments of the dolphins life, he explained on Oprah Winfrey’s Earth Day Special.
He states, “She (flipper) was really depressed… You have to understand dolphins and whales are not air breathers like we are. Every breath they take is a conscious effort. They can end their life whenever.
“She swam into my arms and looked me right in the eye, took a breath and didn’t take another one. I let her go and she sank straight down on her belly to the bottom of the tank.
“The next day I was in jail for trying to free the dolphin(s) – that’s how I reacted to it.
I was gonna free every captive dolphin I could.”
WENN.com
Dolphin trainer-turned-marine activist Ric O’Barry decided to dedicate his life to saving porpoises and whales after watching the star of 1960s TV show “Flipper” take her own life.
O’Barry helped to capture and train dolphins for the beloved TV show, but stopped hunting the creatures down when the star of the series stopped breathing rather than live in captivity.
The man behind hard-hitting Oscar-winning documentary “The Cove” is still haunted by the last moments of the dolphins life, he explained on Oprah Winfrey’s Earth Day Special.
He states, “She (flipper) was really depressed… You have to understand dolphins and whales are not air breathers like we are. Every breath they take is a conscious effort. They can end their life whenever.
“She swam into my arms and looked me right in the eye, took a breath and didn’t take another one. I let her go and she sank straight down on her belly to the bottom of the tank.
“The next day I was in jail for trying to free the dolphin(s) – that’s how I reacted to it.
I was gonna free every captive dolphin I could.”
Replies
they need to shut down alllll the marine parks. what about safaris, are they okay or is that not enough space as well? a cage is a cage
Incredibly Sad but good for this person to take a stand.
On CNN about a month or so ago,they showed a documentary called \"Black Fish\",and is about Killer Whales in captivity. Hopefully awareness of these issues will bring more and more people about the lives (non) these beautiful creatures are forced to live in.
We may be human, but we sure are a long, long way from being humane aren\'t we?
that\'s horrible! Imagine choosing to suffocate instead of going on living. How horrible the conditions must have been!
Wish they could all be free. It\'s a shame what humans do to animals.
What a horrible story and soooo sad.
RIP Flipper.
People find ways to make money and they make these animals suffer because of their greed. I think that this man should be rewarded for his kindness, not arrested.
all the animals on the planet live PEACEFULLY together, EXCEPT for humans who kill EVERYTHING