Morrissey has written to Jet2holidays urging the tour operator to drop its association with marine parks that continue to use captive orcas and dolphins for entertainment.
In a letter to the Jet2 chief executive, Steve Heapy, the former frontman of the Smiths said the mammals belonged in the open ocean where they could find food and socialise, which they could not do if they were in “a cramped, concrete tank”.
He said the “unnatural conditions” took a toll on the animals, and he pointed to the number of premature orca deaths in recent years at Loro Parque, a zoo in Tenerife that featured in the 2013 documentary Blackfish.
At the zoo, which Jet2holidays sells tickets for and promotes on its website, an orca called Skyla died in March 2021 aged 17, followed by Ula weeks later aged two, and Kohana who died in September 2022 aged 20.
Morrissey also addressed the “bleak” situation of bottlenose dolphins, which he claimed were “crammed together at the marine park in a tank that’s smaller than the car park”.
He wrote: “Day in and day out, these animals can do little else but swim in endless circles. They’re even forced to perform demeaning tricks in exchange for food. Anyone who thinks that’s entertainment needs to get their head checked. And anyone who profits from this abuse should be ashamed.”
Morrissey is performing at the Sounds of City concert series on Wednesday in Leeds, where Jet2 is based, and said he would like to meet Heapy to discuss the issue.
He said: “Better yet, I hope I can tell my audience that Jet2holidays is no longer associated with cruel marine parks.”
A petition organised by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) urging Jet2Holidays to cut ties with marine parks has been signed by almost 40,000 people.
The animal rights charity describes the facilities as “marine abusement parks that hold animals captive for decades in cramped tanks with chemically treated water”.
The holiday firm offers customers the opportunity to buy tickets for excursions at marine mammal theme parks such as Loro Parque when booking a holiday. It is one of the last remaining travel providers to do this after similar firms such as Thomas Cook, Virgin Holidays and British Airways Holidays, stopped the practice.
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There has been a public backlash against keeping killer whales and dolphins in captivity after the release of Blackfish. The film argues that orcas are highly intelligent, social animals whose behaviour becomes warped in captivity, leading to psychosis and aggression towards humans.
It focuses primarily on the traumatic life of an orca called Tilikum and thedeath of his trainer Dawn Brancheau at Seaworld Orlando in February 2010. Alexis Martinez, a trainer at Loro Parque, also features in the film and dies after a training session with an orca in December 2009.
SeaWorld pledged to stop breeding whales in captivity in March 2016. Tilikum, who was involved in the deaths of three people, died in January 2017, aged 36, after spending 24 years in captivity at SeaWorld Orlando.
Loro Parque’s orca expert said that in a “well managed” marine park the activities of whales were “carefully curated to promote their physical and mental wellbeing, while also providing educational and entertainment value for human observers”.
They said the marine park had been “extremely transparent” about the “unexpected” deaths of Skyla, Kohana and Ula. The expert said the marine park conducted an investigation using independent vets and pathologists that concluded “the causes of death were unrelated to the animals being in a marine park”.
Jet2holidays was contacted for comment.