2025: A Year in Review

As 2025 comes to an end, we want to thank everyone who supported Dolphin Project this year. Whether you helped from across the world or attended an in-person event, you played a real part in what we accomplished.

This year brought several major achievements, including:

In West Bali, Indonesia, our multi-purpose Umah Lumba Center provided critical care to rescued and confiscated primates, sea turtles, and other animals in need. We continued to educate local students at our free school (currently serving 56 students), conducted marine mammal stranding training at universities, and marine mammal protection workshops at the Center. We offered veterinary services for companion animals. And our ongoing maintenance of our sea pens ensures we are ready to rehabilitate confiscated dolphins at a moment’s notice.

In Taiji, Japan – ground zero for the annual, brutal dolphin slaughters and captures – we have won all court cases to-date. As a result, we continue to pore over information related to the wild capture and captivity trade of dolphins.

After spending decades campaigning against Miami Seaquarium’s use of captive dolphins, on October 13 the facility finally closed its doors. This milestone was the result of years of work, leading to several scathing inspections by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, a lease-eviction notice enacted by Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, and a subsequent bankruptcy filing by parent company The Dolphin Company.

With prominent facilities such as Miami Seaquarium in the United States and Marineland Antibes in France closing, and mounting animal welfare concerns surrounding now-shuttered Marineland Canada, the need to create alternative sanctuaries has never been greater. As public perception continues to shift away from captivity, Dolphin Project is moving swiftly in 2026 to replicate the successful model established at the Umah Lumba Center in West Bali, expanding this approach across North America and the European Union.

For more than 55 years, Dolphin Project’s primary mission has been to advocate for dolphins. And this hasn’t changed. Today, we are pleased to have expanded our efforts to protect the environment, support communities, and care for other animals in need.

None of this would have been possible without you.

Together, let’s make 2026 a year of progress, compassion and a better world for all.

P.S. Please consider making a generous donation – through December 31, your support makes twice the impact, as every donation will be matched up to $50K.

“How long will it take for us to learn that a concrete, steel and glass tank inside a building is not an appropriate habitat for dolphins and other whales?” ~ Ric O’Barry, Founder/Director of Dolphin Project

Ric O’Barry, Founder/Director of Dolphin Project

2025 Highlights

All formerly-performing dolphins deserve to retire in peace and dignity. During his time at the Umah Lumba Center, Rambo underwent intensive rehabilitation before choosing freedom, West Bali, Indonesia. Credit: DolphinProject.org

TARANTO, ITALY: We wholeheartedly support the pioneer effort of Jonian Dolphin Conservation and their work on the San Paolo Dolphin Refuge near Taranto, Italy – a groundbreaking effort to build Europe’s first refuge dedicated to non-releasable dolphins rescued from marine parks, giving them a more natural life where they can experience the elements of nature while still being cared for by people. This project is a model of ethical relocation, rehabilitation, and long-term welfare. By partnering with Jonian Dolphin Conservation, we are helping to bring this refuge to life and give captive dolphins the dignified future they deserve. Initiatives like this – rooted in science, care and respect for dolphins’ well-being – represent the true path forward for non-releasable dolphins in Europe.

Cynthia and Alex document the atrocities committed against dolphins during the annual dolphin drive hunts, Taiji, Japan. Credit: DolphinProject.org

TAIJI, JAPAN: We are currently working on a new lawsuit contesting the legality of portions of the hunts and hunting processes. We continue to share our documentation with a team of Japanese activists who are working within Japan to raise awareness about these hunts, ensuring that accurate information reaches regions where public understanding is still limited. There has been extensive collaboration and information exchange with these groups. In January and February, we had Cove Monitors Cynthia and Alex on the ground covering the end of the 2024/25 hunting season. We have also supported several Japanese activists in traveling to Taiji to witness the hunts firsthand, and they continue to share their findings on their own platforms. Future efforts include continued monitoring, legal investigation and research related to the hunts, and ongoing support for Japanese activists working both inside and outside Taiji.

MALTA: Dolphin Project has joined the Waves Not Walls campaign in Malta, standing alongside local and international organizations to end the exploitation of dolphins. By lending our voice and expertise, we are calling for the closure of Mediterraneo Marine Park and an end to captive breeding, “swim-with-dolphins” attractions, and all other forms of entertainment that confine these intelligent, social beings in small, barren tanks. We are urging Mediterraneo Marine Park and Maltese authorities to collaborate with us and help create a true sea sanctuary where Malta’s captive dolphins can live in safety and dignity and never again be forced to entertain tourists.

