Bali opens first rehabilitation centre to help captive dolphins return to the wild

Bali recently opened the world’s first permanent rehabilitation centre for dolphins under a project initiated by the Central Jakarta Forestry Department and the Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN). The ‘sanctuary/ retirement centre’, located in Banyuwedang Bay, West Bali, is a purpose-built facility for recently confiscated dolphins from captive facilities. The newly opened ‘Bali Dolphin Sanctuary’ is designed to stabilise the mammals, return them back to health and to assess whether they are candidates for readapting and release. 

While speaking to an international media outlet, Ric O’Barry, who is the founder of The Dolphin Project and is in charge of the Bali Dolphin Sanctuary, said that he hoped that his new initiative will set a precedent for more sanctuaries around the globe. While calling the project ‘exciting’, he reportedly added that it is a model which can be duplicated. He added that the authorities are also trying to make a sanctuary in Europe, in countries including Italy and Crete. 

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According to the official website of the Dolphin Project, back in 2019 the Indonesian authorities with the help of animal rights activists rescued four dolphins stuck in captivity and transported them to the rehabilitation centre. Currently, the Dolphin Sanctuary is tending to those rescued dolphins. The officials also plan to release them in the wild depending on their ability to catch food, interaction with other dolphins and their overall health. 

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Over 3k dolphins in captivity 

Ric reportedly said that captivity is more stressful for the dolphins than any other animal. He also informed that over 3,000 dauphins are in captivity around the world as part of an entertainment industry that generates up to  $5.5 billion annually. While dolphins use sonar to navigate in the ocean and also to communicate with each other, Femke Den Haas, who runs the rehabilitation centre, reportedly informed that they often switch off the sonar when they are kept in captivity.

The official site of the project read, “As the first permanent dolphin sanctuary in the world, the Bali Dolphin Sanctuary must be a model of success. Ideally, it will act as a prototype for others to be built globally, as demand for captive dolphins wane”. 

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