A podcast series about the fascinating history of dolphin captivity
If dolphins could speak, this is what they’d tell you
Written and presented by This Paranormal Life researcher Amy Grisdale
I’m also a marine biologist and comedian who’s obsessed with dolphins - and I want you to be too. This podcast series tells the absolutely bonkers story of the first captive dolphin, explains how the industry operates today and examines whether or not it’s okay to keep dolphins in captivity at all (spoiler alert - it’s not). You’ll laugh, you might even cry, but no matter what happens you’ll learn a lot about dolphins.
Researching this podcast was absolutely wild, I learned so much.
Did you know the Creature from the Black Lagoon started the Flipper franchise?
What about that dolphins are immune to LSD, and the investigating scientist started taking it himself instead?
Did you know that dolphins only look like they’re smiling?
Hear more ridiculous movie trivia, nutso science experiments and unforgettable dolphin facts on Apple or Spotify now.
Episodes
I’m not going to tell you how to live your life but I recommend listening in order
Episode 1
The Dolphin from the Black Lagoon
How a meeting between the world’s first captive dolphin and a classic horror movie monster changed the course of history forever. Well, dolphin history at least.
Episode 2
On the Origin of Dolphins
A bumper episode of EVERYTHING you need to know about dolphins (and a lot you don’t need to know, I just can’t shut up about them).
Episode 3
Cathy’s Choice
The tragic fate of the star of Flipper, how dolphins experience emotion and what happens if you give them LSD. No dolphins were harmed in the making of this episode.
Episode 4
How to Train Your Dolphin
Hear exactly how training works from start to finish and listen in on some insider secrets from a former trainer.
Episode 5
Natural Born Killer Whales
We get inside the mind of the world’s most successful predator and investigate how the largest living dolphin fares confined in captivity versus living free in the open ocean.
Episode 6
Whatever Happened to Baby Keiko?
The unbelievable story of the real life Free Willy from his disturbing removal from the wild to his hotly-contested return to the sea.
Episode 7
LAW & ORCA
DUN DUN.
In the captive whale system, the animals are oppressed by two separate yet equally unjust groups: the hunters that remove whales from the wild and the aquarium owners who profit off them. These are their stories.
Episode 8
It’s the End of SeaWorld as we Know it
The shocking and seedy truth behind the most famous orca facility on Earth, plus how one little documentary brought the world leader in whale captivity to its knees.
Episode 9
Cove, Death and Robots
A close examination of the concerted effort to hunt wild dolphins around the world, the history of whaling and the adorable but expensive plan to replace captive dolphins with robots. Beep boop.
Episode 10
The Winter’s Tail
The final instalment of the show thrusts the dark matter of dolphin rescue and rehabilitation into the light. We meet Winter, the star of the 2011 movie Dolphin Tale. She was a wild dolphin who lost her tail in infancy and spent the rest of her life at a rescue centre. It may sound like a happy ending, but think again. The animals that enter the rehabilitation system usually don’t make it out alive. What they do make, however, is money.