For the past two weeks, I have been discussing the Georgia Aquarium, talking about what they offer in both education and entertainment. After having thoroughly talked about both subjects, it's time to move on to the final part of this three-part review: the dolphin show. Nearly every aquarium has a dolphin show, and they all offer something different. So, today I wanted to talk about the Georgia Aquarium's dolphin show, focusing specifically on how entertaining it is, and how it educates its guests, very similar to how I talked about the aquarium itself. So, with the introduction out of the way, let's start talking about the show.
About the Show
The Georgia Aquarium's dolphin show, called Dolphin Celebration, is one of the newest additions to the Georgia Aquarium. According to their website, the show is, "a fun and exciting experience that showcases dolphin behavior and their relationship with their trainers while incorporating important education messages." Does the show actually live up to its description? I hope to answer that question today. I will be discussing the two key components of the show: entertainment and education, to see whether or not the show is truly worth your time. Let's start with entertainment.
Before We Start...
I just want to preface the entertainment section by saying that my aim for this review is not to judge how well these dolphins are used for entertainment, but rather to judge how well they showcase the provided information. I for one am highly against animals being used for entertainment, and the only reason I am making an exception here is because the show aims to educate guests by using entertainment as a medium, rather than having it as the main focus. Whether or not they actually end up doing this is the very reason I am making this review. I just wanted to make clear that, while I do judge how well the dolphins perform, it does not reflect my actual beliefs on whether or not it should be allowed in this aquarium.
Entertainment
All in all, Dolphin Celebration is entertaining. The main focus, is of course, on the dolphins, and they definitely do not disappoint. However, a good deal of focus is also put on the trainers, and how they interact with each dolphin. This was a huge plus for me, as it was nice to see that they weren't focusing strictly on what the dolphins were capable of, but rather on the relationships between humans and dolphins. Both the dolphins and their trainers performed many impressive moves, from jumps to even a "surfing like" action (again, I am excluding my personal ethical belief here). The show even had one section where a child got to go up on stage and meet/interact with one of the dolphins during the show. That part was cute, and certainly had people laughing.
In terms of the actual choreography, everything was very organized and well done. I heard many "oohs" and "ahhs" throughout the show, and was impressed (ethical beliefs aside) with what they were able to do. The show is of a very high quality, and delivers in entertainment. That being said, there is another, much more important aspect of the show (education) that I need to talk about as well.
Education
So, does this show accomplish what it originally set out to do? Well, yes and no. There were some educational aspects of the show that I was impressed with, however I felt that a lot of important information was omitted. In order to properly review this aspect of the show, I will be talking about the first and second half of the show individually, as they were much different in tone. Let's start by talking about the first half of the show and its included preshow.
I have to say that they did a pretty good job with the first half of the show. This was where they introduced each dolphin, each trainer, and talked about what they do behind the scenes, all while the dolphins and trainers performed for the audience. It really allowed the audience to connect with the dolphins and trainers, and see how they are treated. They also talked about some of the behavioral aspects of a dolphin, and how they live in the wild. Towards the end of the first half, they talked about some of the Georgia Aquarium's conservation efforts, and a little bit about the world's oceans. Before the show, they also had a mini preshow for guests sitting in the stadium, that talked a bit about dolphin anatomy and life in the wild. Over all, I was happy with the first half.
But, coming into the second half of the show, they dropped nearly all the educational elements they had focused on earlier. The second half consists purely of dolphin "tricks" set to a compilation of pop songs with various projections and water effects. Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed with this half of the show. They did well in the beginning, but dropped the original focus and finished very poorly. This section was completely focused on "how cool the dolphins were" and there was no education whatsoever. I left feeling very dissatisfied.
Ethics
I came into the show looking for good stories, information about dolphins, sound ethics, and a nice message at the end. In total, I received less than half of the things I was looking for. The show provided some nice stories about their trainers and dolphins, and even some information, but fell flat when it showcased the dolphins as entertainment. Would I see the show again? No, I wouldn't. I was at least hoping for a nice message at the end that would encourage guests to help in a positive way, but it ended with dolphin flips and coordinated clapping. My mother, having worked at an aquarium previously, hoped that the show would at least mention that most of the "tricks" performed were actually natural behaviors coordinated with a command, but sadly this was never mentioned, leading the audience, and me for a little while, to believe that the dolphins were specifically trained to perform.
All in all, in my opinion the show is not ethically sound. It isn't terrible in that aspect, as it does have some educational elements, but it's clear that the main focus is on what the dolphins can do for us. That being said, I find it is better than other dolphin shows I have seen, in the sense that they at least incorporated a few educational elements. It is a step in the right direction for dolphin shows, but it's certainly not perfect. Would I recommend that others see this show? Probably not. It's entertaining, but I am just too disappointed by the clear focus on that entertainment to promote it.
Final Conclusion
So the dolphin show may not be worth your time, but should it prevent you from going to the Georgia Aquarium? Certainly not. The aquarium itself (As talked about in Part 1 and Part 2 of this review) has a ton more to offer that does a much better job of educating and entertaining guests. While I was a little hard on the dolphin show, it is still clear to me that the trainers do their very best to take care of the dolphins and present a good show, but in my opinion it just isn't put together very well. Anyway, if given the chance to come to this aquarium you should certainly do so. For the most part, it is interesting and entertaining, and it deserves to have people visit.
I know this was a long post, so if you made it this far, thanks so much for reading. If you would like to learn more about what the aquarium has to offer, make sure to check out their website by clicking here. Even if you aren't planning on visiting, you should still take a look, as they have a lot of great information on conservation efforts too. Anyways, thanks for reading.
Credit for images used in this post goes to:
http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/experience/explore/programs-activities/presentations/dolphin-celebration
http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/
http://www.dolphins-world.com/
http://zoonation.org/sea-lion-and-dolphin-presentations-now-open-at-georgia-aquarium/
http://georgiaaquariumblog.org/georgia-aquarium-blog/2016/3/7/att-dolphin-celebration-georgia-aquariums-new-dolphin-presen.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-ZelcAoEQE
https://www.tes.com/lessons/JDsiIeHz8obV0A/dolphin
https://openclipart.org/tags/Thumbs%20down
https://www.youtube.com/user/GeorgiaAquarium
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