Dolphinarium - History

History

Though cetaceans have been held in captivity in both North America and Europe since the 1860s, the first being a pair of Beluga Whales in the New York museum, dolphins were first kept for paid entertainment in the Marine Studios dolphinarium founded in 1938 in St. Augustine, Florida. It was here that it was discovered that dolphins could be trained to perform tricks. Recognizing the success of Marine Studios, more dolphinariums keeping dolphins for entertainment followed. In the 1960s, keeping dolphins in zoos and aquariums for entertainment purposes increased in popularity after the 1963 Flipper movie and subsequent Flipper television series. In 1966, the first dolphin was exported to Europe. In these early days, dolphinariums could grow quickly due to a lack of legislation and lack of concern for animal welfare.

New legislation, most notably the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act in the United States, combined with a more critical view on animal welfare forced many dolphinariums around the world to close. In 1985 Australia banned the display of all cetaceans. Another prominent example is the United Kingdom, where despite that during the early 1970s there were at least 36 dolphinariums and travelling dolphin shows, the last dolphinarium closed its doors in 1993. The last dolphinarium in Hungary was closed in 1992, and any future dolphin imports were prohibited. In 2005 both Chile and Costa Rica prohibited keeping cetaceans captive. However, around 60 dolphinariums currently exist across Europe of which 34 within the EU. Japan, Mexico and the United States are also home to a relatively large number of dolphinariums.