Translator: Hélène Vernet Reviewer: Denise RQ
"There are no walls in the ocean."
This is what Bailey tells her friend, Destiny,
in the movie "Finding Dory."
And this is where my story begins.
My story is about dolphins and aquariums.
Although dolphins live in water, and we don't have much chance to see them,
there are a lot of stories between dolphins and people.
I bet that many of you have seen a dolphin before,
and you will all agree with me that dolphins are cute and intelligent.
Besides cats, and dogs, and other domesticated animals,
dolphins are already described as our good friends.
Dolphins keep surfers safe from sharks.
Dolphins help people who fall into water.
Dolphins seem so different from us, yet, so similar
that the government of India, actually, accepts the claim
that a dolphin is a long human person.
I've worked in the Wild Dolphin Research,
and therefore, I've seen how a wild dolphin behaves.
There are the dolphins you can see in Hong Kong:
the Chinese white dolphins are also called the Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins.
I've worked with them for almost four years,
and they continue to surprise me every time when I see them.
Sometimes, they are feeding.
Sometimes, they are socializing with friends.
Sometimes, they're just resting, or chilling, playing.
Many people may think that they all look the same.
Indeed, but at a closer look, every dolphin has a unique character.
Some of them are more playful, some of them are shier,
and they're emotionally complicated, as well.
Sometimes, they want to get close to our boat and play around us.
But sometimes, they just slap their fluke on the water surface, almost like saying,
"Go away! Don't bother me anymore!"
Every time, when they get close to our boat,
I realize they're looking at us.
And from the look in their eyes, I'm sure they are thinking something about us.
I like to imagine dolphins are thinking about myself,
something like, "Hey, it's you again! Why not come down and play?",
or like, "Hey, you weird human being!
I hate you so much! Don't dare you come down, or I'll bite you!"
(Laughter)
But the above is not only from my imagination.
Although their intelligence is still controversial among scientists,
we basically agree dolphins' IQ is comparable
to a 6 or 7-year-old human kid.
And that is using our standard.
So very possibly, we are still underestimating their intelligence.
You can see a much folded cerebral cortex,
which means that their brain can process a lot of information at a time.
And that results in different culture and complex social structure
in different dolphin populations.
Here, I have to introduce one of my friends to you:
she's Ropey, or CH34.
We first discovered her in 1997.
And you can see there is Ia permanent injury on her dorsal fin.
That's the result of entanglement in a fishing net.
She gave birth to two calves before,
but, unfortunately, both of her calves died because of an unknown reason.
During the death of her second calf, she was so depressed!
She couldn’t really accept the fact that her calf was dead.
She kept the carcass of her calf floating,
and she hoped her calf would breathe again.
She didn't let go for a week, and she gave up eating
because she had to keep an eye on the dead body.
Despite not being physically injured, she became so skinny.
We were afraid that she would die because of starvation.
Finally, after a week, she let go of her baby, and her life moved on.
It is always for me, a very sad story to tell,
but we were amazed that dolphins also grieve for their loved.
And this behavior is only found in a few species of animals
including elephants, some primates
(Laughter)
and myself, like all of you here, human beings.
Dolphins are facing a lot of threats from every corner on this planet,
because of us, because of our activities.
They have to live with threats like pollution, boat traffic,
and also, coastal development.
But every time when I see a dolphin,
I believe the most important element in their life is basic freedom;
the freedom to do anything they want to do,
the freedom to go anywhere they want to go,
and to live as elegant and lively as the predator they're born to be.
When I was in primary school, I met my first dolphin in my life,
like most of you here, maybe,
I met my first dolphin in an aquarium, the Hong Kong Ocean Park.
And I remembered I was the lucky one
who was allowed to touch the flipper of a dolphin.
That passion has driven me, and I finally was employed
as staff in Hong Kong Ocean Park.
(Laughter)
But after I started working there,
I realized things were not quite as I expected.
Dolphins there, are not happy as the Ocean Park is telling us,
and what they're doing is not real education and conservation.
Can you imagine if someone put you in a room
with no door, for the rest of your life?
I'm sure life will be miserable if you cannot go anywhere you want to go.
Dolphins always have to listen to loud music during day time,
and also loud voices of people.
(Music)
This is what dolphins always hear, every day, during day time.
For an extremely acoustic animal like dolphins,
long time exposure to noise will result in stress, hearing damage,
or even psychological disorder.
They are always starved.
As trainers, we will never feed them enough,
because otherwise, they may not listen to orders.
They use a lot of energy to perform acrobatics,
movements that are not natural to them,
like high jumps,
tail walking,
or even tugging a small boat to satisfy the desire of visitors.
For us, it's entertainment, but for them, it is all hard work,
and it will cause fatigue and frustration.
Then, after a long day, they are left unattended at night.
No one cares about what they need.
And what they only have is a tank. Like a bathtub size for them.
For Chinese white dolphins, we've recently found out that they're more active
and produce a lot of sounds at night.
That proves that we're still missing a lot of information about dolphins.
So what if captive dolphins, actually, need more attention at night?
But sadly,
what they can do in their tank every night is swimming in circles,
or floating motionlessly in their tank
which scientists call stereotypical behavior or meaningless behavior.
It is only found in captive animals because they are so bored.
They are psychologically unhealthy.
Do you know how captive dolphins are captured from the wild?
Most of the dolphins you can see in an aquarium in China,
are captured from Japan and Russia.
