John,

Plata was one of four dolphins in a tiny dolphin tank at a resort in Mexico. Weeks ago, he was performing during one of the grueling shows, and when he jumped, he landed head-first on the concrete lining the tank. 

This smart, playful, social animal died the most horrific death – after a life in captive misery.

The dolphin tank at Barceló Riviera Maya hotel near Cancún is known to be the smallest in Latin America and many have been calling for its closure for years. Just months ago, another dolphin died in this prison!

This has to stop immediately. With the latest incident, the pressure on the hotel and the operator is mounting, and a federal attorney is investigating what happened. If our global community uses this momentum, we can make sure this dolphin prison shuts down – and help make Plata the last dolphin to die in captivity. Add your name:

Barceló Riviera Maya hotel and The Dolphin Company: Close your dolphin torture tank!

It’s not just Plata and his friends at the Barceló hotel. There are still 3,000 dolphins in captivity worldwide – because it’s a multi-billion dollar industry.

These animals are extremely intelligent and social, made to swim miles and miles in the ocean – not for performing jumps and tricks that go against their nature, living in way too tiny tanks. The hotel’s tank is so small that Plata’s companions can swim only tiny circles, which puts them under massive stress. 

The operator of the hotel’s dolphin prison, The Dolphin Company, is the same as the notorious Seaquarium in Miami – which had to shut down recently because of how it treats its animals. The famous orca Lolita had died there in 2023, after 53 years of life in captivity, along with as many as 120 other dolphins and whales over the past decades.

Mexico’s Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection has opened an investigation into the tragic deaths of the animals at the hotel – and animal activists worldwide are calling for an end to the hotel’s dolphin shows. The hotel and the operator are trying to sit this out, but let’s make sure they can’t ignore the global call by adding another wave of pressure and publicity:

Barceló Riviera Maya hotel and The Dolphin Company: Close your dolphin torture tank immediately!

Our community has come together to end dolphin and orca captivity time and again: We pressured one of Europe’s largest travel agencies TUI to stop selling dolphin entertainment tickets – and won! We can do this again and help free Plata’s three companions and work towards a world where all dolphins and whales are free – so Plata won’t have died in vain.