Skip to content
All articles
  • All articles
  • About whales & dolphins
  • Create healthy seas
  • End captivity
  • Green Whale
  • Prevent deaths in nets
  • Scottish Dolphin Centre
  • Stop whaling
We're at COP28 to Save the Whale, Save the World.

We’re at COP28 to save the whale, save the world

Ed Goodall Ed is WDC's head of intergovernmental engagement. He meets with world leaders to...
Gray whales from drone.

We’re taking steps to uncover the mysteries of whales

Vicki James Vicki is WDC's protected areas coordinator, she helps to create safe ocean spaces...
We must protect our non-human allies. Image: Tom Brakefield, aurore murguet, johan63

We’re urging governments to protect all of our climate heroes – CITES

Katie Hunter Katie supports WDC's engagement in intergovernmental conversations and is working to end captivity...
The Natütama Foundation are dedicated to protecting endangered river dolphins. Image: Natutama

Guardians of the Amazon: protecting the endangered river dolphins

Ali Wood Ali is WDC's education projects coordinator. She is the editor of Splash! and KIDZONE,...
Amazon river dolphins. Image: Fernando Trujillo/Fundacion Omacha

Amazon tragedy as endangered river dolphins die in hot water

Ali Wood Ali is WDC's education projects coordinator. She is the editor of Splash! and KIDZONE,...
Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin © Mike Bossley/WDC

WDC in Japan – Part 3: Restoring freedom to dolphins in South Korea

Katrin Matthes Katrin is WDC's communications and campaigns officer for policy & communication in Germany...
Wintery scene in Iceland

Seeking sanctuary – Iceland’s complex relationship with whales

Hayley Flanagan Hayley is WDC's engagement officer, specialising in creating brilliant content for our website...
Whaling ship Hvalur 8 arrives at the whaling station with two fin whales

A summer of hope and heartbreak for whales in Icelandic waters

Luke McMillan Luke is WDC's Head of hunting and captivity. Now that the 2023 whaling season...

Help stop captive dolphins coming to Kuwait!

Bottlenose dolphin in captivity

As the evidence against the keeping of whales and dolphins in captivity continues to convince an increasing number of people around the world not to visit facilities holding them and, in the case of big businesses like Thomas Cook and Virgin Holidays ends their promotion of such places and encourages their support for sanctuaries and responsible whale watching as viable alternatives, there are exceptions to the rule where no-one seems to be listening and new facilities are being proposed and constructed to incarcerate more poor creatures.

One of these is in Kuwait, where the respected Scientific Center is planning to expand its facilities and build a captive dolphin facility.

Kuwait’s only brush with whale and dolphin captivity was in 2001 when a travelling dolphin and beluga show from Russia entered the country, giving circus-styles performances for tourists and locals. We don’t know what happened to the individuals featured in the shows.

Kuwait’s Scientific Center is not a place for captive dolphins. Even if the individuals to be displayed there are not captured from the wild to stock the facility they will come from far away, possibly Russia again, to be held in small pools, contributing nothing to their conservation of their species, performing in uneducational shows and suffering health and welfare problems. They are so many different whale and dolphin species in Kuwaiti waters to see wild.

Please sign the petition to the Kuwaiti Scientific Center asking them not to go ahead with their dolphinarium plans and let’s stop dolphin captivity expanding to yet another corner of the globe.

Many thanks in advance.