Over ten years ago, August 2008 to be precise,
I received a phone call about a travelling dolphin show.
It turned out
that this travelling dolphin show was capturing dolphins
from an area called Karimunjawa, in central Java.
This was the world’s last travelling dolphin show,
and they are still operating until today,
and we are still campaigning to close them down.
The owner of this travelling dolphin show
had supplied dolphins to other places around Indonesia.
We went to the Melka Hotel a few times,
we documented what was happening there,
we would stay –
I would sleep in the hotel room right next to the pool,
filming them early morning,
walking in the pool area because it was still quiet.
We would witness Dewa
jumping up against the side of the pool and really hurting himself.
It was really shocking to see this behavior.
I have never seen anything like it before,
I didn’t even know it existed.
The people that would go there
pay a lot of money to swim with these dolphins.
The children that come there,
they fly them in from Russia and from other countries.
The parents have hope that these dolphins are going to heal their children,
but it’s all a scam, it’s a scam to raise money.
It’s been a long struggle.
We had endless meetings with the government.
And now, since we have the chance to really make a difference for them,
we got them out of the pool,
we are finally giving them their birthright for freedom,
we need support more than ever.
We are working with the government, for the greater cause,
which is we are going in the right direction.
Often people are easily complaining,
easily clapping, like this is great work -
but we really, really need support.
We’re looking for a place that has clean, clear water,
wild dolphins in the area,
and we really don’t know exactly,
but I’ll know when we see it.
We’ve done this before, searching for a sanctuary,
in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Colombia, Brazil, Haiti,
and we usually build a sea-pen temporarily,
because those dolphins are going to be set free.
This one will be permanent.
And it will be the first one in the world.
There are a lot of dolphin sanctuaries on the drawing board
but, as I speak,
there isn’t one anywhere in the world.
Hopefully, this will be the first.
These boats would have to go.
Physically it would work, along the sea wall.
I'm afraid there are too many boats here, Capt.
If the boats weren’t here it would work.
The fact that there are people here, and activity,
doesn’t matter for the dolphins that are not going to be released.
Actually they would have something to stimulate their mind,
because captivity is boring,
and so you don’t want to get them in isolation.
The other two, who are going to be released into the wild,
they need to be away from boats, and people, and activity.
But not the ones that are going to be here forever.
Maybe if we go around there might be quiet beaches.
This is where it is, right here!
We don’t have a mooring, but there is one right there maybe, right?
Is that a mooring?
This is the area, right here! This is it!
I can see a sea-pen right here.
I think this is the spot, Femke.
It’s the best one we’ve seen so far, this location, right here.
So, this looks like we have found the location.
This seems to be the ideal spot.
There is plenty of reef that can be included inside the sea-pen,
and the current is not very strong
when you get closer to that inner reef over there.
So, starting the sea-pen there, and going out to deeper water,
there is about a four or five knot current here,
and the deep end of the pen can be in a current like that.
It would actually be helpful.
So, this could be it!
We just need to get a permit now, and get going.
Let’s do this!
This woman right here can make it all happen!
He got me into this, it’s all your fault!
So, all of these trainers here, lost their jobs,
when we raided the Melka Hotel and put them out of business.
So we rehired them,
we hired them all and increased their salary.
Now they are wearing Dolphin Project T-shirts,
and they feel great about themselves.
They are a very cohesive team, they are like family.
And so, the sea-pen,
the sanctuary is in kind of a remote location,
they can’t stay there 24/7
so they’ll rotate, the five dolphin trainers.
Dolphins have three to five times the body waste that a human has,
they urinate and defecate three to five times,
so there’s an enormous amount of shit in here.
It is, literally, a toilet bowl.
People need to know what happened to these dolphins,
who they are, how they got here,
what they were doing here, where they’re going.
That’s real education.
If people get that education, if they get that information,
they'll probably think twice
before they buy a ticket for a dolphin show.
Femka and my son Lincoln,
they came here 10 years ago and found these dolphins.
They have been fighting for 10 years to get them out of here.
It’s been like banging your head against the wall for 10 years,
but in the very last couple of months everything came together.
All the stars and planets lined up perfectly,
and we have the cooperation of the police, the fire department,
the fisheries department, everybody is cooperating.
This is all about keeping their temperature down to 98.6,
which is about what we are, also, human.
They tend to overheat when they are out of the water.
Breathtaking!
(Sighs) Takes my breath away!
You have to have the patience of a saint to do this work.
We’re going to see his behavior change radically,
because his habitat changed radically.
Habitat dictates behavior, that’s a given in science.
His habitat at the swimming pool was very shallow,
heavily chlorinated,
chemically treated with copper sulfate, citric acid.
And now he is in natural seawater, there is a lot of fish in here.
He is going to experience the rhythms of the sea, the tide,
the current, all of those things, and be able to see the stars,
be able to live out his life with quality and dignity,
and be identified properly.
At these captive facilities, they identify the dolphins as ambassadors.
That’s not true.
They’re not ambassadors, they didn't volunteer for that job.
They are victims.
And that will be explained to people when they come here.
And when people leave here, hopefully they’ll think twice
before they buy a ticket for a dolphin show.
So, yeah, this is a huge thing here, it’s a big day.
I was up all night thinking about this.
Oh, man! It’s amazing! It only took 10 years!
Wow! There they are!
Oh, man! We pulled that off!
We did all this with no money.
Just dreaming, this is all the result of a dream, actually.
Oh, man!
[Please Support Us!]
The problem is, I never asked for money before,
I’m not good at that, I’ve never done that before,
this is the first time
I’ve actually asked for donations for a cause,
and it’s important,
because this is the only dolphin sanctuary in the world,
and we need to make sure it’s successful.
It’s imperative to have an alternative to these captive dolphins swim programs
around the world.
The best way to bring about change for the common good is by example.
And that’s what the Dolphin Project Sanctuary is about, in Bali.
It’s actually in two parts.
We have the sanctuary in the West Bali National Park.
That’s where they go to be identified,
to find out if they are candidates to be released,
or to stay in the sanctuary.
We have identified two of the dolphins, the two you see here, Rocky and Rambo,
they are clearly candidates for release.
And we have to rebuild the Camp Lumba Lumba,
which is in their home range.
This is going to be expensive,
so we're asking the public to please support this effort.
They can be free with your help.