Born Free has renewed its call for the public to not visit attractions that exploit whales, dolphins and porpoises (cetaceans) following today’s announcement that TripAdvisor will no longer sell tickets to captive whale and dolphin facilities.

TripAdvisor’s move includes any commercial facility that either breeds or imports cetaceans for public display. Products currently on sale and found to breach the new rules will be removed from TripAdvisor over the next few months, with the policy in full force by the end of 2019. However, this does not include seaside sanctuaries.

Howard Jones, Born Free’s CEO, said: “With our track record of campaigning against the captivity of all wild animals, and for our previous role of rescuing cetaceans from squalid lives, fixed purely for human entertainment, you would expect us to be delighted with this.

“And we are – it’s great news – but now the public and the entertainment industry must respond, with their wallets and with urgency.

“TripAdvisor is pre-eminent in informing the choices that people make, so let’s all wake up and walk away from the abusive use of animals, permanently.”