A Bali resort keeping four dolpins in a tiny enclosure finds itself in hot water, now that more and more people are starting to protest its practices and it even has become the subject of investigation by Indonesia’s Minister of Environment.
Adding to the resort’s unpopularity online, a concerned Australian model living in Bali decided to visit Wake Bali Adventure in Gianyar on Keramas Beach and see the controversial conditions for herself. The video footage and photos she has posted to Instagram and Facebook, which have been shared dozens of times over already, are consistent with what’s described in the change.org petition that made this dolphin situation viral.
You can see from Elisa’s posts that the dolphins are exhibited to tourists in what looks like just a regular swimming pool not suitable for dolphins, while the model has also posted that all the animals’ teeth have been removed.
“Their skin was dull, their eyes were cloudy, the water that they were in was not clear, I had noticed that they had had their teeth removed – I’m unsure as to why but I think its absolutely disgusting,” Elisa said on The Project.
“It was absolutely heartbreaking I laid by the pool and they swam over and were quite obviously crying – it was really sad.”
While the resort has previously responded they are doing nothing illegal and have the appropriate government permits for the dolphins, we can only hope that the momentum of the petition and the environmental ministry’s investigation will get these dolphins out of the pool, rehabilitated, and hopefully one day back in the wild.
