Letters to the Editor: 10-22-2016

Education not worth captivity

Regarding your recent front page article about Dolphin Quest’s “educational” program, to put it simply, it’s not about education, it’s about big business. The Dolphin Quest program makes millions of dollars a year off of their captive dolphins. These poor animals are confined for life in a very small area — just for the purpose of making huge sums of money for DQ.

All you have to do is look at their website, DQ charges anywhere from $300 to $1,400 for a visitor to have a dolphin experience. The only reason they do these few educational sessions with school kids is to scam the public into thinking what they are doing is justifiable — it is not. Dolphins in the wild spend 80 percent of their time below the surface, while captive dolphins spend 80 percent of their time on the surface in order to “interact” with paying clients. Dolphins depend on sound waves to navigate, numerous studies have shown they are suffering in captivity, subjected to unnatural confines and bombarded by noise for the sake of human entertainment. These wild animals basically live out their lives in a concrete box that is designed to look like a lagoon. All you have to do is visit the Dolphin Quest area at the Hilton Waikoloa. Look at the small enclosure they live in — then look out at the Pacific Ocean.

Then ask yourself, “Where would these dolphins rather live?”

Please do not allow Dolphin Quest to mask their animal cruelty as education.

William Harlan

Kailua-Kona

Ah ha!

Watching the debate, Donald Trump has finally nailed his Alec Baldwin impersonation.

Arne Werchick

Kailua-Kona