The dolphins are free. (Tissue warning )

Three years ago 3 dolphins were rescued from a small resort hotel pool where they had provided guests with a “dolphin experience.” The hotel had bought them from a traveling circus. The super-intelligent animals were then taken into care by the Umah Lumba (dolphin) Rehabilitation, Release and Retirement Center, in Bali.

The initiator of the dolphins’ rescue was the Dolphin Project, founded in 1970 by Richard O’Barry. O’Barry was the dolphin trainer who worked on the 1960s TV show “Flipper” He came to realize that captivity was bad for dolphins and decided to devote his life to their rescue and release. The Project has been responsible for saving many incarcerated dolphins.

With flags flying, the underwater gates of the floating pen opened and the trio swam through into the Indonesian seas and to their freedom. After their release, Johnny, Rambo, and Rocky circled the sanctuary. 'They turned back around and came back to us one more time, almost to say thank you and goodbye. And then they headed straight out to open ocean and disappeared,' Lincoln O’Barry said. 'Where they head next, we don’t know. But we wish them a good long life.'

https://www.freetheocean.com/journal/3-dolphins-swim-free-after-years-of-confinement-for-tourists/