New Poll Puts SeaWorld on Notice: Voters Overwhelmingly Want Dolphins Out of Marine Parks

For Immediate Release:
February 13, 2026

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Could California be next to ban breeding dolphins for life in a tank? With global opposition to extreme dolphin captivity on the rise—and marked by the Miami Seaquarium’s closure after more than 50 years, Mexico enacting a sweeping ban on marine-mammal breeding and dolphin shows, and nationwide bans in Canada and France—PETA commissioned a new poll to gauge where Californians stand on the issue. Overwhelmingly, poll respondents support passing a law to ban the breeding, import, export, and exploitation of dolphins for entertainment.

The poll, conducted by Embold Research, surveyed more than 1,200 registered voters in California, of whom 77 percent say they would support a ban on breeding dolphins after learning that these intelligent marine mammals are confined to crowded, shallow tanks and are sexually abused and sometimes drugged so they can’t fight back in SeaWorld’s breeding program. Additionally, 74 percent of voters want dolphins in marine parks to be moved to seaside sanctuaries.

PETA supporters dressed as dolphins stage a die-in against SeaWorld’s forced breeding. Credit: PETA

“The tide has turned against dolphin exploitation, yet SeaWorld and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom still imprison these amazing beings, and SeaWorld forcibly breeds them, creating generations of suffering animals,” says PETA President Tracy Reiman. “PETA encourages everyone to act by shunning such marine prisons and by urging the parks to release these long-suffering animals into seaside sanctuaries.”

In nature, dolphins choose their own partners, swim up to 60 miles a day, and form long-lasting friendships within their pods. Most dolphins forced to perform in theme parks or subjected to dangerous hands-on encounters have never felt the ocean and are often forced into incompatible social groups in cramped, concrete enclosures, where they’re unable to escape conflicts with other frustrated animals. In SeaWorld’s breeding program, male bottlenose dolphins are masturbated, and females are torn out of the water and sometimes drugged so they can’t fight back while staff shove tubes filled with semen into their uteruses.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

Survey Method:

On behalf of PETA, Embold Research surveyed California voters to better understand their perceptions of SeaWorld and their potential support of a ban on the import, export, breeding, and use of dolphins for entertainment.

1,243 registered voters in California were surveyed between October 8-20, 2025. Respondents were recruited via dynamic online sampling to obtain a sample reflective of the population. Post-stratification was performed on age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, and the 2024 presidential vote. The modeled margin of error is +/- 3.0%. A full methodology statement from Embold Research can be found here.