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22
The Daisy appeal
When Debra swam back to the beach she was surprised to find herself facing a television camera crew and a reporter. She was furious. The curator of the aquarium had said he wouldn’t make a publicity stunt out of Dilo’s return to the sea. He had broken his word. The camera crew had remained hidden and filmed the whole thing. Now they wanted to interview Debra.
‘‘Dilo” said a lady interviewer. holding a microphone in front of Debra. “You’ve obviously got a special friendship with dolphins. Would you like to tell us about Star?”
Debra didn’t have time to consider her reply carefully. “Yes,” she said. “I’ve known him for a long time and I don’t call him Star, I call him Dilo.
“Oh do you.” said the reporter. ‘Where did you first meet Star, I mean Dilo?”
“I met Dilo a long way from here, in Lighthouse Bay.”
Once she got going, Debra forgot about the fact that she was being filmed. She talked excitedly of how magical it was to swim with Dilo in the open sea and how many adventures they had had together.
“These are wonderful stories. You are a very lucky girl to have a wild dolphin as a friend,” said the interviewer. “You are obviously pleased to see Dilo back in the sea but what do you think about Daisy?”
“1 don’t think any dolphin should be kept in a concrete pool.” said Debra vehemently. “I think it is cruel. Daisy should be set free.”
“Thank you very much Debra,” said the reporter, closing the interview.
“That was a good controversial note to end on,” she commented to the crew as they packed away their equipment. “Let’s go back to the studio and edit it right away.
That evening the four children gathered, with Postie and Ted, to watch Dilo’s return to the sea. Debra wasn’t at all sure she liked seeing herself on television.
At the end of the interview the reporter spoke directly to the camera. “As you can see, Debra feels strongly about keeping dolphins in captivity. What do you think? Should Daisy be kept penned up in a tiny pool, or should she be set free? Let us hear your views.”
“Well, that will set the cat amongst the pigeons.” said Postie. “1 reckon that most people believe dolphins should be free. I bet they write in and say so. I don’t think the aquarium owners will be very happy about that.”
Postie was right, there was an enormous public response. A film crew was sent to interview Pat at the lighthouse. A SET DAISY FREE campaign was launched by International Wildlife Watch. Thousands of people, especially children, signed petitions. Supporters of the campaign were filmed parading outside the aquarium. Beth and Amy joined in. They held up placards which said: DOLPHINS BELONG IN THE SEA.
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