Ric O'Barry

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Man Among the Dolphins

A breeze blew through the marine park while the melancholy squeaks of dolphins rang out. They were not content to be caged in their fiberglass tanks, forced to swim tiny laps so different from the sixty plus kilometers they would have had in the wild, but only a few understood their pleas. One of these few was Ric O'Barry, a voice for the dolphins even back in his days as a dolphin trainer. O'Barry worked on the popular 60s television show "Flipper" up until one of the five dolphins that played Flipper died in his arms (Meisner). According to O'Barry, she had committed suicide by diving underwater and refusing to breathe. This made him believe that dolphins could never be happy in captivity since the pools they were forced to swim in were significantly smaller than the sixty kilometers they would have had available in the wild. O'Barry left the show to began his career as a major player in the marine activism world in the early 70s (Bly). One must possess solid moral values, tenacity, and courage to be worthy of the title "hero". Ric O'Barry's efforts to expose the truth on dolphin captivity and his willingness to rebel against society's norms display his integrity, determination, and bravery.

Ric O'Barry was an integral part of the activists' world, and did anything he could to free the dolphins using his fierce sense of integrity. O'Barry realized what the government does to ensure the country's safety may not be morally right: "We used dolphins to take out North Vietnamese  regulars coming down the Mekong Delta and they died there and we've used them in the Persian Gulf and these were basically disposable dolphins for a disposable society. And that's what's wrong with it" (Interview Richard O'Barry). O'Barry disagreed with this measure because he believed that as living creatures, dolphins should not have been treated like garbage. In O'Barry's eyes it was as though they were telling a mother that the government needed to steal her baby away to train it for the military, but it ended up being used as a martyr on the front lines. O'Barry freed two dolphins, only to end up with them being recaptured, but he felt right about it: "We did the right thing. We prepared them properly and I feel good about it. It's just unfortunate that the captivity industry is so powerful and they have the National Marine Fisheries Service as their errand boy" (Interview Richard O'Barry). O'Barry was disappointed that the National Marine Fisheries Service was swayed by the demand for captive dolphins and recaptured the two aquatic mammals he had freed moments before. Even though the dolphins were captured again, he felt he had done the right since they had a few moments of freedom. Possessing integrity means being driven by a set of morals, and O'Barry did what he could to save the dolphins from their bonds as human entertainment because he did not believe it to be morally right.

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O'Barry was full of determination which he used to free dolphins even if that meant working arduous hours for something the majority of people had not realized was an issue. He has worked for most of his life toward rescuing dolphins: "Over the past 40 years, Ric O'Barry has rescued and rehabilitated dolphins in many countries around the world" (Interview Richard O'Barry). O'Barry's determination was inspiring, lasting well over forty years. He has managed to remain a prominent figure in marine activism throughout that time. He was rock steady, taking action whenever someone claimed how much a dolphin's life was improved in captivity. O'Barry even went head to head with the law to release dolphins into the wild: "So in response to the permit... I got, a fax 14 pages long... and all kinds of reasons why I can't get a permit.... Ironically, if I wanted to take the same two dolphins and exploit them in a swim program somewhere... legally you could do that. They'll help you do that. It's only when you want to do the right thing they stop you" (Interview Richard O'Barry). Despite government involvement, O'Barry was ready to set the dolphins he wished to protect free. He was furious that these dolphins could have been shipped off to a tropical destination for a swim program and that the government would have wholly supported that. This aside, he put the dolphins before himself even if the consequences could have been dire. Determination allowed O'Barry to accomplish much of what he strived to through blood, the occasional misdemeanor, and paperwork.

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O'Barry stood against injustices done to a race considered less important, using a great deal of bravery. He was brave enough to take any risks to aid the dolphins with their liberation: "On the first Earth Day, 1970, he launched a searing campaign against the multi-billion dollar dolphin captivity industry and has been going at it ever since" (O'Barry). To stand up against an industry so immense took momentous courage and the mental strength to keep fighting. O'Barry was brave enough to stand against what was overlooked as something unjust, and instead viewed as harmless entertainment, sometimes even as helpful to the marine mammals. With the government putting pressure on one to follow its rules, it is impressive to break out of the perpetual rut: "The system simply doesn't work so therefore I don't work within the system" (Interview Richard O'Barry). O'Barry had abandoned the guidelines for dolphin release into the wild set by the government in hopes that it would help the dolphins more. He ultimately strayed from the path carved out for all humans, climbing past the rocky adversity from supports of marine parks and aquariums. It took bravery to admit that something was amiss and O'Barry has done so repeatedly.

O'Barry's integrity, determination, and bravery allowed him to stand up for the dolphins and make their plight known around the world. Forcing an animal to live in an environment substantially smaller than their natural habitat was flat out wrong. O'Barry was an abolitionist for dolphins, freeing them at any cost. In a way he was like the Underground Railroad of the marine world. I believe that he was a hero because he has assisted in ending dolphin captivity, which was simply a form of slavery due to how unhappy the marine mammals were in their fiberglass tanks. I found O'Barry to be a hero because of his belief of what was morally correct; saving dolphins from an unhappy fate of splashing in what would be a kiddie pool to them. Dolphins, like many creatures, were beautiful. They did not deserve to be locked away from their natural environment, which was exactly what O'Barry sought to prove. He expressed a sentiment wonderfully put by our sixteenth president: "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves" (Abraham Lincoln).

Works Consulted

Bly, Laura. "Dolphins: How close is too close?" USA Today 7 Aug. 2009: 09D. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 5 Dec. 2012.

Carys Mills Toronto, Star. "Protesters upstage dolphins." Toronto Star (Canada) n.d.: Newspaper Source. Web. 5 Dec. 2012.

"Corrections." New York Times 27 June 1996. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 5 Dec. 2012.

"Interview Richard O'Barry" PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/whales/interviews/obarry2.html>.

Meisner, Mark. "Documentary exploits: this year's Oscar winner, The Cove, is part of Flipper-trainer Ric O'Barry's effort to expose the underbelly of animal stardom." Alternatives Journal 36.4 (2010): 6. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 5 Dec. 2012.

O'Barry, Richard, Dave Phillips, Mark J. Palmer, Mark Berman, Mary Jo Rice, and Laura Bridgeman. "About Us | Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project." About Us | Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project. Earth Island Institute, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. http://dolphinproject.org/about-us.