Films / Movies / Films & Videos

Born To Be Free – Documentary Film About the Brutal and Cruel Trade in Sea Mammals

by Jennie Richards · Published March 1, 2018 · Updated August 6, 2021

“The conditions the animals lived in (St. Petersburg Dolphinarium and Aquarium) is hideous, outdated, unclean, dark and miserable. It’s a true prison for them. You see the misery on their faces, their depressed behavior, and many were dying.”

Born To Be Free is a compelling documentary by three intrepid, free-diving journalists, Gaya, Tanya and Julia, who expose the brutal, inhumane treatment of sea mammals captured for captivity for so-called non-profit, pro-conservation aquariums and profit-driven dolphinariums. Their journey takes us to the most remote corners of Russia where we witness for the very first time, the shocking mistreatment that orcas, dolphins and Beluga whales are subject to—and the corruption at the heart of this cruel international business.

The film follows the plight of 18 Beluga white bowhead whales captured off the coast of Russia for the Atlanta Aquarium in Georgia and for SeaWorld. The film sheds a light on the severe mistreatment and abuse of sea mammals for their use in these dirty businesses that defend their conservation, scientific, and education efforts—when nothing is further from the truth. When these three women set out in 2013 to visit the Black Sea to celebrate swimming with dolphins in the ocean, they instead discover a dark, deadly trade in marine mammals in Russia driven by their use for entertainment and profit in the U.S., China, Japan and a growing list of countries that are on the take.

Everywhere in Russia—dolphinariums are opening, driven by the demand for capturing more new orcas, dolphins and Beluga whales. In Moscow, the Moscvarium opened in 2015, as the first in a growing industry in the country. But behind the dark and seemly business, is the violent and deadly capture of these mammals; ripping them away from close-knit and established families and communities; the restrictive and cruel confinement where they cannot swim; their crowding in pens that leads to violent attacks and deaths; the unprofessional and inadequate transport in filthy, polluted tanks for 1000s of miles where they languish, become sick, and die before their arrival; their abysmal lack of proper medical and health care; and finally, the daily grind of training forced on them to modify their behavior in order to perform stunts and tricks for humans. All this in inadequate size tanks and pools that are too warm, too chlorinated, too polluted, too small, and too unnatural for them for the remainder of their short lives.

The film makes it glaringly clear—if you really love sea mammals—you should never support these aquariums, dolphinariums and entertainment businesses that buy, use, abuse and profit from these animals for entertainment. Their solitary confinement is a prison for them. They have no choice and no say in their own captivity. They are removed from the only place that is their home—the ocean. Instead go see these beautiful wild animals in the wild—in their natural environment, the sea, by taking a boat trip, or watch informative documentaries about sea mammals, or read books about them—but don’t support this brutal, cruel trade where only dollars matter—not animals.

Film Length: 1 hour, 14 minutes

Film Preview: 2016

Film Awards: Sheffield International Documentary Film Festival 2016

Watch The Film

Watch on NETFLIX

Watch on DogWoof

Audio: English

Subtitles: Spanish, Simplified Chinese, English, Traditional Chinese, and French

More About the Film

Like the Facebook page – Georgia Aquarium Truth

Learn more about mammal captivity on Instagram – Seven Seas of Freedom

Watch, “Inside The Tanks”

What You Can Do to Help

Don’t Attend or Visit Marine Mammal Parks or Aquarium Shows– Don’t support their captivity, breeding in captivity, and hunting down wild baby orcas and dolphins, tearing them from their families to imprison them and making them perform.
Tell Friends and Family Not to Visit or Support Marine Mammal Parks –Like Miami Seaquarium, Six Flags in Vallejo, CA, SeaWorld in San Diego and Orlando, and Marineland in Canada – they are all bad.
Sign Petitions! – See the petitions below and sign! Ask airlines to stop transporting dolphins from Taiji. Ask SeaWorld to stop holding shows at SeaWorld with dolphins and 29 orcas. Ask businesses and industries to stop supporting SeaWorld and other theme parks and aquariums from this cruelty.
Ask For Bans – Support efforts to BAN the cruel hunts in the ocean and BAN the establishment of captive facilities around the world holding dolphins and whales.
Speak Out –Encourage marine parks to become spaces for rehabilitating injured mammals and releasing them, and not breeding or hunting them. You can leaflet at local marine parks and aquariums, here’s how.
Call and Write Your Congressman and Elected Officials –Tell them not to support marine mammal captivity. Find your Senators, find your House Representatives. Here are steps to help legislate change for animals. Read Passing Animal-Friendly Legislation.
Educate Yourself– Watch Blackfish, The Whale, BreachTheFilm, visit Center for Whale Research and The Orca Project, and read Death At SeaWorld.
Watch the BlueVoice Videos– Learn more here http://bluevoice.org/webfilms.php.
Keep Your Community Free of Captive Facilities– Learn how here.
Animal Alert!– When you see a captive animal suffering in a theme or marine park, or dolphinarium, take positive action and File A Report. Complete it online or download the PDF to fill out, then mail it back to Born Free USA.
Learn more by visiting our page on Dolphinariums, Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums.

The Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta Georgia

The Georgia Aquarium at Pemberton Place in downtown Atlanta, placed an order for 18 Beluga whales from Russia. But the U.S. government denied their permit to import the Belugas, prompting the Georgia Aquarium to challenge the denial in court. This stranded the 18 Beluga whales for six very long years in confinement in Russia, that ultimately led to many of their deaths.

“For many years now, parks such as the Georgia Aquarium have been overlooked by the public. The Georgia Aquarium first opened its doors in 2005. It touts the message of conservation, while it quietly shuffles animals from park-to-park, hires middlemen to capture wild Beluga calves, and puts on a false facade of education to cover its dirty, filthy secrets. We wish to change this, as we feel it necessary for members of society to educate themselves on the truth behind so-called non-profit, pro-conservation aquariums.”

“The main reason to prevent the import of the Belugas coming into the U.S., was to prevent the U.S. from becoming part of the “market” for these animals. Every country that accepts whales, dolphins and Belugas for entertainment—increases their cruel capture and captivity.”

“They (The Georgia Aquarium) are acting as an exploitation user group, they are not acting as a conservation organization. In fact, whales and Beluga whales are right at the top of the list who do not thrive in captivity. How could this aquarium have gotten involved in this trade, and get a permit without knowing how these animals are captured? How they are treated? How many die in this process? And the horrific conditions of which these animals are held in? In fact — they DO know. They know exactly.”

“The Georgia Aquarium sent money every month to Russia to pay for the Belugas support. The Aquarium demanded that journalists not have access to any interviews, to film, or to see the Belugas. One of the Belugas had died in Utrish, and was photographed by an anonymous person. But apparently, this is not the first, four more Belugas died during the years that Georgia was applying for a permit. I believe the Georgia Aquarium is completely responsible for the fate of these animals because they ordered them in the first place.”

Quotes From The Film

“Dolphins belong to the ocean. Marine mammal captivity is only about profit, it’s not about education. China is the biggest importer of marine mammals from Russia. They die, and then they just buy more. They keep replacing them.”

“Dolphinariums and marine captivity causes marine mammals to only live one-quarter of their natural lives.”

“Nobody supervises these businesses (dolphinariums). It’s a mess. There are clear violations of the rules. And everyone turns a blind eye. They don’t want to see the truth.”

“I see nothing wrong in making our trained dolphins work – to pay for our science.”

“I believe that the children of this world will grow up, and see the capture of these mammals and putting them in a cage—as an act of savagery. Perhaps dolphinariums will cease to exist.”

“Normally all the animals arrive here when they are very young, it makes it easier to work with them.”

“The conditions the animals lived in (St. Petersburg Dolphinarium and Aquarium) is hideous, outdated, unclean, dark and miserable. It’s a true prison for them. You see the misery on their faces, their depressed behavior, and many were dying.”

“If catching for slaughter is permitted by the state, why not catch live dolphins?”

“There is an international dolphin market. Prices go far beyond human understanding.”

Asked why Beluga whales are allowed to be confined in such small tanks? “There are no rules for keeping sea mammals in captivity in Russia.”

In the Moscow Park Dolphinarium, “The quality of the water is a horror. Animals are injured. They are not properly transported, their fins get broken, their bones get broken, it’s a horrible business.”

Moving a beluga, “She will be boiled in this tub from direct sunlight and no protection or cover, and sure enough she died within three months of her arrival.”

“The Belugas have been tamed by man.”

“According to what witnesses say, horrible things are going in with the capture of Belugas.”

“Belugas are suddenly caught, taken from their tight-knit families, and placed in a small tank. Belugas in Russia are supposed to be protected by an inspection system. But some are dead and dying. You see cuts from the nets, they are drowned—inspectors take money and bribes to turn a blind eye. So they don’t report the deaths. They just dig a hole and bury them. It’s an illicit business.”

“Living in captivity, Belugas must be trained to eat dead fish. Normally they eat live fish only.”

“Three hours from Vladivostok there is a temporary holding place for Belugas. They are sick and dying. They are kept in such horrible conditions because they are considered commodities.”

“There is no way that any person can provide for these animals what they need.”

“Russia has become the main source for the marine mammal trade – Belugas, dolphins, and whales.”

“China is buying all these marine mammals from Russia.”

Asking Russia’s leading sea mammal trainer about banning dolphinariums: “I would feel happy! I really hope my dolphins see the sea again. I dream about this constantly.”

“It seems the worst thing that can happen to a Beluga, is to end up in the hands of a human being. In 2013, more than half of the Belugas captured in the Sea died, either in temporary holding facilities or during their capture.”

“In the U.S., in five Oceanariums 25 beluga whales have already died prematurely since 1992 – in Atlanta, Georgia; Orlando, Florida; Chicago, Illinois; Stonington, Connecticut and San Diego, California. In the last 9 years, 5 have died in the Georgia Aquarium alone.”

“Beluga whales are in trouble, they are listed as near threatened by the IUCN.”

“I always believed we would be able to free them. This is not the ending I dreamed about.”