"... Could lead to a whole new understanding of cetacean behaviour."
ENDORSEMENTS AND REVIEWS BY
DR SIMON JR ADAMS, BSC(HONS), BVMS, MRCVS
INDEPENDENT ZOO & WILDLIFE VETERINARY ADVISER
THE PERFECT PAIR: THE ENCHANTED MIRROR
This important story highlights not only the incredible psychic bonding possible between Man and Dolphins, but also draws the reader’s attention to the major animal welfare implications of keeping wild dolphins in captivity merely for the commercial purpose of entertaining parents and kids.
After reading this revealing story, hopefully the public will realize the true cost to these beautiful wild creatures. The only way to prevent their suffering is to appreciate this, and then decide if they really truly wish to attend Dolphinaria, and so support and perpetuate this form of ‘entertainment show’? As a wildlife vet, I have no doubts that whenever possible, Dolphins need a free life in the wild, to fulfil their complex welfare needs.
Watching them pursue their elaborate and often playful free-swimming lives is the real entertainment!
This important story highlights not only the incredible psychic bonding possible between Man and Dolphins, but also draws the reader’s attention to the major animal welfare implications of keeping wild dolphins in captivity merely for the commercial purpose of entertaining parents and kids.
After reading this revealing story, hopefully the public will realize the true cost to these beautiful wild creatures. The only way to prevent their suffering is to appreciate this, and then decide if they really truly wish to attend Dolphinaria, and so support and perpetuate this form of ‘entertainment show’? As a wildlife vet, I have no doubts that whenever possible, Dolphins need a free life in the wild, to fulfil their complex welfare needs.
Watching them pursue their elaborate and often playful free-swimming lives is the real entertainment!
THE PERFECT PAIR: THE MIRROR CRACKS
In the first volume, The Perfect Pair: The Enchanted Mirror, the authors introduce us to the exciting show biz world of the commercial dolphinarium. Capello, the new apprentice, enters the amazingly intense environment of dolphin training and quickly develops a natural understanding and empathy for these intelligent mammals.
Dolphins arguably have one of the most advanced communication abilities in the animal kingdom, and the intensity of this shocks him. In this second volume, The Perfect Pair: The Mirror Cracks, his special gift gradually enlightens him to their plight. He realises that limiting these magnificent creatures into a confined, barren and captive environment utterly compromises their welfare. In fact, his close relationship with his super-intelligent dolphins is all the environmental enrichment they have to live for.
The real tragedy is that if the public could actually see the plight behind the dolphin smile, they would no longer support this kind of show. At last! David and Tracy have given the public an opportunity to understand this in a beautifully written story.
I hope everyone will read it.
In the first volume, The Perfect Pair: The Enchanted Mirror, the authors introduce us to the exciting show biz world of the commercial dolphinarium. Capello, the new apprentice, enters the amazingly intense environment of dolphin training and quickly develops a natural understanding and empathy for these intelligent mammals.
Dolphins arguably have one of the most advanced communication abilities in the animal kingdom, and the intensity of this shocks him. In this second volume, The Perfect Pair: The Mirror Cracks, his special gift gradually enlightens him to their plight. He realises that limiting these magnificent creatures into a confined, barren and captive environment utterly compromises their welfare. In fact, his close relationship with his super-intelligent dolphins is all the environmental enrichment they have to live for.
The real tragedy is that if the public could actually see the plight behind the dolphin smile, they would no longer support this kind of show. At last! David and Tracy have given the public an opportunity to understand this in a beautifully written story.
I hope everyone will read it.
THE PERFECT PAIR: SHARDS FROM THE MIRROR
This important trilogy takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride – from the excitement of working with such wonderful marine mammals to the harsh reality of their existence in captivity.
This final part of The Perfect Pair Dolphin Trilogy - Shards from the Mirror - will demonstrate to the discerning reader just why cetaceans should not be kept in captivity … especially not for entertainment, which is so cruel.
Captivity simply cannot provide a suitable environment for these intelligent animals, who are in many ways one of our closest cousins in terms of communication and behavioural sophistication. In my opinion, even with the finest pool facilities, this is still the case. However, add inadequate facilities and poor management to the equation, and the captives do not last long.
Obviously, to protect the innocent (and, for legal reasons, the guilty too!), this story is written as a ‘Faction’ - a fusion of fact with some fiction - leaving the reader to discern where fact ends and fiction begins.
Personally, from my own experience as a zoo and wildlife vet, the facts outlined in this story when dealing with the corporate bodies behind animal entertainment are sadly all too familiar. Corporate accountants should never be allowed to overrule the welfare needs of animals used in entertainment, yet the financing and maintenance of even minimum welfare standards are only just beginning to be enforced.
