00:00Welcome to Tien Haozhen, one of just a handful of dolphin trainers in Taiwan, loves his job.
00:19Because I'm studying animal science, so I really like these animals, especially big animals.
00:28Of course, I've been talking about獅子,河馬, such as big animals.
00:32Because I also really like swimming in water.
00:35So when I'm swimming in water and the animals, I don't want to go to the whales.
00:41From the fish on the fish, we can eat a fish.
00:47But in the years he's worked at Far Glory Ocean Park on Taiwan's east coast,
00:51and the decades since the animals were brought here, public attitudes have changed.
00:56Animal rights movements have led to a wave of criticism against the shows,
01:00saying the highly intelligent, highly social animals should not be kept captive.
01:06Having wild animals on display, tigers performing by jumping through flaming hoops and things like that,
01:13that is the history that we're talking about, and that's definitely gone out of style.
01:19And so some jurisdictions that are looking at the captivity of cetaceans are focused on the performance.
01:25But that is the least problem. That is the smallest part of the problem.
01:30Cetaceans, whales, dolphins, porpoises simply do not thrive in captivity.
01:35Dolphin shows started in Taiwan in 1981.
01:44Today, they're held at only two venues,
01:47Ye Liu Ocean World in New Taipei and here in Hualien.
01:51Tian and his team joined long after the animals were taken into captivity.
02:00Today, the park is home to five dolphins, four bottlenose and one rare resource dolphin.
02:06They have lived in this tank for about 20 years.
02:21Even though this pool is much larger than the average swimming pool,
02:25but when you think about it, it's much smaller than the ocean.
02:28And while these animals are being taken care of,
02:30it's impossible to know whether they are truly happy.
02:33Without trainers working with them,
02:36the animals would spend their days swimming countless laps.
02:39Actually, for us, there is more time to meet them
02:42or we can do more different training.
02:44Like, we have done some training for海豚's認知訓練.
02:48For example, I'm going to take a picture for them.
02:50Then we can let the海豚 see the picture after the picture
02:52and choose the picture.
02:54This training can boost their minds.
02:56The park has also changed its shows over the years
02:58to better look after the animals,
03:00making them less physically taxing.
03:02Today, the animals spend less than an hour of their day
03:05in front of audiences.
03:06leaving trainers to fill up the rest of their time.
03:07Today, the animals spend less than an hour of their day
03:08in front of audiences, leaving trainers to fill up the rest of their time.
03:13the rest of their time.
03:14Today, the animals spend less than an hour of their day in front of audiences,
03:18leaving trainers to fill up the rest of their time.
03:20the rest of their day.
03:21Today, the animals spend less than an hour of their day in front of audiences,
03:27leaving trainers to fill up the rest of their time.
03:29The animals spend less than an hour of their day in front of audiences,
03:32leaving trainers to fill up the rest of their time.
03:36the animals spend less than an hour of their day in front of their day.
03:38they have to be able to make an effort.
03:39the people who have to learn a pairs of actions.
03:40the humans to be able to go out to the rest of their day in front of the day.
03:41even though the animals start to make a puzzle,
03:42the animals start to make an effort and make a drawing.
03:43It's easy to use to use a tool to use a tool to use a tool to use a tool to use a tool to use a tool.
03:54Despite the growing push against animal performances,
03:57some spectators say the shows have an educational purpose, especially for children.
04:03I think it's hard to make them feel近距離.
04:06Because some things they can see on the books or on the TV,
04:09but I think it's a great experience in近距離.
04:12I think it's a great experience.
04:13I think that the skyline will give the kids to protect the environment
04:17and to make the environment more sustainable.
04:39But the dolphin behavior the kids see in the shows
04:41does not resemble how they behave in the wild.
04:44These performances are very circus-like.
04:47They're not educational.
04:48In fact, very often they misinform the public.
04:51Dolphins don't do the things that they are made to do in performances naturally most of the time.
04:58OK, so I think that's why they're focused on it.
05:01But the fact is that cetaceans who live in the ocean, of course,
05:07it's very difficult for us to provide them with the conditions they need to thrive.
05:13In 2026, Taiwan will join a growing list of countries,
05:16including Mexico, Costa Rica and Chile, that have banned dolphin shows.
05:21But while the performances may end, these dolphins will remain in the park.
05:26First of all, they have been under the
05:47In most cases, reintegrating captive animals into the wild is very costly and very difficult.
06:02While some countries like Iceland have had success using large pens set up at sea,
06:08Taiwan's geography and climate make this hard.
06:11The most important is the danger of the tide.
06:14Taiwan is in a more than a tide.
06:17These animals are being connected within a range,
06:21but in the range of the other areas of the tide can be done in a range of protection
06:24and the tide can be used as the use of smoke.
06:27The tide will make the impact of the tide of the wind.
06:32Perhaps they will be in the rain immediately after the tide has hit,
06:36or then hit a крут, or at the same time, and then hit the waves.
06:39However, there could still be other options for the future of these dolphins.
06:43That doesn't mean they can't be sent to a sanctuary somewhere else.
06:48Okay, they came from somewhere.
06:50Most of the animals in Taiwan aren't necessarily from Taiwanese waters, right?
06:55Somebody sent them there.
06:56It can be done in reverse, if you will.
06:58You can send them to a sanctuary that's been established somewhere else that is safe and protected.
07:03I'm not saying that's been done yet.
07:05We are still working on the concept for whales and dolphins.
07:08It's complex.
07:09With no real possibility of release and the show's ending,
07:13Tian and his team will see their official titles changed from trainers to caregivers in 2026.
07:20The training they used to use to amuse audiences will be turned to day-to-day care for the animals.
07:26For decades, signals like these have been used to ask dolphins to perform tricks.
07:33And sometimes they can also be used during health checks.
07:35For example, by doing this, I can ask a dolphin to open its mouth.
07:44Tricks like that help caretakers check the dolphin's health.
07:47And for Tian, caring for the animals is more than a job.
07:50Tian says Tian says he needs to be a self-made plant-based creature.
07:51Tian says Tian says there's a job that needs to be healed.
07:53Tian says Tian says he needs to be used by a horse to help me keep his healthy state.
07:56And by doing this, it must have been lived in my life.
07:58Tian says Tian says there's a job that helped me generate a healthy state of life.
07:59Tian says Tian says even though they have been treatment for a long time.
08:01Tian says Tian's mother is a child of the mother of the animals.
08:03When I met him so long, he would like to meet me.
08:06I think this is a kind of a relationship between each other.
08:10It's like a relationship between each other and each other.
08:14With a special bond with the dolphins,
08:17Tian says his responsibilities won't change,
08:20even after the performance's end.
08:23He will continue to work with and care for the animals,
08:26and welcome not only the final curtain fall on dolphin shows,
08:30but also Taiwan's evolving approach to animal welfare.
08:33Fu Wahong, Ha Wajang, Brent Thomas and Sunny Chi for Taiwan Plus.
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