Another month has passed, and Mirage has not made any major improvements for the dolphins at the Mirage. We have chosen to protest on Saturday, November 8th from 3-5pm. We must continue to put pressure on the facility and let our presence be known. This is the first protest after Ric O’Barry visited, so it is very important that Mirage sees that we can still pull the numbers without him.
Our group always meets at the corner of Las Vegas Blvd and the northern entrance to the Mirage hotel. The tourists always come up to this section of the “lake” to take photographs, so try to stand in a long line back against the gate. The tourists will be forced to read our protest signs. If you want to stand by the road to attract the attention of the cars, please be careful to not step off the sidewalk, the buses come very close. We also must stay out of the way of the tourists and not block the foot traffic.
We will bring posters for people to hold, and brochures to pass out. It would help tremendously if you were able to print some brochures and bring them because we will run out of what we have.
A little history on this protest- On November 9th 1978, original Mojave Dolphin Banjo was captured from the wild. He passed away on October 12th 2004. He is father to Sage, Pablo, Rascal, Maverick, and HufNPuf. Pablo was born on November 13th 1996 to Duchess and Banjo. He was transferred to Gulf World on April 9th 2006 for breeding purposes (we received Lightning). Pablo passed away six months later on November 7th 2006.
Today, October 14th 2014, Ric O’Barry is celebrating his 75th birthday. His name first became known in the 1960’s when he captured and trained the dolphins for the first oceanarium in the United States, Miami Seaquarium. On September 19th 1964, he introduced the world to dolphins via a television show called “Flipper“. The show ran until April 15th 1967, and everyone fell in love with the dolphins smile. After one of the dolphins who played Kathy died while Ric O’Barry watched, he vowed to change public opinion about the captivity of these sentient beings. On Earth Day 1970, he founded the Dolphin Project which educates the public about captivity and does what they can to help captive dolphins. Ric has rescued and released over 25 captive dolphins in Haiti, Colombia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Brazil, the Bahamas, and the United States. He is the author of 3 books, Behind the Dolphin Smile, To Free a Dolphin, and Die Bucht. In 2009, he was featured in the Academy Award winning documentary “The Cove” about the annual dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan.
Ric still continues to travel around the world helping dolphins after over 40 years. He was just in Las Vegas at the beginning of this month, he was in Taiji in September, and he will be in London in November… and who knows where in between! Wherever a dolphin needs him to be, he goes. We here at MojaveDolphins.com think that it is time that the activists “born” from Ric’s movement give back to Ric O’Barry and the dolphins. Ric is only one person, and there are hundreds of facilities with thousands of dolphins stored in various conditions and environments worldwide. We want you to take this challenge for Ric O’Barry’s birthday. Look up all the dolphinariums that are in your country, and then focus on the ones closest to you. Research about them. How are the dolphins kept? Is it inside or outside? How long has the facility been open? How many dolphins have died vs how many are still alive? Where do the dolphins come from? Is there a movement to bring awareness to them? What can you do to help those dolphins?
You don’t have to be an expert or someone with plenty of dolphin knowledge to get something started. I was 23 years old with no marine biology background when I began getting things going for Mojave Dolphins. All you need is passion and dedication for seeing cetaceans being treated fairly and given the freedom they deserve. You learn as you go, and you meet a lot of beautiful like-minded people along the way. One person can make a difference. Don’t be afraid to be a voice for the voiceless. Lets make Ric O’Barry proud by supporting the movements to save the dolphins globally. Your involvement is needed now more than ever.
Most people do not realize how much money goes into making our demonstrations outside of the Mirage Hotel and Casino successful. We are not just trying to get the attention of the hotel, we are trying to get the attention of the locals and tourists that are walking down the strip. We have found one of the most effective ways to get this information to them is a brochure or flyer. Tourists can stuff them into their purse and read them when they are on the plane later, or show them to their friends. Some may think they are a neat souvenir, a clean alternative to what is usually being handed out. Our group has designed several that talk about the horrors of dolphin captivity, gives details about the Mirage death pool, and we even have our own brochures for the Taiji slaughters.
