Campaign against Dolphinarium (NL)

By Alex Romijn @ 2025-02-02T22:12 (+1)

At Bite Back, we have been campaigning against the Dolfinarium in Harderwijk for years, and our consistent efforts have made a substantial impact. Visitor numbers have dropped dramatically over time, from 1.5 million annually to around 400,000–500,000. Notably, the former CEO of the Dolfinarium publicly admitted that this decline was partially due to our campaign.

In the last 18 months alone, nearly 30 companies have severed their ties with the Dolfinarium. One of our most notable victories was convincing Dutch Railways (NS), a major partner, to end its collaboration. Last week, another 4 smaller companies took down the discount codes/promotion for the Dolfinarium and we are optimistic about adding more successes to our campaign.

In 2024, we organized a wide range of impactful actions, including:

• Hosting a protest march during Empty the Tanks.
• Blocking all seven main entrances to the Dolfinarium for an entire day, gaining national media attention.
• Conducting several chalking and informational actions around the park.
• Filing a major complaint against the Dolfinarium for breaching agreements with the government. We expect to hear the results in two months. Additionally, we filed two complaints in 2024 regarding false information provided by the Dolfinarium, both of which were partially upheld.
• Targeting companies collaborating with the Dolfinarium through direct actions.
• Organizing a deeply moving wake to honor the animals that have died at the facility.

These actions have generated substantial media attention, with at least 80 news articles in 2024 alone, further amplifying public discussion and putting pressure on the Dolfinarium. We firmly believe that closure is within reach, especially with the ambitious plans we have for 2025 and beyond. 

A video of our protests last year: