How Long Will Bulgaria Allow This Cruelty?

Authorities ignore the cruelty as dolphins in Varna perform for applause – while enduring a life of quiet torment.

The dolphinarium in Varna, Bulgaria, is shockingly small, possibly the smallest dolphin tank in Europe. The tiny indoor pool serves as a full-time marine prison. The dolphins confined there live in a concrete stadium 24/7, 365 days a year, indoors, never experiencing the sun, the rain, or anything remotely natural.

The dolphinarium promotes its shows with the cheerful tagline:
“Watch the dolphin show and have fun with Dolly, Joanna, Bimbo, Kimbo and Flipper!”

Opened in 1984, Varna Dolphinarium, also known as Festa Dolphinarium, is Bulgaria’ s only facility of its kind, located on the Black Sea coast. Inside, five bottlenose dolphins are forced to perform four shows a day during the busy summer season.

According to its website, visitors can watch the dolphins “sing,” “dance” and even waltz for 45 BGN per adult ticket. For 350 you can swim with one.

This is how the dolphinarium lures customers: with promises of close contact in an absurdly small pool. One advertisement reads:

“Close contact with dolphins in the small pool of Dolphinarium Varna. You will be in the role of a trainer, and the dolphin will perform with you some of the most attractive tricks from the dolphin show.”

There’s no attempt to hide the exploitation. The dolphinarium proudly declares:

“You will see the incredible sporting and acrobatic skills of our dolphins – high jumps, double flips, triple axies. They will sing to you, dance rock ‘n’ roll and waltz. And remember – dolphins love the applause of the audience!”

Dolphin show at Varna Dolphinarium. License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license; author: INSAR

But that’s a lie.

Dolphins don’t love applause. They don’t perform because they enjoy it. These are highly intelligent, emotionally complex beings forced into performing degrading tricks in exchange for food. This isn’t harmless entertainment. It’s systematic exploitation disguised as wholesome family fun.

Festa Dolphinarium even advertises a kiss from a seal – accompanied by a photo of a sea lion. Aapparently, the staff can’t even tell the difference.

Videos online show dolphins jumping on command, pushing children around the pool in rubber boats, and “playing” with balls – classic circus tricks that conceal deep ongoing suffering.

Where Do the Dolphins Come From?

According to public sources:

Dolly (female) captured off the coast of Cuba in the 1990s
Kimbo (male) also captured in Cuba in the 1990s
Joanna (female) born in captivity in 1995
Bimbo (male) born in captivity in 2003
Flipper (male) born in captivity in 2018

In August 2019, a dolphin calf, less than two weeks old, reportedly died during a show. The dolphinarium stayed open regardless, and the shows continued as if nothing happened.

Festa Dolphinarium states on its website:

“Please note that when the show is canceled because of dolphins’ illness, discomfort, birth or other reasons, we can offer you another date and/or hour for a show.”

How often does that happen, I wonder? Troubling reports suggest several dolphins have disappeared without explanation, yet no one is held accountable. Several dolphins that were captured in Cuba and the Black Sea have died in this small tank – all for the sake of giving paying audiences a fleeting moment of superficial amusement.

Bulgaria is in The EU, So Why is This Still Allowed?

Bulgaria is a member of the European Union, yet this blatant cruelty continues unchecked.

While EU law is not dolphin specific, it does require that zoos and aquariums meet the biological and behavioral needs of animals, including:

• Adequate space and environmental enrichment
• Proper veterinary care
• Support of conservation and education

Varna Dolphinarium fails on every single point.

Where is the oversight? Where is the enforcement? How many dolphins have died in that tank? Is anyone even keeping track? These dolphins are treated like forced laborers – stripped of their autonomy, yet expected to follow a strict work schedule. The dolphinarium even boasts:

“The dolphins are having a day off on Monday.”

One day off per week – for wild animals that should never have been given “jobs” in the first place.

A Life Devoid of Meaning

In the wild, dolphins travel the open seas, hunt live prey, surf the waves, and communicate through complex vocalizations. In Varna, they swim in tight circles, surrounded by concrete walls, artificial lights, and blaring music – deprived of everything that gives their lives meaning.

Science is unequivocal: a dolphins’ physical and psychological requirements cannot be met in a tank. Dolphins have evolved to swim in a world with no barriers, and confinement in small enclosures leads to psychological distress and abnormal behaviors. Yet the shows go on – perpetuating the dangerous myth that a dolphin’s upturned mouth is a sign of happiness.

It’s not a smile. It’s a mask – one that hides a life of silent suffering.

What You Can Do:

A UK-based travel company named “Rising Sun Travel” advertises the dolphin show at Varna Dolphinarium. Please send an email to them and ask that they remove the dolphin show from their recommendations and instead promote cruelty-free alternatives that align with responsible travel practices.

Featured image: The five dolphins at Varna Dolphinarium in Bulgaria are trapped in a tiny tank inside a building – a sterile, artificial concrete box that serves as their entire world. It’s the equivalent of forcing them to spend their entire lives in a bathtub, stripped of space, stimulation, and any resemblance to their natural ocean home. Calling it “living” is an insult to what these highly intelligent and social beings deserve. This isn’t just confinement – it’s cruelty, plain and simple. Credit: Concerned citizen of Bulgaria