February 22nd 2025

Bottlenose Dolphins in the Southern Aegean Sea

We share one of the hundreds of images we have recorded over the past few days on board. Understanding the behaviour of these highly intelligent mammals, especially how they are affected by anthropogenic threats and how they can ultimately be protected, requires long-term research and continuous recording throughout the year.

The bottlenose dolphin is one of the four species that are found permanently in the Aegean Sea, where its populations are relatively small. Tragically, this species continues to be abused by humans and commercially exploited, with more than 3,000 bottlenose dolphins currently held captive in dolphinaria around the world.

The bottlenose dolphin is a highly intelligent marine mammal that naturally evolved to travel 40-100 miles a day and dive to depths of over 200 meters, where it hunts various species of fish and marine invertebrates. It also sleeps by alternating rest between its brain hemispheres, allowing it to maintain conscious breathing. This unique behaviour requires the dolphin to swim slowly in the open sea alongside others.

In captivity, dolphins are confined to the harsh environment of a concrete tank, where they are fed thawed dead fish. Their food intake and the size of each fish depend on how obediently they follow their trainers’ commands. They live in the same chlorinated water where they defecate, and the pool’s depth is typically just 3.5 meters. In Europe’s largest dolphinarium, the maximum distance a captive bottlenose dolphin can swim in a straight line is a mere 48 meters (0.03 miles).

History will look back on us harshly for allowing this brutal abuse to persist, driven by profit and entertainment. It’s not just those who perpetuate it, but all of us who tolerate it. Ironically, this cruelty is even labelled as an “educational activity for nature.” As the owner of the zoo in Athens recently claimed, it supposedly gives visitors the chance to “learn about the dangers dolphins face in the wild.”