The Last Dolphin King

This documentary charts a life of a dolphin trainer in Spain following an expose portraying him (rightly or wrongly) as an animal abuser. The guy seems to have been quite famous in his field, and the film has a lot of input from his family and friends, as well as lots of detail of how the situation described came about. But, to be honest, all of this information did not register - all I could see was the absolutely hellish suffering of the animals involved. I still feel sick thinking of it; some of the footage shown in passing is pretty unwatchable.

The documentary is a bit plodding, and I would imagine it loses a lot because of translation. Judging from the title, the film was supposed to have been focused on the trainer and his dramas, with treatment of the dolphins shown as a footnote to the story. Instead, for me, the story of the trainer guy was completely insignificant compared to the horrors of what had happened to the animals. Poor dolphins.

"Based on my personal experience with whales and dolphins in the wild and my observations of these magnificent animals in captivity, I believe there is no justification for allowing them to be used as performers in theme park shows and that breeding them in captivity to sustain a captive population solely for entertainment and profit is unacceptable. The concept of watching cetaceans perform tricks in theme parks is anti educational and is inhumane. These are animals that live in family pods for their whole lives with life spans similar to our own. Capturing whales and dolphins for entertainment and profit forces them to live in artificial families, in spaces that are insufficient, and rewards them with food for doing tricks they do not do in the wild.

Today, we have the interactive film and video technology to show cetaceans in the wild to audiences around the world. For the amount of money a family spends to go to an animal park, they can have an on the water experience seeing whales in their natural environment. It is long past due for us as a thinking and caring human species to adopt and require practices that respect whales and respect their right to live in their natural wild environment.

Anywhere on the planet we are connected to the ocean. We have the opportunity to do what needs to be done to protect our life support system and improve the quality of life not just of the marine environment - of the marine mammals -- but for ourselves. This is the choice we have. If we protect the ocean, we protect ourselves."

Jean-Michel Cousteau

"There's about as much educational benefit studying dolphins and whales in captivity as there would be studying mankind by only observing prisoners held in solitary."

Jacques Cousteau

"Whales and dolphins, like chimpanzees, are highly intelligent and intensely social creatures, forming close emotional bonds between family and group members. I have watched them leap in the freedom of the ocean and feel deeply saddened and angered to see them in cruel captivity, swimming endlessly and hopelessly around their sterile concrete prisons. As David Kirby so eloquently documents in this timely work, whale and dolphin captivity only benefits the captors. It is impossible to read "Death at SeaWorld " and come to any other conclusion."

Dr. Jane Goodall.

As "The Last Dolphin King" (2022 release from Spain; 84 min.) opens, talking heads are buzzing about Jose Luis Barbereo, "the best dolphin trainer ever". In early 2015, the Georgia Aquarium offers him a Vice President position, truly the crowning achievement of a 30+ year illustrious career. Then out of nowhere, activists release a shocking 90 seconds video, showing him to abuse the animals during training...

Couple of comments: apparently Jose Luis Barbero is legendary in the Spanish world of entertainment, but I'll be upfront and tell you I have never heard of him. This documentary is a two-in-one: on the one hand it assesses Barbero's life as a dolphin trainer, and on the other hand it assesses whether animals in captivity should be "entertainment" for the masses. One thing is for sure: the movie does not avoid the difficult topics, in fact au contraire. It is absolutely clear that these dolphins "did not choose this" and yes, they are abused, even if not all of them and not all of the time. There is good reason why the Ringling Brothers circus closed its door, and the same should be the case with the many dolphinariums around the world. Back to the documentary: it makes for difficult viewing at times, but I found this to be very much worth checking out.

"The Last Dolphine King" premiered on Netflix a few days ago. Netflix suggested it to me based on my viewing habits, and I took them up on it. If you are interested in better understanding the real cost of dolphins-in-captivity-for-entertainment, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.