Untitled Richard O'Barry Project

Suppose you woke up one morning to realize that your life's work was a cruel sham. That's what happened to Richard O'Barry, who trained all of the dolphins who played Flipper in the original 1960s television series. Behind the Dolphin Smile is the story of his personal transformation from dolphin captor to dolphin liberator. As Flipper's trainer, O'Barry had money, flashy sports cars, pretty and bright women, and he was having lots of fun. He thought he was very clever because his dolphins did exactly what he wanted them to do. But when one of the Flipper-dolphins died in his arms, his worldview changed. He realized that these dolphins, whom he made perform tricks for treats, had just as much right to their lives as he did to his. Instead of feeling clever, he felt that he'd been callous. From that moment on, O'Barry dedicated his life to freeing dolphins that are held hostage around the world. Instead of working for the billion-dollar dolphin captivity industry, he now liberates exploited dolphins - he "un-trains" these intelligent marine mammals and returns them to their natural habitat.