Alesha Dixon has urged families to shun dolphin and whale shows this summer, warning that children are being shown “what abuse looks like”. The Britain’s Got Talent judge and Mis-Teeq singer is calling on holidaymakers to swap captive animal performances for wildlife-watching trips, and has renewed calls for travel giant TUI to stop selling tickets to marine parks.
As families head overseas for the school holidays, many will visit captive dolphin and whale attractions in holiday hotspots such as Tenerife and Portugal, despite growing concerns over the welfare of the marine mammals. In the wild, bottlenose dolphins can swim around 63 miles a day, travelling vast distances in complex family groups. Yet more than 3,600 dolphins and whales are still kept in entertainment venues worldwide, confined to concrete tanks.
“Alesha Dixon urges families to avoid dolphin shows this summer, calling them 'abuse'.”
“I’ve had many experiences with dolphins in the wild and I always find it really difficult to articulate in words just how special that feeling is,” said Alesha, who has been a UK ambassador for World Animal Protection for more than 14 years. “You see a pod of dolphins in the ocean and it reminds you what an incredible planet we live on and how we should protect these beautiful beings. They’re highly intelligent beings.”
The mum-of-two, who is preparing for a Mis-Teeq reunion in September at Wembley Arena to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the girl group’s album Lickin’ on Both Sides, said she is heartbroken by the thought of seeing such intelligent animals in captivity. “When you see how many miles they swim every day and then think about them in these confined tanks where they must be losing their mind, it just saddens me.”
She argued that whale and dolphin shows mislead families about conservation and education. “All we’re doing is showing our children what abuse looks like. The best education our children can have is seeing animals in their natural habitat, free in the wild where they belong.”
Instead of buying tickets to shows, Alesha believes families should consider seeing dolphins in their natural environment. “Spend that money on a boat trip and have an even more magical experience,” she said. Her eldest daughter Azura, 12, has already spotted dolphins in the wild during a trip to Jersey, and she plans to take Azura and younger daughter Anaya, six, on a trip in Italy this summer. The UK’s last dolphinarium closed in 1993.