Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary is a facility in Coffs Harbour, that houses three Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, Bella, Zippy and Jet, the last dolphins in captivity in New South Wales. Despite its name, this is not a sanctuary in any meaningful sense. None of the dolphins were rescued. Bella, Zippy and Jet were all purpose-bred into captivity at this facility. A genuine sanctuary takes in animals that cannot return to the wild and provides them with a life free from exploitation. The facility's own Tripadvisor listing advertises swimming with dolphins and up-close marine animal experiences, the very interactions Tripadvisor's own Animal Welfare Policy is designed to prevent. We've been looking closely at Tripadvisor's published Animal Welfare Policy, which specifically covers captive cetaceans and physical interactions with wild animals. What we found is that this facility appears to breach it in multiple ways. And yet Tripadvisor has labelled it as meeting their animal welfare guidelines. Zippy suffered from papilloma virus and painful tumours, and was still made to perform tricks for tourists throughout his treatment. A young dolphin named Ji died at the facility after swallowing litter and metal that hadn't been cleared from his tank. In the wild, dolphins travel up to 80 miles a day. At Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary, their entire world is a pool smaller than what the law requires. A "Meets animal welfare guidelines" label actively tells the public this facility is fine. We're asking Tripadvisor to review it. Take action and add your voice below. 3 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins still in captivity in NSW, the last in the state   0 Of the three dolphins were rescued. All were purpose-bred into captivity at this facility     Tripadvisor's verdict on this facility: Tripadvisor has a published Animal Welfare Policy that specifically covers captive cetacean attractions and trainer-directed animal interactions. Under that policy, attractions found to be non-compliant are flagged accordingly and made ineligible for ticket sales through the platform. They reviewed Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary against that policy and labelled it compliant. We believe that assessment cannot be reconciled with the photographic evidence available on Tripadvisor's own platform. View the listing live on Tripadvisor here   THE PROBLEM Tripadvisor's policy prohibits exactly what this facility does. Tripadvisor's Animal Welfare Policy states it will not support attractions where captive wild animals are directed into physical contact with visitors, where animals cannot disengage from interactions at will, or where captive cetaceans are on public display outside of genuine seaside sanctuaries. Visitor photos already in Tripadvisor's own review section show dolphins being directed by trainers using whistle cues to approach tourists, visitors riding dolphins, and animals performing circus-style shows. View Tripadvisor's Animal Welfare Policy → View Tripadvisor's Animal Welfare Pawprint — how the label works → TAKE ACTION Email Tripadvisor: Hold them to their own Animal Welfare Policy Email Tripadvisor's Animal Welfare Policy team directly and ask them to review, and reverse, their assessment of this facility. Tripadvisor has a published process for exactly this. We've made it as simple as possible with a toolkit of template letters, each taking a different approach depending on what evidence you'd like to reference. The more people who write, the harder this is to ignore and a personalised message is always harder to dismiss than a form letter. More on that below. Send your email to [email protected] This is Tripadvisor's official Animal Welfare Policy review address, published on their own website for exactly this purpose. Copy a subject line and letter from one of the templates below, add your name, and send. Templates Simply copy and paste into your email client, edit, attach photos and send! Subject line: Request to Review Animal Welfare Compliance Label — Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary Dear TripAdvisor, I am writing to request a review of the animal welfare compliance label currently displayed on the Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary listing, which is listed as "Meets animal welfare guidelines." View listing here: https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attraction_Review-g255059-d1458278-Reviews-Coffs_Coast_Wildlife_Sanctuary-Coffs_Harbour_New_South_Wales.html Photographs from the attraction and from Tripadvisor reviews show trainers using whistles to direct dolphins to approach visitors and perform behaviours such as touching interactions and dolphin rides. These trainer-controlled interactions suggest the behaviour is not initiated naturally by the animals. As the dolphins are confined to a small artificial pool, they cannot disengage from interactions at will. This appears inconsistent with the policy requirements for interactions with captive wild animals and the restrictions on captive cetacean attractions. I respectfully request that Tripadvisor review this attraction for compliance with its Animal Welfare Policy. Kind regards, [Your name] CAMPAIGN PHOTOS Need images to attach? The campaign photo gallery includes photographs of the interaction program with trainer whistle cues visible. Download and attach to your email to strengthen your complaint. View & download campaign photos     MAKE EDITS 💡 Make the letter yours.  These templates are a starting point, but a personalised message carries significantly more weight than a form letter. Telling them in your own words why that matters to you is harder to dismiss. Not sure what to add? Try something like: "I have used Tripadvisor for years to plan holidays and experiences. I won't book through your platform again until this compliance label is corrected." "I visited Coffs Harbour recently and witnessed these interactions firsthand. I don't believe this facility meets the standards your policy describes." "As someone who cares deeply about animal welfare, I find it difficult to trust a platform whose own welfare label contradicts publicly available evidence." "I share Tripadvisor reviews regularly with friends and family. A 'Meets animal welfare guidelines' label tells people this facility is fine and I don't believe that's true." ✓ Copied! Now paste into a new email. More templates Each template below references a different source of photographic evidence. Template A — Using the facility's own promotional photos References specific promotional images published by Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary on their own website, with direct photo links included. Open in Google Docs → Template B — Using the facility's photos with the whistle highlighted Similar to Template A, but references images where the trainer's whistle has been circled and highlighted. Open in Google Docs → Template C — Using photos from Tripadvisor's own reviews Cites visitor photos already in Tripadvisor's own review section, showing a tourist interacting with and riding a dolphin. Particularly strong because the evidence contradicting the compliance label is already on Tripadvisor's own platform. Open in Google Docs → Template D — Visitor interactions with dolphins Focuses on the land-based interaction program, where dolphins are directed to the pool edge so visitors can touch, hold and pose with them. Works as a standalone letter, but if you've visited the facility and have your own photos of these interactions, this is the one to use. Open in Google Docs → Template E — Formal complaint, most detailed The longest and most structured option, addressed directly to Tripadvisor's Animal Welfare Policy Team. Covers both the interaction program and the captive cetacean display policy in full, with numbered sections. Best for a more official complaint. Open in Google Docs → How to use these templates: Click Open in Google Docs on whichever template suits you. Go to File → Make a copy to save it to your own Google Drive so you can edit it freely. Prefer Word? Go to File → Download → Microsoft Word (.docx) instead. Edit and personalise it — fill in your name, and add a line or two in your own words if you can. You can download photos from the campaign gallery below and attach them to your email. When ready to send, copy the subject line and the full letter body and paste them into a new email addressed to [email protected]. Don't send the document as an attachment — a plain email reads as a genuine personal message and is far more likely to be taken seriously than a file attachment. USEFUL LINKS Reference Materials Tripadvisor's Animal Welfare Policy → Tripadvisor's Animal Welfare Pawprint — how the label works → Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary on Tripadvisor → All email templates folder →