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Richard "Ric" O'Barry (born Richard Barry O'Feldman; October 14, 1939) is an American
animal rights activist The animal rights (AR) movement, sometimes called the animal liberation, animal personhood, or animal advocacy movement, is a social movement that seeks an end to the rigid moral and legal distinction drawn between human and non-human animals ...
and former animal trainer who was first recognized in the 1960s for capturing and training the five dolphins that were used in the TV series '' Flipper''. O'Barry transitioned from training dolphins to instead advocating against industries that keep dolphins in captivity, after one of the ''Flipper'' dolphins died. In 1996, a dolphin was seized from the Sugarloaf Dolphin Sanctuary, a corporation O'Barry worked for, for violating the
Animal Welfare Act of 1966 The Animal Welfare Act (Laboratory Animal Welfare Act of 1966, ) was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 24, 1966. It is the main federal law in the United States that regulates the treatment of animals in research and exhibi ...
. In 1999, O'Barry was fined for violating the
Marine Mammal Protection Act The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) was the first act of the United States Congress to call specifically for an ecosystem approach to wildlife management. Authority MMPA was signed into law on October 21, 1972, by President Richard Nixon ...
as the result of illegally releasing two dolphins that were not able to survive in the wild.https://www.animallaw.info/case/matter-richard-obarry , In the Matter of: Richard O'Barry, Lloyd A. Good, III, Sugarloaf Dolphin Sanctuary, Inc., The Dolphin Project, Inc., Respondents The dolphins sustained life-threatening injuries. In 1970, O'Barry founded the Dolphin Project, a group that aims to educate the public about captivity and, where feasible, free captive dolphins. He was featured in the Academy Award-winning film '' The Cove'' (2009), which used covert techniques to expose the yearly
dolphin drive hunting Dolphin drive hunting, also called dolphin drive fishing, is a method of hunting dolphins and occasionally other small cetaceans by driving them together with boats and then usually into a bay or onto a beach. Their escape is prevented by closing ...
that goes on in
Taiji Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. T ...
, Japan.


''Flipper''

Richard O'Barry started out capturing and training dolphins for the
Miami Seaquarium The Miami Seaquarium is a oceanarium located on the island of Virginia Key in Biscayne Bay, Miami-Dade County, Florida located near downtown Miami. Founded in 1955, it is one of the oldest oceanariums in the United States. In addition to marin ...
and through the 1960s became the head trainer for the five dolphins who collectively played Flipper on the popular American TV show, while also serving as
stunt double In filmmaking, a double is a person who substitutes FOR another actor such that the person's face is not shown. There are various terms associated with a double based on the specific body part or ability they serve as a double for, such as stunt ...
for show cast member
Luke Halpin Luke Austin Halpin (born April 4, 1947) is a former American actor, stuntman, marine coordinator, diver and pilot. He became a child actor at the age of eight and is widely known for his role as Sandy Ricks in the feature films '' Flipper'' and ...
. When, in early 1970, a few years after production of ''Flipper'' had ended, Kathy, the dolphin who most often played Flipper, did not resurface for air, O'Barry considered the possibility that she had committed suicide and concluded that capturing, displaying, and training dolphins to perform tricks is wrong.


