Talk:Ric O'Barry/Archives/2022/February

Removal of speculative text

Text speculating on the nature of the death of a dolphin by O'Barry has been edited out. The speculation on the suicide claim justification is not supported by references other than the (already linked) O'Barry interviews, and is not related to the biography, which already covers the incident and its role in forming O'Barry's views.

Removal of lengthy re-telling of "The Cove"

The Cove has its own, detailed page, and a note that O'Barry was part of the team, and a link to the movie is sufficient.

In addition, there was serious bias towards the point of view in the movie in the removed section.

Controversy

Sugarloaf -- What Really Happened?

By Richard O'Barry

Everybody involved in what I call 'the Sugarloaf disaster' has a different story about what really happened. I look back even now and shake my head in amazement. How could such a perfect idea go so perfectly wrong? We had the dolphins, we had the mission, the place to do it, we had the staff and we had the know-how. It couldn't fail, and yet it did.

This goes back to the early 1990s and an idealistic effort to free a pair of dolphins -- Bogie & Bacall -- from Ocean Reef Club, a private community on Key Largo in the Florida Keys. A third dolphin with them, Mollie, was also included. It should have been a piece of cake, getting the dolphins, because the law was on our side. According to the law, dolphins may be displayed for the public, but not in private. The rationale is that displaying dolphins like this is educational. So I thought it would be just a matter of pointing this out to officials at Ocean Reef Club. When that fell on deaf ears, I thought it would be just a matter of pointing it out to officials in Washington.

But nothing we said got through.

We staged a rousing campaign for the dolphins' release and finally won. Now we needed a place to put them. We checked around and selected Sugarloaf Dolphin Sanctuary in the Lower Keys, then moved in with the three dolphins. About that time, the US Navy decided to disband its 100 or so dolphins of war, we got together with the Humane Society of the US, and the Navy allotted us three of their dolphins: Jake, Luther and Buck.

Then when everything seemed perfect, suddenly it began hitting the fan. The dolphins were all doing just fine. They were on track for release. But the people! Suddenly we were having meetings just to iron out problems with each other on the staff. As I told the staff more than once, 'The world is watching what we do here.' And yet now it seemed as if nearly everybody had forgotten why we were there. I knew why I was there. I was there because I had freed dolphins in the past--a dozen dolphins--and I was the only one who had. I knew what freeing a dolphin was all about and how it had to be done.

Now it doesn't take many people to start a mutiny. One is enough if he talks all the time and if self-interest is involved. And so very soon, our mission to free dolphins became a comic soap opera in the media over most of Florida, ending just as we released two of the Navy dolphins with federal, state and local lawmen descending on us by air, sea and land. They cited two of us, Lloyd A. Good III, director of the sanctuary, and I with federal civil charges that were adjudicated earlier this year.

After a five-day trial, we were found guilty of freeing dolphins without a permit and assessed hefty fines. But we had our say in federal court before the Honorable Peter A. Fitzpatrick in Key West. It was the end of a nightmare. And yet I remember the good times, too, the laughter of a bunch of friends, the excitement of being on a campaign trail, the magic of Sharman the Shaman, real freedom for two of the dolphins and finding the love of my life. It was a disaster, yes, but a memorable one, and the subject of my book, To Free a Dolphin, published in September 2000.

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Death of Kathy sentence

This sentence is unsourced in its current form. The Frontline PBS interview, which is a current reference on this page, doesn't mention 'dying in his arms'. So reflecting that source, I would suggest rewording it as ""When, in early 1970, a few years after production of Flipper had ended, Kathy, the dolphin who most often played Flipper, stopped breathing and did not resurface for air, O' Barry thought it possible that she had committed suicide, and concluded that capturing, displaying and training dolphins to perform tricks was wrong".M Stone (talk) 21:45, 7 May 2013 (UTC)

In line with the ref which appears to be RS, this is much better. Thanks. --Daffydavid (talk) 23:04, 7 May 2013 (UTC)

Cool, I've dropped that in to the article. M Stone (talk) 00:29, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

Suicide references

To user @ 169.237.135.51: please read the source regarding the 'death of Kathy' sentence. Objectively, there was no way of telling whether it was suicide or not. It was O'Barry's opinion, so the sentence should reflect that. You will need a different source for the change you want to make. M Stone (talk) 02:16, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

Resignation from Earth Island Institute

It appears that O'Barry has resigned from the Earth Island Institute. I have added in some info on the page, however, it would be good if there are any other sources such as news coverage to provide reasons for his resignation. His statement is at http://dolphinproject.net/blog/post/an-important-note-from-ric-obarry-2/ M Stone (talk) 23:39, 1 January 2015 (UTC)

Who grants these ridiculous changes.

My voice of concern is the ridiculous request to surpress information regarding the film "The Cove" within which Richard played a major role. Just because there is a complete page for the film doesn't mean personal incentives or actions in context of the film should've been disregarded. As a page can be contested by anyone, there shouldn't be a loophole for possible contenders to manipulate a biography by citing a site made by positively unindentified sources. 2A02:A46C:EBB7:1:B566:CBEE:4ADD:CB21 (talk) 03:21, 17 December 2021 (UTC)