Blind and sick dolphins ‘abandoned’ at closed water park in Mexico

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‘Abandoned’ dolphins have been seen gnawing at the concrete walls of their enclosure and floating aimlessly at a closed water park.

Veeleaf, an animal rights group in Mexico, filmed the aquarium in Cancún, Quintana Roo, on September 2.

The footage, seen by Metro, is the latest example of what Veeleaf alleges are the ‘horrific conditions’ the pod has faced since the park closed in 2025.

Campaigners claim the nine Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins are fed just once a day and receive little attention from caretakers, called enrichment. Officials have long denied this.

‘We may never fully understand the fear, confusion and inner turmoil of an individual denied freedom for that long,’ Paola Ibarra, co-founder of Veeleaf, told Metro.

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‘They have committed no crime, yet they are given a life sentence.’

The dolphins are Squalo, aged 38; Oceania, 36; Mincho, 36; Satu, 31; Solei, 28; Solomon, 21; Diego, 19; Flex, 18; and Apolo, 13.

Some of them once swam in the waters of the Solomon Islands before they were captured in 2003 and transported 8,000 miles to a dolphinarium operated by Dolphin Discovery, which runs swim-with-dolphin experiences.

The site was part of Ventura Park, which announced the ‘indefinite closure’ of its operations for maintenance in January 2025.

The dolphins, however, remained at the site. PROFEPA, Mexico’s environmental protection agency, seized the dolphins in October 2025.

However, it said it would not be safe to move the dolphins and insisted they hadn’t been forgotten.

‘They appear profoundly depressed’

While Veeleaf can’t diagnose clinical conditions from aerial footage, the dolphins’ inactivity and ‘apparent apathy’ are worrying.

‘To a non-specialist observer, they appear profoundly depressed,’ Veeleaf said.

One clip showed an unidentified woman in a kayak entering the pool, where her paddle ‘came into contact with a dolphin’s face’.

The six minutes of enrichment would not have been enough to stimulate the dolphins without toys or structured exercise.

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Metro showed Veeleaf’s footage to Dr Isabella Clegg, the founder of Animal Welfare Expertise.

Dr Clegg stressed that she could not comment on the pod’s welfare from the footage alone, but that concrete biting is ‘potentially concerning’.

She said it could be an ‘Abnormal Repetitive Behaviour’, observed in captive animals struggling to adapt.

Their lack of movement could be ‘anticipatory behaviour’ of bored creatures waiting for something to happen.

‘They appear to orient toward the gate or look above the water, apparently monitoring where trainers or other expected events may occur,’ Dr Clegg said.

Professor Stephanie King, an animal behaviour expert at the University of Bristol, also reviewed the footage.

Again, she cautioned against drawing conclusions, though waiting at gates is ‘typical’ behaviour of captive dolphins.

‘Ideally, they would be at a facility with really high welfare and enrichment standards,’ she said.

‘But the trainers currently caring for them may well be doing their very best to keep these animals in good physical and mental health.’

Dolphins suffering ‘from cancer and blindness’

A medical evaluation of the dolphins from January, obtained by the Mexican news outlet Milenio, found multiple health issues.

Mincho has thoracic metastases, a form of advanced cancer, while others have suffered organ failures, malnutrition and anaemia.

The US veterinary expert behind the report, Heather Rally, told Metro she was unable to comment on her report publicly.

Veeleaf alleged in April that the dolphins went 16 hours without food.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUjjfQdCbxC/?igsh=MXNndG5hbGxjdTN5bg==

The water in the pool also appeared to be clouded by algae and faecal matter, though Veeleaf has been unable to test it.

Veeleaf said the condition of the enclosure has improved since April, with shade structures and more frequent human visits.

‘The dolphins are not abandoned’, say officials

Dolphins are known for their intelligence. They have been known to grieve their dead, help fishermen catch food and communicate with complex whistles, clicks and squawks.

Animal rights activists and marine mammal specialists have long said that trained dolphins are at a high risk of cognitive problems.

Ventura Park’s Tripadvisor page says it does not meet the company’s animal welfare standards.

‘It is important to note that a listing on Tripadvisor does not represent an endorsement of a business or its animal welfare practices,’ the review website told Metro.

Officials have denied claims that the dolphins are in unsafe conditions.

Óscar Rébora, Quintana Roo’s top environmental official, said in August that animal welfare is the government’s ‘priority’.

‘We carried out an aerial verification [of Ventura Park] to verify the conditions of the specimens,’ he said on Facebook.

‘During the tour, it was observed that the dolphins are not abandoned and are in adequate condition.’

PROFEPA has also denied claims that the dolphins have been ‘abandoned’.

The department said in April that some of the dolphins are sick but receive ‘daily’ veterinary care.

🚨Respecto a la publicación que ha circulado en redes sociales en la que se reporta la situación de delfines en Cancún, la Profepa informa: pic.twitter.com/coAbsRrO5l

— PROFEPA (@PROFEPA_Mx) April 9, 2026

‘The dolphinarium has the responsibility to ensure the dignified treatment and wellbeing [of the dolphins] and to report continuously about their health,’ it said.

Jessica Gonzalez, of Empty the Tanks Mexico, says around 270 dolphins remain in captivity in Mexico, a country that has long had a thriving marine mammal industry.

The solution, she says, isn’t only to ban dolphinariums, as Veeleaf is petitioning, but to build facilities that could treat and rehabilitate dolphins.

‘I would not say that every captive dolphin in Mexico has simply been “left to rot by the state”, because the circumstances vary significantly between facilities and individuals,’ she adds.

‘But there is absolutely a broader national issue.’

Dolphin Discovery, PROFEPA and the Quintana Roo government have been approached for comment.

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