They use the method called "drive hunting' to capture them.
They spot a group of dolphins in the ocean.
They follow them with motor boats,
bang on metal rods to drive them into shallow coves.
Then, trainers from all over the world
will come and examine the captured dolphins
to see which are the most suitable for performing,
which are usually young females.
After the prized show, dolphins are taken.
The rest of them will be slaughtered and sold for meat.
Because of this, every dolphin you can see in an aquarium,
each costs the life of hundreds of other dolphins in the wild.
This will possibly affect
the sustainability of some wild population.
A recent study shows dolphins also have long term memories,
and they can remember their friends even if they are apart for 20 years,
by recognizing the unique whistle of different individuals.
For the captured dolphins, the sole survivors of their community
will carry this heartbreaking memory for the rest of their life.
They also develop other health issues.
Chronic stress weakens their digestive system,
and they don't get enough nutrients
because all they can get for food is a few species of frozen fish.
Then, as a result, they have to take a lot of medicines
like antibiotics, and supplements, like vitamins, to support their health.
They also develop teeth problems because they always chew on walls
or other objects in their pool, which is another stereotypical behavior.
All these health problems suggest
the reason why captive dolphins usually have shorter lives than wild dolphins.
The average life span of the dolphins in the Hong Kong Ocean Park
is less than three years,
compared to their counterparts in the wild,
bottle-nose dolphins that usually live up to 30, 40 years, or even longer.
The portrayal of the lives of captive dolphins
which the Marine Park creates for the visitors,
is a misrepresentation of the lives dolphins have in the wild.
And that's why, captivity industry always fails
to educate and to promote conservation,
because the story they're telling you is not the story of wild dolphins,
but only a fictional story of the captive dolphins
which only tells us what we want to hear.
Because the industry consumes the cruelty in this sugar coating,
but with the very act of capturing and confining them,
aquariums will never be the best classroom for kids to learn about animals,
because it is contradictory to the purpose of wildlife conservation.
Wildlife conservation
is to preserve the life of animals and their natural habitat.
The notion that seeing the animals in captivity
will help the dolphins in the wild is wrong.
How can cruelty end cruelty?
But then, my friends ask me,
'Without aquariums, how should we learn about marine animals?"
The easiest way will be going online,
see some documentaries, and read some books.
And here are more alternatives to dolphins captivity:
the facility itself, like the pool, can be turned into a sanctuary
to keep injured dolphins or life-threatened dolphins.
The main objective of keeping the dolphins is to rehabilitate
and reintroduce them back into the wild after they recovered,
but not keeping the animals in the facilities
for entertaining the masses.
The other area of aquariums can become a museum-like facility
to show carcasses of marine animals.
The best part of doing this
is that people can still see the real animals in front of them.
It's very much like when you go to a museum
to see the fossils of dinosaurs.
Kids will always fall in love with dinosaurs,
even if they will never see a real one.
Because there are no live animals there,
everything the industry can tell to their visitors is true,
and they can carry out what they claim they are doing
to educate the public and to promote conservation.
They can also try to use virtual reality
to let their visitors have an underwater experience.
Virtual reality has become very popular in recent years,
and people can feel they're submerged in the ocean to see different creatures.
This also doesn't require any live animals.
So they don't have to always replace the animals in the exhibits.
The only cost is the expense of the maintenance
of those high-tech facilities.
So now, what do you think about aquariums?
When I look back, I realize, on the day when I saw my first dolphin,
I didn't know what type she was.
I didn't know where she lived in the ocean,
and I didn't build any connection with her.
But yet, through these years, I found the key to end this cruelty.
We are the source of demand for this industry
and we are paying money to buy tickets
that will eventually go into the hunters' hands.
So, we have the power and responsibility to end this cruelty.
So from now on, don't go to any of the aquariums
that keep dolphins and other marine mammals.
And also, tell your friends and family not to go!
You can also write letters to the industry
(Applause)
or even the government to tell them what you want them to do.
With all of our help,
we can solve this problem and break all walls for the dolphins.
Let me end my part with a quote from the movie "The Cove,"
"We are their greatest threat, and their only hope!'
Thank you and enjoy your day.
(Applause)
(Mandarin) Host: Thank you, Taison. May I ask you a question in Mandarin?
T.C.: Yes, please.
Host: An aquarium was recently opened in Guangzhou.
But then, the focus of the society has shifted onto a polar bear
which is deemed the most sorrowful polar bear in the world.
T.C.: Yes.
Host: You may have heard of comments on the bear,
like, "It lives in such a terrible environment!"
Besides not visiting aquariums as you suggested in the talk,
what actions can we take as concerned citizens?
T.C.: I think the core of the issue is modern education, because--
Excuse my poor Mandarin.
Host: You are welcome to use Cantonese.
(Cantonese) T.C.: Oh yeah, I forgot Cantonese is allowed in here!
(Laughter)
I think education is the core of the issue.
The young generation is comfortable with the idea
of keeping sea animals in aquariums.
But could an impact be made on the way they see aquariums?
Yes, and it can be done by educating the next generation;
if they want to learn about sea creatures, an aquarium is not the right place.
As for our generation,
we were OK with aquariums being a great place for wildlife education.
and we are too lazy to change.
In order to change this mindset we have had for years,
we need to take the message back to our community and talk to kids.
That will be one of the most effective ways
to change people's perception on aquariums.
(Mandarin) Host: Thank you, Taison.
(Applause)