Geoje Island, off the south coast of South Korea, is known to be the second largest island in Korea after Jeju Island, and is a popular tourist attraction in South Korea.
Geoje Sea World, a must-see attraction on the island, is the only large-scale dolphin experience park in Korea that offers outdoor dolphin performances, mainly dolphins.
(Dolphin Show)
At Geoje Sea World, visitors can experience a variety of intimate and interactive activities with dolphins, including but not limited to feeding dolphins, touching dolphins, shaking hands with dolphins, and even swimming with dolphins...
As a result, the aquarium was once known as "Dolphin Paradise".
(Dolphin Show)
However, on April 17, South Korea's marine animal protection organization "Hot Pink Dolphins" and South Korea's nonpartisan MP Yoon Mi-hyang held a press conference to accuse Geoje Sea World of animal cruelty and forcing sick dolphins to perform with illness.
(Press Conference)
Animal protection organizations showed detailed performance records and autopsy reports of the two dolphins, according to which one of the deceased dolphins, July, 18 years old, suffered from phlebitis from January 2024 and began vomiting and diarrhea in February. Another dolphin, Nova, 14 years old, has been suffering from symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea since December last year, with feces mixed with foam and other intestinal symptoms.
However, the aquarium treated the dolphins and forced them to perform on stage, and due to illness, Nova had unusual behaviors such as refusing to perform at the dolphin show.
Eventually, July died of E. coli sepsis on February 25, and three days after July's death, Nova also died of shock caused by volvulus.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a U.S. government agency, the average lifespan of bottlenose dolphins in the wild is 40 to 50 years, while National Geographic defines it as 45 to 50 years old.
And it can be seen from the performance records that the sick dolphins were in great pain during the performance. After receiving an injection from a veterinarian, Nova was about to play before she had recovered from her illness, and she was unable to perform large movements due to physical discomfort in the middle of the performance, and she also exhibited abnormal behavior of refusing to perform. Prior to his death, Nova had slammed the inside of the sink with force, resulting in a laceration to the tip of his mouth, which was believed by animal tissue to be caused by the pressure.
(Animal protection group protests)
However, the record downplays Nova's uncomfortable resistance as "occasionally having a bad attitude during performances" and "although it looks like there is a problem with the action, it is actually a training problem".
Four days before his death, Nova was also forced to perform a dolphin show. After the show, it was found to have been at the bottom of the sink, seemingly resting, and died of shock a few days later...
(Nova Performance Record)
According to a report by the Korea Daily, on the day of the death of Nova and July, Geoje Sea World did not show any mourning, and still held a lively dolphin show as usual, and even invited the dolphin "Taeji" from Seoul Grand Park to perform with other dolphins in the museum, not caring about the death of the dolphin members at all...
According to other information provided by animal protection organizations, the aquarium, which claims to be a "dolphin paradise", has killed 14 dolphin whales in 10 years since it opened in 2014, and the dolphin who died last year was only 15 years old. At present, there are only 9 dolphin whales left in the museum - 6 bottlenose dolphins and 3 beluga whales, resulting in this aquarium being called a "dolphin cemetery" by Korean media...
(VIP Event)
In 2020, Geoje Island Ocean World once launched a paid VIP "Dolphin Ride" activity, where you can ride dolphins and interact with dolphins for 70 minutes for only 200,000 won (about 1,054 yuan).
(VIP Event)
(Event sales)
At the scene, the trainers even stepped on the dolphins like surfboards, attracting cheers from the audience...
(Dolphin trampled)
Animal protection organizations had already noticed this aquarium that year, and after investigation, it was found that as of 2020, six years after the opening of Geoje Sea World, 9 of the original 16 dolphins died, and only 7 survived, and in 2019, 2 dolphins died of chronic kidney failure, with a mortality rate of 60%...
Dolphins and beluga whales live in the cold oceans of the Arctic and its surroundings, while bottlenose dolphins live in warm temperate and tropical oceans. However, in Geoje Sea World, they all live in small spaces and are raised in the same facility, which leads to the weakening of the animal's immunity and health, which has constituted animal cruelty...
Not to mention the dolphins who perform six times a day, all year round, are completely overworked.
The aquarium also transported two dolphins from Jeju Island without prior application, which was an act of smuggling...
（Hot Pink Dolphins成员）
After the government inspected the aquarium last year, it asked the museum to carry out rectification, but before the rectification began, another dolphin died in June...
(VIP Event)
Animal protection organizations strongly urged the Geoje city government to ban related fee-based activities, but the aquarium responded that there was no animal cruelty, not only did they make the dolphin pool similar to the natural environment, but the experience was also time-limited, and it did not harm or make the dolphins feel uncomfortable, and the contact with humans made them more social.
(Aquarium response)
In the aftermath of the "Two Dolphins Forced to Die by Performance" incident, animal protection organizations and lawmakers held a public press conference to strongly urge the government to punish Geoje Sea World for "animal cruelty", suspend operations, and revoke the aquarium license...
At present, the government has not responded, and hopes that the remaining cetaceans will no longer be abused and oppressed by the aquarium...