This film is part of Free

Dolphins at Clacton Pier

A charming film by amateur filmmaker, Paul Amos recording the visit of a group of children from the Wagtail Club to the Aquarium at Clacton Pier.

Home movie 1974 7 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for East Anglian Film Archive

Overview

The children depart from Warner's Holiday Village at Dovercourt on a trip by coach to the Aquarium at Clacton Pier, singing all the way. They visit the aquarium and the penguins, but the main feature they see is the dolphin show. The dolphins jump through hoops and over poles, throw balls from the water and perform a routine wearing spectacles. A sea lion 'applauds'. The three dolphins are Maria from Malta, and Bubbly and Squeak from America.

The children are members of the Wagtail Club at Warner Holidays, which was a club that Paul Amos, the filmmaker was involved in organizing. The dolphin trainer is Reg Bloom, and his assistant is Pauline. Squeak continued performing in Spain until 2006, when she passed away at the age of 39, but the four babies she produced during her life are still alive today. Dolphins live longer in captivity than in the wild, because they are not exposed to numerous, such as fishing nets, pollution and shark attacks.