Letters | Dolphin’s death another wake-up call to phase out animal captivity
Readers discuss better ways for Ocean Park to promote conservation, creativity labs for the young, MTR’s admonishments not to walk on escalators, and the better education system between Hong Kong and Singapore

Despite the evident harm, dolphins remain in captivity because they are highly profitable crowd-pullers. Zoos and marine parks often mask this cruelty with sugar-coated narratives. Ocean Park, for instance, claimed Rita helped “convey conservation messages” since “students had learned about and appreciated the natural behaviour” and “were inspired to contribute to marine conservation”.
But as naturalist Jacques Cousteau once said, “There is about as much educational benefit to be gained from studying dolphins in captivity as there would be from studying mankind by only studying prisoners held in solitary confinement.” Cultural critic John Berger similarly noted that seeing animals in zoos is like viewing “an image out of focus”.
More importantly, educating the public about animals through captivity reinforces human superiority by normalising the exploitation of animals for our “education”. This undermines true environmental education, which should cultivate care and respect for the natural world, not dominance.