Catching up with Izzy Megilley

“As a young adult, I hope to continue being a force for change, using empathy and determination to be a voice for those who can’t speak out.” ~ Izzy Megilley

Recently, I had the chance to catch up with activist Izzy Megilley. In case her name isn’t familiar – Izzy was the brainchild behind the movement, “Save the Disney Dolphins.” Spurred on by seeing captive dolphins at Epcot, Izzy launched a campaign to empty Epcot’s tanks of cetaceans. After much hard work, including a collaboration with Dolphin Project, that’s exactly what happened!

In Izzy’s own words:

“Six years on from when I first saw captive dolphins at Walt Disney World, Florida, and as we celebrate Dolphin Project’s 55th birthday this year, comes a time of reflection and celebration.

When I first saw the dolphins Calvin, Ranier and Malabar as a twelve-year-old while on a family holiday to Epcot, my reaction was purely emotional. As a young woman, you’re frequently encouraged to act on reason: tears are not the way to action and change. My emotions, however, are what drove me to email the park, only to be – unsurprisingly – met with justifications of proper treatment. The tank suggested differently. It had no natural daylight, was void of entertainment (aside from a small football), and the irony of dolphins in a tank to end a Nemo-themed ride (“There are no walls in the ocean”) wasn’t lost even on a child. Calvin, who was clearly separated from the other two dolphins’ tank by a net, displayed stereotypical behaviors which were similarly reported by several other visitors.”

Save the Disney Dolphins (SADD) x Dolphin Project’s joint Disney petition received over 29,000 signatures

She continues:

“A phone conversation with the ride’s curator left me feeling unsurprised, yet motivated by excuses of conservation and research. Unsatisfied, I then spent hours in lockdown searching records, sending emails and making FOIA requests, accumulating overwhelming evidence to support my initial instincts that this was outdated, cruel and purely for profit. It is clear that dolphins in captivity cannot be educationally representative of wild dolphins, and that no conservational institution with welfare at their heart would find this permissible.

After a few years turning my research into a campaign, I was taken under the wing of Dolphin Project, who had been a huge inspiration to me since the beginning of my campaign. The Save the Disney Dolphins X Dolphin Project petition, thanks to huge public support, reached over 29,000 signatures.

As a young adult, I hope to continue being a force for change, using empathy and determination to be a voice for those who can’t speak out.”

RELATED: Sanctuary, or Marine Park?

In September 2024, Disney announced the ending of Epcot’s program, choosing to transfer the dolphins one month later to Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park on Okaloosa Island, Florida. While we collectively advocated for Disney to provide a proper retirement for its dolphins, we are pleased that they are now a dolphin-free attraction.

Featured image: Epcot-Walt Disney World. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license; attribution: Eric Marshall