Charlotte Crosby has teamed up with PETA, to protest against 'abusement park' owners who keep marine wildlife in enclosed spaces for the public to gawk over. Dressed in all grey to evoke a dolphin, the former Geordie Shore star, 33, appeared in a photo alongside her baby daughter Alba Jean - torn away from one another, floating in dark waters.
It's a 'haunting ode' to the female marine mammals which are separated from their beloved offspring according to PETA, and a behind the scenes look at the shoot will feature in an upcoming episode of Crosby's BBC 3 show, Charlotte in Sunderland.
Speaking with the charity and campaign group, the reality-TV star shared the harrowing tale of Morgan - an orca born into the wild which has been forced to perform tricks for the last 12 years at the Loro Parque, Tenerife. Morgan gave birth to a daughter named Ula, which sadly passed at the age of just two.
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In an exclusive interview with PETA, she said: "The story of Morgan and Ula shatters my heart as a mam. It’s actually devastating to even think about."
She then explained that animals which are held at marine parks endue lives of intense deprivation, adding: "Hearing people describe marine parks as entertainment is just mind-blowing. Knowing what these animals go through - they have no freedom. They are deprived of everything.
"They are living in the most awful, awful circumstances and conditions. It’s just animal cruelty. That is all it is."
In the open ocean, orcas and other mammals like dolphins swim many miles alongside their family - communicating via pulsed calls, whistles and clicks. But in marine parks, PETA say that these animals languish in pools filled with chemically treated water - never given the opportunity to dive, feel the ocean's current or choose their meals.
Reflecting on the message of the new campaign, Charlotte added: "Never visit a marine park yourself. And please, encourage all travel providers not to sell tickets to these parks."
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that 'animals are not ours to use for entertainment' – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, or Instagram.
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