The only way to train dolphins to perform pointless movements on command is through starvation.

There is no other way known to make these intelligent animals endure human stupidity. The so-called “positive reinforcement” method consists of keeping the animals hungry and feeding them only during performances or training sessions. In other words, food deprivation. Desperate and hungry, they begin to break and start performing the tricks. Because they know that this is the only way to get food. When they are not working, the dolphins are kept hungry. This often causes conflicts and aggression between them.

In the wild, dolphins eat many different fish, sepia and other molluscs. Groups usually work together using sophisticated strategies to find and hunt their prey. In the dolphinarium, dolphins never have the opportunity to do that because the bare walls of the small tanks offer nothing interesting to explore.

Cetaceans in captivity are fed frozen dead fish. This monotonous diet is insufficient for the needs of marine mammals, so animals are given vitamins and nutrients in tablet form.