PETA calls on new Sea Life Park Hawaii owner to release its dolphins

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The new owner of Sea Life Park is facing pressure from animal rights advocates, who argue the facility’s star attractions deserve better.

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After the Hawaiian Council bought the park last month, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) wrote to the organization demanding it move its dolphins to seaside sanctuaries.

“A seaside sanctuary is just a cove that they section off so that dolphins, or other animals, sea animals, can live freely,” PETA spokesperson Jason Baker explained. “It’s not being released into the wild, but it’s as close to they can get.”

Baker also said the conditions of a sanctuary are far from that of life in captivity.

“They swim in circles, they do meaningless tricks for tourists and it’s cruel. It’s like living in prison,” Baker added.

There are no seaside sanctuaries in Hawaii, according to Baker, but there is one in Iceland and another opening in Italy in a few weeks.

“They’re available. It’s just we need the dolphins to be available to go to them,” Baker said.

The organization acknowledged the dolphins cannot be released into the wild because they lack the skills and experience to survive there.

“But they can stop swimming in circles in these concrete pens, they can do things that dolphins can normally do,” Baker said.

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PETA also pushed for the park to stop breeding dolphins.

In a letter responding to the organization, the council clarified that it has no interest or intention of doing so.

“I’m happy to see that they’ve written, and that’s progress,” Baker shared.

The council sent Hawaii News Now the following statement:

“Sea Life Park is now under the stewardship of Native Hawaiians. That means its future will be shaped here, by the people and community who call Hawaiʻi home, with Native Hawaiian knowledge, values, and kuleana at the forefront. We welcome constructive dialogue, but we have a responsibility to chart our own course — and we intend to do so.”

The council also sent an email newsletter to subscribers Tuesday that read:

When we announced that Hawaiian Council had acquired Sea Life Park on August 11, I said we would share more as our plans began to take shape. Today, I’m excited to share the first of those updates.

The transformation has begun.

Much of the work happening right now is behind the scenes and may not yet be visible from the front gate. We are restoring the grounds, caring for the park, and laying the foundation for what comes next. That work takes time, and we are committed to doing it thoughtfully and doing it right.

Over the coming months, you will begin to see the vision come to life.

Our goal is not simply to operate Sea Life Park. We want to reimagine what this place can mean to Hawaiʻi. A place where families can come together, where our culture and traditions are celebrated, where our keiki can learn, where our community can gather, and where visitors can experience Hawaiʻi in a way that is authentic and meaningful.

And while the larger transformation will take time, we don’t want you to wait to experience a different Sea Life Park.

Between now and the end of the year, we’re creating more reasons to come back than there have been in a long time — evenings at the park, community gatherings, holiday experiences, new performances, and more opportunities for families to enjoy the park together. We’ll share more about each of these as they come to life.

But there is one part of our vision we wanted to put into action right away: opening the park wider to our local community.

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