As more activists join the fight, our protests grow in numbers and we reach more people. The protest last week, we handed out over 600 brochures. We would of ran out if one of our dedicated dolphin sisters did not come prepared with her own backup stash. The 600 brochures cost us $120 dollars to print out. That may not sound like a lot of money, but the two of us have ran our funds pretty low the last year and a half.
After much debating, we have decided to accept donations towards protest supplies. Right now the money would go towards the cost to print brochures to hand out. Our next protest is on November 8th.
What an amazing experience this last week was. Where to begin?
On Wednesday, we picked up Ric O’Barry to go do a radio show for KNPR Las Vegas. The interview lasted about 13 minutes, and gave him an opportunity to educate an audience that would probably never go looking for our cause otherwise. The interview has been uploaded online.
Afterwards, My News 3 met us at his hotel for a quick interview. Hotel management came down, asking questions about the interview. We assured them the hotel would not be mentioned, and told them about the cause. Upper management also came down before the interview ended. We were informed that they usually cut these interviews off and do not let them happen. When Ric O’Barry finished his interview, the management team from the hotel shook his hand and said they were big fans. One worker said he got our flyers at his college, and would be attending the showing.
Thursday was the big day. We had been planning this event for 5 months, and couldn’t believe it was finally here. The showing of The Cove with Ric O’Barry. We arrived early, and began to set up the auditorium, while Dolphin Project team members sold merchandise to people waiting. Bikers 4 Orcas Socal provided the tissues with dolphin clips that were seated on your chair when you came inside. Doors opened at 7pm, as our youtube videos played on the big screen. People entered the door to a table with a sign in sheet, petitions, and a jar to place questions to Ric in. After we thanked everyone for attending, especially the Cove Monitors from Taiji, and the movie began to play, silence was heard throughout the theater. Everybody’s eyes were glued to the screen. I forgot how much of an impact this movie has on your soul. 180 people attended the screening overall. One third of the theater had never seen the movie before, and I am positive they walked out of that screening a changed person. Ric answered questions, and people hung on his every word. He spent so much time talking with us, that we had to leave the theater because our time was over. Ric is such a gentle, kind soul. He made sure to talk to as many people as he could, signing autographs and posing for many photos. We hung outside of the theater until the crowd fizzled away to get sleep for the next days protest. ((View photos from event here))
We arrived at the protest around 4:30, and a crowd had already begun to form. Before we knew it, we had over 100 protesters. People traveled from Washington, Utah, California, Arizona, Florida and further to protest for dolphin rights next to the man who started it all. I can’t even count the number of people who said we completed items on their bucket list. Ric O’Barry protested with us the entire 2 hours, giving his expert opinion on all dolphin questions thrown his way. His sign was a replica of the same sign he used back in his opening day demonstration of the Mirage. The message is still the same- Enough is enough! 24 years is a long time to be stranded closer to Death Valley than the ocean from which these dolphins originate. The sidewalk was flooded with people holding signs, and passing out brochures to anyone who was interested. We passed out over 600, and signed hundreds of letters to the MGM head honchos. As the lights on the strip began to sparkle, and the memory of the dolphins were long gone from the minds of the tourists who had seen them earlier in the day, we stood strong, united as a voice for the voiceless. ((View photos from event here))
Photo by NatureSound.org
The protest made the news, and many people have written online about their experience. Our friends at Vegas Rock Dog Radio spoke out about it on her radio show the following day. It starts at about 27:30, click to listen. Thanks for the shoutout, Sam. We really appreciate it, and look forward to working with you again in the future.
We have uploaded all of the photos from both events onto our facebook page, and we are working on getting the video from the Q&A segment from the screening online for everyone to review, or watch for the first time. Please be patient while we get that up. As soon as it is available, you will be the first to know!
We feel forever thankful to have Ric O’Barry set aside time in his schedule and pay us a visit in the middle of the Mojave Desert. This is an experience we will never forget. We are more motivated than ever to do what is right by these 10 dolphins. We hope you are too.
