By Tiga Cross – Managing Director, Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary

As the discussion surrounding the establishment of a sea sanctuary for dolphins continues, I, in conjunction with the Sanctuary animal welfare team aim to provide clarity on this contentious and often emotionally driven issue. 

At Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary, our foremost commitment is to the well-being of our dolphins. It’s a question we hear often: “Why can’t the dolphins be released back to the wild?” Today, I want to address this question directly and present the facts. 

Releasing dolphins, born under human care, into the wild, presents significant challenges. Numerous studies demonstrate that dolphins born under or housed under human care for long periods of time are largely unsuccessful when trying to re-integrate them into the wild.  

Author Jason N. Bruck provided a comprehensive review of all previous attempts to re-integrate cetaceans to the wild in his research paper ‘A Sea of Unknowns’ (2024). Some challenges Bruck highlighted include, but are not limited to, adapting to catching prey and the risk of health problems due to exposure to infectious diseases in the wild to which they have not been previously exposed.  

At CCWS, we are dedicated to the welfare of our dolphins. The three dolphins in our care – Jet, Bella, and Zippy – are the progeny of rescued dolphins that were deemed unfit for release. CCWS does not breed dolphins, and any decisions to do so prior to the Sanctuary ownership in 2023 were made by the previous stewards, and ceased in 2016. With the introduction of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, it is now a sanctuary for these dolphins to live comfortably and well-enriched while aiding in education and conservation efforts.   

Our role as caretakers of these three dolphins is to provide them with their enrichment and welfare needs. This commitment will continue for their lifespan, as will our ongoing efforts towards the rescue and rehabilitation of marine mammals from our local region. Our facility has been a non-profit sanctuary since 2023, but one thing has not changed since the facility was founded in 1970: and that is our concern for the rescue and rehabilitation, education, and conservation of wildlife. 

CCWS is licensed by the Department of Primary Industries and Environment (DPIE) and is compliant with all relevant regulations including the Standard for Exhibiting Bottle-nosed Dolphins under the Exhibited Animals Protection Act 1995 and the General Standards for Exhibiting Animals in NSW under the Exhibited Animals Protection Regulation 2010. NSW DPI standards are known to be one of the most robust sets of standards on the global scale. 

Furthermore, CCWS is accredited by the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA) for achieving high standards in animal welfare using the Five Domains Model, a science-based model to assess animal welfare: https://www.zooaquarium.org.au/. 

We have also engaged the services of Dr. Isabella Clegg, a marine biologist and welfare scientist, and the founder of Animal Welfare Expertise, who conducted research on indicators of dolphin welfare. Dr Clegg’s research has established objective measures of positive welfare for cetaceans in managed care facilities (Clegg, Borger-Turner, Eskelinen 2015) including engagements with caretakers (Clegg et al. 2018) and other dolphins.