Activists say NO to dolphin captivity. Empty The Tanks Portugal. Credit: DolphinProject.org

LORO PARQUE, SPAIN: We continue to shine a spotlight on the plight of the orcas and bottlenose dolphins held at Loro Parque in Tenerife, Spain. These intelligent apex predators are confined to small, barren show stadiums to perform for entertainment – worlds away from anything natural, including the sounds and rhythms of the ocean. We urge authorities in Spain to implement a nationwide ban on the captive breeding of orcas and other dolphins. Through advocacy and public education, we work to raise awareness of their suffering and to call for an end to the use of dolphins as tourist attractions, striving for a future in which these magnificent marine mammals can finally live free from human exploitation.

TUI CAMPAIGN VIDEO: We recently participated in the launch of a campaign video, jointly created with several other dolphin protection organizations calling on the public not to book with TUI until the company stops endorsing cruelty to dolphins. The video, titled Who Would You Rather Book With? urges TUI, which brands itself as one of the world’s leading tourism groups, to take responsibility and align its business practices with ethical animal welfare standards by ending its support for dolphinaria. Through this campaign, Dolphin Project aims to empower travelers to make compassionate choices, highlight the impact of informed travel decisions, and encourage the travel industry to move toward a future free of captive dolphin entertainment.

MARINELAND D’ANTIBES, FRANCE: Dolphin Project has long condemned Marineland d’Antibes for its decades-long exploitation of orcas and bottlenose dolphins as tourist attractions. Over the years, the amusement park relied on both wild-caught and captive-born cetaceans, subjecting them to performances and confinement in concrete tanks instead of the freedom of their natural ocean home. After the park’s closure in January 2025, two orcas and 12 bottlenose dolphins still remain in deplorable conditions. We continue to urge authorities in France to rehome these animals – not to another exploitative dolphinarium, but to spacious sanctuaries where they will never again have to entertain humans.

MEXICO: On June 25, the Mexican Chamber of Deputies approved a groundbreaking legal reform banning the reproduction of marine mammals, including their use in concrete tanks, as well as prohibiting physical contact during swim-with-dolphins sessions. The reform, which was already passed by the Senate, amends Articles 47 Bis 4, 60 Bis, 122, and 127 of the General Wildlife Law, representing a milestone in the protection of marine mammals in Mexico. Please follow our social media for updates.

Umah Lumba Education Centre students visit the Menjangan Eco Farm, learning the importance of conservation and eco farming. Credit: DolphinProject.org

BALI, INDONESIA: During 2025, we expanded our animal rescue and rehabilitation work across Bali, responding to numerous marine mammal and sea turtle strandings and giving these animals the chance to return to the ocean – either immediately or after receiving care at our multi-purpose Umah Lumba Center. The impact of our workshops and trainings has been clear: in two regions where our team conducted marine mammal stranding trainings, communities successfully responded to strandings and guided dolphins safely back to open water. Our veterinarian, Deny, also trained 223 students across four universities in marine mammal rescue. Because most strandings result from noise pollution, and animals becoming separated from their pods, informed intervention often means these animals can be saved and released. In June, Indonesia’s first wildlife crime museum opened at Umah Lumba, providing an immersive space to help educate on the critical need to protect wildlife and nature. Our sea turtle hospital – the only one in Bali – treated 56 patients this year, underscoring its crucial role. We continue to campaign for the release of captive dolphins and maintain our sea pens in Central Java and West Bali to receive rescued animals. Umah Lumba has grown into one of Bali’s most important centers for wildlife education and rehabilitation and remains the world’s only dolphin rehabilitation and retirement center – all made possible thanks to your support. This month, we are celebrating five incredible years of education, rehabilitation, release, and care!

Ric O’Barry attends the 13th annual Empty the Tanks event at SeaWorld in Orlando. Credit: Gwen McKenna

EVENTS: On May 11 and 12, activists from around the world stood together and peacefully advocated for an end to dolphin and whale captivity during our 13th annual Empty The Tanks event. During the month of September, several events took place where activists took action against the dolphin slaughters and captures in Taiji. And, as part of my birthday fundraiser, on October 17–19, I, along with Dolphin Project team members, attended an amazing whale watch event in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada aboard Eagle Wing Tours with whale watchers from all parts of the globe!

INTERVIEWS AND PUBLIC AWARENESS: We have conducted numerous educational interviews, engaging with schools, politicians, newspapers, radio and TV programs, online magazines, and government officials. Educating decision-makers about the suffering of captive dolphins is a vital part of our work. In Europe, we are finally seeing progress, with more and more leaders recognizing that the commercial exploitation and captive breeding of dolphins must come to an end.