Morrissey asks Jet2holidays to stop relationship with “cruel” marine parks
Morrissey has penned a letter to Yorkshire-based travel company Jet2holidays asking them to stop selling packages which include visits to marine parks that have captive orcas and dolphins.
The former frontman of The Smiths has written a letter to the company’s chief executive Steve Heapy and said these mammals deserve to be in the ocean rather than “a cramped, concrete tank”. Morrissey described their enclosures as “unnatural conditions”, claiming it leads to orcas dying prematurely as was shown on the 2013 documentary Blackfish.
Loro Parque, a zoo in Tenerife was highlighted in Blackfish and Jet2holidays sell tickets for the zoo on their website. In the last two years, three orcas have died, including Ula who was only two. Morrissey labelled the situation surrounding bottlenose dolphins as “bleak” and stated they are “crammed together at the marine park in a tank that’s smaller than the car park”.
The musician said: “Day in and day out, these animals can do little else but swim in endless circles. They’re even forced to perform demeaning tricks in exchange for food. Anyone who thinks that’s entertainment needs to get their head checked. And anyone who profits from this abuse should be ashamed”.
Morrissey is performing at the Sounds of City concert series on Wednesday in Leeds, where Jet2 is based, and said he would like to meet Heapy before the show. “Better yet, I hope I can tell my audience that Jet2holidays is no longer associated with cruel marine parks,” he concluded.
Other travel firms Thomas Cook, Virgin Holidays and British Airways Holidays, have already discontinued their relationship with Loro Parque.
Although Morrissey is currently touring the United Kingdom, there is still no release date for his forthcoming album Bonfire of Teenagers, which was intended to be released last year. In a recent statement, he addressed the delay: “If you are only prepared to release music that draws people’s minds away from thinking then you are unfit for any contact with creative people. Songs are literary compositions, and writing music should be an unrestricted open form”.
The singer added: “It seems to me that Capitol Records cannot observe the possibility that their artists or their potential customers have ever thought. But silencing certain artists achieves nothing, and simply makes the bonfire burn taller and louder.”
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.