Help Stop the Use of Orcas for Entertainment

Loro Parque in Tenerife, Spain, currently displays four orcas at its concrete orca theater, which has the rather misleading name “Orca Ocean.” Male orcas Tekoa and Keto were born at SeaWorld amusement parks in the United States. They were sent to Loro Parque in February 2006 on a so-called breeding loan along with two females, Skyla and Kohana, who passed away in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Adán was born to Kohana at Orca Ocean in October 2010. Morgan, the only orca at Loro Parque who once lived in the ocean, is believed to belong to a population of orcas in Norway. She somehow became separated from her family and was found alone and malnourished off Holland’s coast in June 2010. She was sent to Tenerife in November 2011 and in September 2018 gave birth to a daughter—Ula—fathered by Keto. Ula passed away in June 2021, a few weeks before her third birthday.

The European Union has only two facilities left with orcas on display: Marineland in France, which has two captive-born orcas, and Loro Parque. The orca stadium at Marineland will most likely close in the near future. And Loro Parque will own the dismal status of the last remaining orca theater in the EU.

The orcas that currently perform in daily shows at Loro Parque are captive-born male orcas Keto, Tekoa, and Adán, and once-wild female orca Morgan, presumably part of a community of orcas in Norway. They are trapped in a desolate show stadium 24/7, with nothing natural to explore, nowhere to swim to, and no real choices to make. Their minuscule confinement provides no way for them to put their impressive natural abilities to any use. (The orca in the background is Morgan.) Credit: Helene O’Barry

Travel operators play a major role in maintaining and even increasing the popularity of dolphin shows and various interaction programs. Most of them don’t seem to give much thought to the ethics of promoting wildlife as holiday entertainment. Some of them have responded responsibly to criticism and no longer sell tickets to facilities that present performing dolphins as a must-see attraction, for which we are grateful. Others, however, find ways of justifying the exploitation.

One such company is TUI, which prides itself in being the largest tourism business in the world. TUI continues to promote and sell tickets to Loro Parque. Its UK website lures customers with these tempting words: “The world-famous shows, among which the Orca Ocean spectacle deserves special mention, are waiting for you. Loro Parque is the most popular wildlife park in the Canary Islands and is without a doubt a “Must” on the Tenerife island.” It’s interesting that TUI refers to Loro Parque’s performing orcas as a spectacle, as they thereby acknowledge that selling tickets takes advantage of holiday makers’ craving for casual amusement.

But orcas don’t belong in concrete stadiums where they are reduced to begging performers. Please help us stop the use of orcas as entertainment by signing the petition asking TUI to stop all ticket sales to Loro Parque and other facilities that promote dolphin shows:

➡️ PETITION: ASK TUI TO STOP SELLING TICKETS TO CAPTIVE DOLPHIN SHOWS

Featured image: The German travel and tourism company TUI continues to support the commercial exploitation of orcas and other dolphins, even though these complex marine mammals clearly don’t thrive in concrete stadiums. On one of its websites, TUI promotes the orca show at Loro Parque as an “Orca Ocean spectacle,” thereby admitting that the role of the performing orcas is to provide superficial holiday fun. Credit: Helene O’Barry