Help end marine animal suffering.

Imagine being taken from your family and kept in a tiny room – for the rest of your life. Why? So you could be put on display for ‘entertainment’, and even made to perform.

This is a reflection of the sad experience of many animals kept captive in marine parks and aquariums in Australia, and around the world.

Dolphins and seals forced to perform unnatural ‘tricks’… Sharks forced to swim in endless circles in crowded tanks… Baby orca calves separated from their distressed mothers and sold to other marine parks. Sadly, animals in marine parks never have the freedom to express the full range of their natural behaviours.

There are many tragic stories from marine parks of family-oriented animals like orcas and dolphins being separated and sent to different parks. The eye-opening documentary Blackfish exposed the suffering that mother orcas – who would usually spend their entire lives with their calves – experience when they are separated.

The strong desire to maintain a family unit is not the only thing taken away from animals in captivity. Dolphins, sharks, seals, penguins and other animals are all confined in tanks that significantly limit their freedom to explore, hunt, forage, and socialise the way they would in the wild. Orcas are highly active, and in the wild, they can swim more than 100 kilometres a day. Yet, in marine parks, they will live their whole lives in small tanks.

Not surprisingly, these animals can suffer stress, depression and other mental health issues as a result. SeaWorld in the US has even admitted to drugging the whales they have on display with anti-anxiety medication. While there are no orcas in captivity in Australia, other marine animals at SeaWorld (Australia) and other marine parks and aquariums across the country are being forced to live in environments that cannot offer them the full, enriched life they deserve.

By choosing not to attend aquariums or parks where animals are kept in captivity, you can help shape a future where animals are seen for the sensitive and social individuals that they are.

This pledge plays a vital role — but you can have an even greater impact for animals today. Here’s how:

• Discover more about sea animals through eye-opening marine life documentaries here.
• Share information about marine parks and aquariums with friends and family, to encourage kinder entertainment choices such as visiting sanctuaries or seeing animals in their natural environments.
• Fill your plate with food that is kinder to sea animals. From ‘fish and chips’ to ‘crabcakes’, you can still enjoy the classics with an animal-friendly twist — check out our favourite ocean-inspired dishes. You can also order your free Veg Starter Kit here for all the information needed to explore tasty food that is kinder to animals and the planet.