This is a very big week for us here at Mojave Dolphins. On Thursday, we are screening the Academy Award winning documentary “The Cove” for free, and the following night we have a giant protest outside of the Mirage. Both of these events will be attended by none other than Ric O’Barry himself. This is a chance to interview the man who many credit as starting the cetacean rights movement. Ric O’Barry protested the Mirage in the 90’s, and has information about this facility. We feel local media should be covering this event. We have not gotten any media attention from FOX 5, 8 NEWS NOW, or the Las Vegas Weekly.
We have already sent out a press release to ALL media (not just ones listed here) but would appreciate the extra help in getting the attention of these three news stations and their anchors. You may use the tweets below to promote the events happening this week, or click here for previous tweet sheets about the conditions at the habitat
.@VegasAnchor #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
.@FeinbergFox5 #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
.@OliviaFierro #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
Monica Jackson (Fox5 Anchor) – @MonicaFox5 – Email
.@MonicaFox5 #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
.@StefanieJay, #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
.@ElizabethWatts5, #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
Jon Castagnino (Fox5 Reporter) – @JonCastagnino – Email
.@JonCastagnino, #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
Les Krifaton (Fox5 Reporter) – @LVweatherguy – Email
.@LVWeatherGuy #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR(Tweet This!)
.@ShannonMFox5 #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
Rachel Moore (Reporter) – @rachelann_moore – Email
.@Rachelann_Moore, #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
.@MaggieKrol, #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
.@LindsayCFox5, #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
.@DeniseValdez, #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
.@BrianLoftus8, #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
.@LaurenRozyla, #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
.@AaronDrawhorn, #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
.@SharieJohnson_, #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
.@Joe_Bartels, #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
.@BBrennan8news, #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
.@Vanessa_Murphy, #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
.@Scott_8NewsNow, #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
.@DianeTuazon, #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
.@Karen8NewsNow, #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
Other Media Outlets in Vegas
@LasVegasWeekly – popular las vegas weekly magazine
.@LasVegasWeekly, #MojaveDolphins cordially invite U 2 #TheCove 10/2 &protest 10/3 @RichardOBarry will be at both! pic.twitter.com/SpAzHfVdTR (Tweet This!)
In exactly one week, Ric O’Barry will be in Las Vegas at a screening of the documentary that exposed the world to the slaughter of dolphins in Japan- The Cove. It was just 5 months ago we reached out to him for help, and just yesterday our cause received promotion on national TV on the Jane Velez Mitchell show during the Ric O’Barry segment.
On October 2nd, we will be showing a screening of The Cove at the West Charleston Library. Doors open at 7pm, movie starts at 7:30. No tickets required; this is absolutely free! After the screening, Ric O’Barry will be available for a Q&A session. Start thinking of what you want to ask him! Dolphin Project will have a table set up with some swag for sale, so bring money if you want to buy anything. This screening is open to people of all ages. Some graphic content, view at your own discretion.
The next night, Friday October 3rd, we will be meeting up for a protest outside of the Mirage Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. We will be out there from 5-7pm. Signs and literature will be provided, but feel free to bring your own. We will collect them at the end for safe keeping and future events. We will be working hard to educate the public about the horrors that go on out back behind these casino walls. Ric O’Barry will be protesting right along side us. He protested the location back in the 90s, and is very excited to see the progress we have made this last year.
We are looking forward to seeing our dolphin friends from around the country at this event, and we hope to see a lot of new faces, too!
Who is Ric O’Barry?
He is a man who used to capture and train dolphins in the 60s. You may know him as the trainer of the “Flipper” tv show dolphins. After one of the dolphins died in his arms, something inside of him changed. He has devoted his entire life since to saving dolphins and educating the public about the horrors of captivity. He is the founder of the Dolphin Project. He has rescued and released over 25 captive dolphins in Haiti, Colombia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Brazil, the Bahamas, and the United States. He is the author of 3 books, Behind the Dolphin Smile, To Free a Dolphin, and Die Bucht. In 2009, he was featured in the Academy Award winning documentary “The Cove” about the annual dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan.
road to attract the attention of the cars, please be careful to not step off the sidewalk, the buses come very close. We also must stay out of the way of the tourists and not block the foot traffic.
