The last decree of the Minister Galletti concerning the care of wild animals in captivity has been published in the Official Gazette in the last few days. In reality, it is simply a matter of amending certain paragraphs of Directive 1999/22/EC, but in essence sufficient to allow a practice so far prohibited: swimming with dolphins of non-professionals in a controlled environment, ie in dolphinariums.
As a result of the decree, the environmentalist world has risen up urging the Ministry of the Environment and Protection of the Sea to specify that 'this is not a green light to this activity but a simple exception in the context of environmental education initiatives without a playful purpose', which, moreover, were already partly practiced.
Probably, however, the minister has not grasped the sense of the controversy: the problem, in fact, is to think that there is some form of education in entering the water with animals detained, it is appropriate to say, in a few square meters of water when in nature are accustomed to swimming for miles and miles a day.
Of course, in this case, we are talking about animals almost all born in captivity, some even of the second or third generation, whose possible reintegration into nature would be very complex (however, there are those who have tried, sometimes successfully, but the risks and costs are very high), but the concept does not change.
The transition to Mexican management is not accidental, as in Mexico, one of the last countries where dolphins could be captured at sea for dolphins, the water parks are numerous and very profitable and there are experiences of swimming and contact with animals.
The customers are mainly rich North Americans or foreigners willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a photo with a "kiss" of the dolphin, to be pushed under the feet by cetaceans or dragged into the water clinging to the pectoral fins.
Around these structures has been built a real world made of weddings with dolphins, parties of various kinds, possibility of contact with cetaceans even for children of one year of age and then a kind of pet therapy with young people with various diseases, especially psychic. On this point it is good to remember that a dolphin is no less intelligent than a dog, the main animal used for this activity, but has a totally different approach to humans, based more on sympathy than on empathy, curiosity rather than complacency, as it is instead for Fido.
But even without questioning the love and professionalism of the people who work in the structures that remain with these incredible animals, the problem is how much their well-being can be real within the walls of a few tanks (by law must be more than one).
Being highly sensitive, intelligent and curious animals they need continuous stimuli (try to repeatedly throw and film a bunch of keys in front of the glass of a tank and immediately the dolphins will rush excited about the novelty by producing abundant bubbles from the vents, as if to ask you what you do, and responding to the game by trying to take it by mouth), to explore, discover interact with their peers and hardly some balls and a circle may be enough substitutes.
Over the years, several trainers have turned around, starting with the American Ric O'Barry, who then participated in the unmissable documentary The Cove, up to the Spanish Albert Lopez, who also worked in Genoa and overseas, for which he was responsible trainer.
Confessing with the press, Lopez admitted that although the team works to make dolphins' lives better for dolphins, solitude and suffering to loud sounds are inevitable. It is no coincidence that all over the world there have been small incidents in which the dolphins, frightened or stressed, have had signs of aggression towards people in the water, but probably this is also part, for the minister, of the alleged educational path.
Finally, if we want to talk about the protection of cetaceans, experts have shown that there are no benefits for these animals also in view of the fact that the most used species such as bottlenose dolphins are not currently in danger of extinction - despite suffering the deupauperamento fish of the seas and pollution. How can there be education in all this?