Back to "The Cove" - Save Japan Dolphins

How Many Captive Dolphins are Currently Held in India?

  • 105 (73% people answered this)
  • 10 (4% people answered this)
  • None (11% people answered this)
  • 25 (10% people answered this)

865 people answered.


Correct answer is: None

There are currently no captive facilities in India - but we have to make sure that it stays this way! In fall 2011, several proposals for new captive facilities were discovered. It became clear that the captive dolphin industry is trying to access the market in this populous nation. If they are successful, the demand for captive dolphins could increase enormously - which means that more captures will take place in The Cove, and dolphins will continue to be slaughtered. Read more about the recent successes of our campaign and the whole story on India:


To end the brutal killing of more than 20,000 dolphins in Japan. Winner of the 2009 Oscar for best feature documentary, The Cove follows a team of activists and filmmakers as they infiltrate a heavily-guarded cove in Taiji, Japan. In this remote village they witness and document activities deliberately being hidden from the public: More than 20,000 dolphins and porpoises are being slaughtered each year and their meat, containing toxic levels of mercury, is being sold as food in Japan, often times labeled as whale meat. Under the direction of the film’s Ric O’Barry, Save Japan Island Institute is actively working in Japan to shut down this brutal practice. 1. 2. 3.

The global captivity industry is booming due to the high demand for captive dolphins. Many of these dolphins are caught from the lethal drive hunts in Taiji, Japan, as seen in the Oscar winning documentary The Cove

India has an estimated population of 1.2 billion people, making the potential market for captive dolphin entertainment enormous. Because, after all, everyone loves dolphins - but not everyone understands why captivity is so wrong. 

Recently the Animal Welfare Board of India released a nationwide advisory against captivity, citing that they would no longer be distributing permits for captive dolphins. And last fall, the Ministry of Forests and the Environment issued an advisory against the creation of a facility in Sindhudurg. 

While there is still work to be done, these successes indicate that we are very close to getting a complete ban on captivity in place. This would be a huge win for dolphins everywhere. 

Stay tuned - much will happen in the coming weeks and months. Visit for more details. 


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