February 13, 2014 in Manila, Philippines - a supposedly romantic and heartfelt marriage proposal turned into a social media chaos. Photos of a couple with a dolphin used to ask the big question spread on Facebook.
The photos were first posted by marine life theme park Ocean Adventure, on their Facebook page. Ocean Adventure is a popular resort in the Subic Freeport Zone in Luzon offering dolphin interaction services for its guests.
The photo they posted showed a dolphin with a belly marked with the words "Will you marry me Rona?"
The theme park has since taken the photo down, but not in time as marine life advocacy group Earth Island Institute Philippines has already taken a screenshot.
The group said in post with the screenshot, "Romantically cruel this Valentine's? No to dolphin cruelty! Don't support captivity! Boycott Ocean Adventure"
Earth Island Institute's followers have addressed the soon-to-be-groom in their anger. However, many blamed Ocean Adventure.
A comment on the environment group's Facebook post read, "Why let a creature suffer for your expression of love? Malunod sana yang love na yan, if only to teach you a lesson to stay away from hurting more animals than we already did." (Why let a creature suffer for your expression of love? I hope that love drowns, if only to teach you a lesson to stay away from hurting more animals than we already did.)
A hit on Ocean Adventure by another Facebook user said read, "Wala silang alam, ang me kasalanan nito ay yung lintek na Ocean Adventure na yan." (They don't know anything. The one who's at fault is that Ocean Adventure.)
The resort's officials have clarified that the material used to write the proposal message on the dolphin's belly is safe on animals. "We used zinc oxide, which is sunscreen. We use it so dolphins we rescue won't get sunburns." Ocean Adventure marketing officer Rio Carcado said in a phone interview.
Earth Island Institute is not only against the act of marking dolphins, but dolphin captivity in Ocean Adventure and other places.
The group said in a statement last year, "It is a scientific fact that dolphins die prematurely in captivity because they are innately unsuited for confinement." They should be in the wild and holding them captive "disrupts their overall behaviour as well as affects them biologically. Studies have shown that the stress of imprisonment often results in behavioral abnormalities, illness, reduced resistance to disease and low life expectancy."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
