I am writing in response to the articles shown over summer in connection with the birth of dolphins in the local dolphinarium.

There is no pool large enough for a marine mammal such as a dolphin – these cetaceans can easily swim around Gozo three times in just one day.

The public should also seek to inform themselves on the origin of the six dolphins (one has since died) and the methods by which they were caught from the wild and with what justification they were stolen from their habitat and their families. For new calves born in captivity, the excuse that these form part of a “species propagation programme” is quite interesting.

So what is the aim of this? To train them to learn how to live in the wild and release them to repopulate the sea? Or will we soon see them performing circus antics like the other five? Will they be forced to interact with people against their own will?

While it is true that a captive-bred dolphin cannot be released back into the sea immediately, it is also true that being born in captivity should not mean that an animal is to live like this for the rest of his life and forced to perform.

Cetfree aims to disseminate information about dolphins for people to be able to make their own decisions as to whether they should support dolphinariums or not.

As part of its campaign, it is organising another two free screenings of the award-winning documentary The Cove in October.

The Cove follows a high-tech dive team on a mission to discover the truth about the international dolphin capture trade (Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KRD8e20fBo&feature=channel). For more information send an e-mail: cetfree@gmail.com, view www.cetfree.org or join us on Facebook.

Cetfree calls upon the authorities concerned to ensure that such an establishment holding several animals in captivity is visited regularly and that all information be made public – especially when events take place such as the five dolphin deaths in the last years.

Above is a photo of one of the free bottlenose dolphins as spotted this summer a short distance off the southern coast. This year dolphins were also spotted several times from land such as during a nature walk with schoolchildren at Il-Majjistral nature and history park. Dolphins need not be seen in captivity – they are out there, if one looks out for them one can spot them.