Legendary dolphin trainer turned anti-captivity icon Ric O'Barry on his journey from catching and training Flipper to going to jail to save dolphins. Skaana host Mark Leiren-Young dives into The Dolphin Project, the making of the Academy Award-winning documentary The Cove and his upcoming fundraiser in Victoria, BC. “I started sympathizing with the dolphins and I could see things from their point of view. And I still do, I still do that. Every decision I make regarding whatever I get into a situation, I don't know exactly what to do, I try and see it from their perspective and make decisions based on that. I've always done that. We still do that.” – Ric O'Barry Made in Canada, eh 🍁
Skaana on social media:
Mark on social media:
2:42 Meet Ric O'Barry.
3:12 “I'm always either underwater, in a boat or in an airplane.” Working on a dolphin sanctuary in Italy.
4:34 The first dolphin sanctuary and the evolution of sanctuaries… with the help of Stephen Stills (from Crosby, Stills & Nash)
7:00 On not loving Marineland (in Canada) “Protesting works… This is a multi-billion dollar industry. They have the money to clean up their own mess, but they never do that.”
12:55 “Sanctuaries are the beginning of the end of this multi-billion dollar industry and they know that. So they're fighting it.”
20:26 On the impact of The Cove and his new upcoming documentary – Freeing Flipper. “Awareness is the first step. And that's what these films do. They make people aware.”
24:19 Christmas Day, 1955 – the visit to the aquarium that changed his world. Moving from diving for the navy to diving with dolphins. And capturing dolphins. “When Flipped came along it was like getting on a rocket ship” Living with Flipper. And becoming the first person to train dolphins underwater.
30:00 On thinking like a dolphin: “I started sympathizing with the dolphins and I could see things from their point of view. And I still do, I still do that. Every decision I make regarding whatever I get into a situation, I don't know exactly what to do, I try and see it from their perspective and make decisions based on that. I've always done that. We still do that.”
31:00 On catching and selling dolphins. For $300!
34:20 When one of the Flipper's died in his arms… “that's when I went ballistic.” The origins of his activism and civil disobedience. Earth Day, 1970. And going to jail for dolphins.
41:40 On Joni Mitchell , David Crosby and other stars singing for dolphins.
49:40 “At 7:30 I would take the television set, it had about a 300 foot extension cord, and I would take it down to the end of the dock so Flipper could watch Flipper on TV… If they're really my friend, why am I keeping them in captivity?.”
50:10 The real names of dolphins – the ones they give each other.
52:01 “I've had a lifetime of once in a lifetime experiences.”
52:30 On his upcoming fundraising visit to Victoria.
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