Splash, 21, is the latest dolphin to die at this ‘therapy’ facility since June 2021 – the others were 37-year-old Flip, a two-week-old calf, and Frosya who was pregnant at the time of her death.
Onmega Dolphin Therapy and Activity Center in Marmaris claims spending time with their dolphins can help treat a range of human health problems. Marine Connection has always questioned the efficacy of DAT, the notion that interacting with captive dolphins in a tank or sea pen has real healing effects for paying customers, despite the fact that there is no authority overseeing practices within these facilities offering this ‘treatment’ or indeed proven scientific evidence proving a lasting effect for patients or peer-reviewed reports on findings. As for the dolphins concerned, the impact that captivity and constant demands being put on them to interact with paying clients lead to unnecessary stress and related diseases, surely there is a moral case to answer here when dolphins are stressed and dying in the name of ‘therapy’.