Activism

On
Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 b ...
in 1970 he founded Dolphin Project, an organization dedicated to educating the public about the plight of dolphins in captivity. He also pioneered work to demonstrate rehabilitation and release as a viable alternative for captive dolphins. O’Barry has since released over twenty-five captive dolphins in Haiti, Colombia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Brazil, The Bahamas and the United States. For the last 40 plus years O’Barry has spoken about the harmful effects of captivity on dolphins at lectures and conferences around the world. In 1991 in recognition of his contribution to the protection of dolphins, O’Barry received an Environmental Achievement Award, presented by the US Committee for the United Nations Environmental Program. In 2007, Ric and Helene O’Barry became consultants for the
Earth Island Institute The Earth Island Institute is a non-profit environmental group founded in 1982 by David Brower. Located in Berkeley, California, it supports activism around environmental issues through fiscal sponsorship that provides the administrative and org ...
's International Marine Mammal Project. O'Barry resigned from his position at the Earth Island Institute in September 2014, due to disagreements with its management regarding the acceptance of funds from the tuna industry, and its use of
Fish Aggregation Device A fish aggregating (or aggregation) device (FAD) is a man-made object used to attract ocean-going pelagic fish such as marlin, tuna and mahi-mahi (dolphin fish). They usually consist of buoys or floats tethered to the ocean floor with concrete blo ...
s. Working with Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project, he leads an international effort to stop the killing of dolphins, end the trafficking in live dolphins to theme parks and captive swim-with-the-dolphins attractions and continues to lecture and speak out against the captivity industry. O’Barry is co-author of three books, ''Behind the Dolphin Smile'', ''To Free a Dolphin'' (both with Keith Colbourne) and most recently ''Die Bucht'' about dolphins and the making of ''The Cove'' published in Germany with Hans Peter Roth. Richard O’Barry is a Fellow National in the
Explorers Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904, and has served as a meeting point fo ...
. O’Barry lives in
Coconut Grove, Florida Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as The Grove, is the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bound by North Prospect Drive to the south, LeJeune Road to the west, S ...
, US. O’Barry is Founder and is Director of the non-profit organization, Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project Inc. In 2018, O’Barry was noted in the book, ''Rescuing Ladybugs'' by author and animal advocate Jennifer Skiff as “the man leading the global fight to protect dolphins” after being moved to action after witnessing the death of a dolphin named Kathy who he had trained while employed by the Miami Seaquarium.


Violation of the ''Marine Mammal Protection Act''

In 1996, O'Barry and Lloyd A. Good, III, working on behalf of Sugarloaf Dolphin Sanctuary and The Dolphin Project, violated the
Marine Mammal Protection Act The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) was the first act of the United States Congress to call specifically for an ecosystem approach to wildlife management. Authority MMPA was signed into law on October 21, 1972, by President Richard Nixon ...
, a federal law that prohibits harassment of marine mammals. O'Barry violated federal law by releasing two dolphins that formerly participated in the U.S. Navy's marine mammal training program without properly preparing them for life in the wild. The dolphins, "Luther" and "Buck", were illegally transported without a permit from the U.S. Navy facility in San Diego, California to Key West, Florida despite their lack of skills that O'Barry and Good acknowledged were necessary for survival. As a result of this, Buck and Luther sustained life-threatening injuries and were found emaciated, begging for food, with deep laceration wounds by biologists from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
and required capture to nurse them back to health. O'Barry and Good were found guilty and charged civil penalties of $59,500 in 1999.


''The Cove''

O'Barry was featured in the Academy Award-winning feature-length documentary '' The Cove'', directed by
Louie Psihoyos Louis (Louie) Psihoyos (born April 15, 1957) is an American photographer and documentary film director known for his still photography and contributions to National Geographic. Psihoyos, a certified SCUBA diver, has become increasingly concerned ...
which investigates links between the killing, capture, trade and display of dolphins all over the world. The 2009 film centers on
Taiji, Wakayama 270px, Taiji Town Hall 270px, Taiji Whale Museum is a town located in Higashimuro District, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 2960 in 1567 households and a population density of 510 persons per km². The tot ...
, Japan, drawing attention to the hunt of about 2,000 dolphins taking place there every year. O’Barry and his son Lincoln O'Barry are also behind the '' Blood Dolphin$'' TV show for Discovery's Animal Planet, which continues on where ''The Cove'' left off.


References


External links


''The Cove''Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project
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"Review of The Cove"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obarry, Ric American animal rights activists Animal trainers American environmentalists Living people People from Miami United States Navy sailors 1939 births