As a young zoo vet, I was actively involved in the zoo reform movement to change zoo raison d’être from ‘Animal Entertainment /Attractions’ to ‘Conservation, Education and Welfare’ - a message that is lost on wild animal circuses and the many aquaria and animal attractions that are now appearing throughout the developing world.
So please don’t make them profitable by visiting them.
My heart goes out to poor David - the only one who really had any understanding of the behavioural and health needs of the dolphins he loved so much. He was their only human advocate as most couldn’t, or wouldn’t, understand them … and the worst simply didn’t care.
By publishing this wonderfully-written and important testimony, let us all hope that the key message - that cetaceans should not be made to perform for public entertainment - finally gets through.
It is extremely sad that Capello’s psychic/empathic ability to communicate so effectively with cetaceans was lost to the world. However, I fully understand and support his moral dilemma and, as you will see, he did everything he could to help them.
My experience in the corporate-controlled zoo world was similar and just as traumatic, and I, too, left to become an independent adviser with the aim of promoting improved zoo and wildlife welfare. David Capello’s brave testimony has certainly pricked my conscience, spurring me to one day tell my story.
I hope that other trainers who have experienced this close connection with their dolphins and whales will contact the authors to explore this fascinating ability, which could lead to a whole new understanding of cetacean behaviour.
In summary, if you care about dolphins and whales, don’t support those who hunt them, whether their aim be to kill them, or to condemn them to a slow, torturous death in the captive ‘entertainment’ industry.
If you want real dolphin entertainment, take a boat trip and visit them in their natural home – the sea!
Further comment: David Capello … well done, sir, you have my respect and gratitude on behalf of dolphins and cetaceans held in captivity everywhere!
This important trilogy takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride – from the excitement of working with such wonderful marine mammals to the harsh reality of their existence in captivity.
This final part of The Perfect Pair Dolphin Trilogy - Shards from the Mirror - will demonstrate to the discerning reader just why cetaceans should not be kept in captivity … especially not for entertainment, which is so cruel.
Captivity simply cannot provide a suitable environment for these intelligent animals, who are in many ways one of our closest cousins in terms of communication and behavioural sophistication. In my opinion, even with the finest pool facilities, this is still the case. However, add inadequate facilities and poor management to the equation, and the captives do not last long.
Obviously, to protect the innocent (and, for legal reasons, the guilty too!), this story is written as a ‘Faction’ - a fusion of fact with some fiction - leaving the reader to discern where fact ends and fiction begins.
Personally, from my own experience as a zoo and wildlife vet, the facts outlined in this story when dealing with the corporate bodies behind animal entertainment are sadly all too familiar. Corporate accountants should never be allowed to overrule the welfare needs of animals used in entertainment, yet the financing and maintenance of even minimum welfare standards are only just beginning to be enforced.
As a young zoo vet, I was actively involved in the zoo reform movement to change zoo raison d’être from ‘Animal Entertainment /Attractions’ to ‘Conservation, Education and Welfare’ - a message that is lost on wild animal circuses and the many aquaria and animal attractions that are now appearing throughout the developing world.
So please don’t make them profitable by visiting them.
My heart goes out to poor David - the only one who really had any understanding of the behavioural and health needs of the dolphins he loved so much. He was their only human advocate as most couldn’t, or wouldn’t, understand them … and the worst simply didn’t care.
By publishing this wonderfully-written and important testimony, let us all hope that the key message - that cetaceans should not be made to perform for public entertainment - finally gets through.
It is extremely sad that Capello’s psychic/empathic ability to communicate so effectively with cetaceans was lost to the world. However, I fully understand and support his moral dilemma and, as you will see, he did everything he could to help them.
My experience in the corporate-controlled zoo world was similar and just as traumatic, and I, too, left to become an independent adviser with the aim of promoting improved zoo and wildlife welfare. David Capello’s brave testimony has certainly pricked my conscience, spurring me to one day tell my story.
I hope that other trainers who have experienced this close connection with their dolphins and whales will contact the authors to explore this fascinating ability, which could lead to a whole new understanding of cetacean behaviour.
In summary, if you care about dolphins and whales, don’t support those who hunt them, whether their aim be to kill them, or to condemn them to a slow, torturous death in the captive ‘entertainment’ industry.
If you want real dolphin entertainment, take a boat trip and visit them in their natural home – the sea!
Further comment: David Capello … well done, sir, you have my respect and gratitude on behalf of dolphins and cetaceans held in captivity everywhere!
