Dolphins Triumph Over Abuse, Sabotage and Hit Squads

WSPA Team Recounts Astounding Rescue Operation

Posted at wspa.com July 20, 2001

Bottlenose dolphins Ariel and Turbo arrived at Guatemala's Manabique Point this past week and began the rehabilitation process that will lead them back to a life of freedom in their home waters, announced the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA). According to the WSPA team that rescued, transported and now will rehabilitate Ariel and Turbo, the dolphins seem thrilled with their new surroundings and are actively exploring the sea pen that serves as their temporary home, chasing fish and communicating with wild dolphins in the area. But their carefree lifestyle belies the long road that they -and their rescuers - had to travel to get there.

Mere weeks ago, these two dolphins, abandoned in the night by their trainers, were on the brink of death. The dolphins were part of an extremely abusive traveling dolphin spectacle known as Mundo Marino, based in Venezuela. The owners of Mundo Marino established a "farm" near Antigua City, Guatemala for the training of dolphins. This is what Ariel and Turbo had been calling home. After questions about possible permit violations at the facility arose, the dolphins' trainers disappeared during the night. Despite their attempt at a quick escape, the trainers managed to leave with most of the water filtration equipment. This move almost guaranteed that any rescue attempt would be difficult and the death of the dolphins would be inevitable.

According to WSPA rescuer Richard O'Barry, the former trainer of television's Flipper and now part of the airlift and rehabilitation team, "When WSPA first rushed to Guatemala to try and save Ariel and Turbo, we weren't sure if they were going to make it. They were floating in their own excrement and hadn't eaten for days. It seemed as if their pen would become their tomb." Adds WSPA veterinarian Dr. Juan Carlos Murillo, "Ariel and Turbo were in bad shape when we got to them. They had sores all over their bodies and in their mouths and were suffering from kidney and respiratory infections. And one of the dolphins had a huge cut on the top of his head where he was hit by his trainer!"

WSPA's first order of business was to stabilize the dolphins. "We had a real fight on our hands, trying to keep Ariel and Turbo alive from day-to-day," commented team leader and WSPA Regional Director for Latin America Gerardo Huertas. "One of our top priorities was to change the disgusting water that was making the dolphins so sick. This meant arranging a caravan of 35 trucks to bring in fresh water and 300 sacks of salt. We had to repeat this maneuver several times. The dolphins also got special around-the-clock veterinary care and their malnourished bodies required 50 pounds of fish per day."

When the team's skill and professionalism convinced Environmental Ministry officials to award custody to WSPA, preparations got underway to transport the dolphins to a WSPA-built rehabilitation site. Said Huertas, "The logistics of this operation were mind-boggling. After weeks of preparation, we chose July 12 as our departure date. We were ready to go well before dawn and needed to move quickly - the more time the dolphins spent out of the water, the more dangerous it became for them."

Due to death threats against the rescuers, military and police personnel were on hand to escort the transport trucks to the airport in Guatemala City. Laughs Huertas, "We got stuck in the morning rush hour traffic and drivers refused to yield to the convoy. But when people noticed the military sharpshooter on top of the main truck, they moved out of our way pretty quickly!"

Safely packed in transport boxes filled with ice and water to keep them cool and comforted by the WSPA team, Ariel and Turbo were loaded on to a military transport plane in Guatemala City for the first leg of their trip to Puerto Barrios, on the Caribbean coast. From there, a helicopter waited to take the dolphins to their final destination at Manabique Point. Forced to make a pinpoint landing on a small sandbar that is only exposed during low tide, the helicopter touched down mere feet from the temporary enclosure.

Ariel was the first to arrive. Immediately after she was placed in the sea pen, a pod of wild dolphins showed up by the other side of the pen's net to greet the new guests. Turbo followed a few minutes later and together they disappeared into the depths. After witnessing the scene, O'Barry commented, "Now that the dolphins are free from the burden of having to perform for humans, they've made a remarkable recovery. It won't be long before they're free to swim the oceans, as dolphins should be."