The Dolphin show at Dolphin Marine Magic starring 45-year-old cancer surviving Bucky and his son Zippy. Bucky is believed to be the oldest dolphin in captivity and still performing two shows daily. Picture: Jane Dempster

Along with Greens member Mehreen Faruqi, Animal Justice Party member Mark Pearson and advocacy group Australia For Dolphins, Mr Carr will draft a Bill to end the keeping and breeding of dolphins in captivity.

This matter is close to Mr Carr’s heart. In 1986 he introduced legislation that banned the capture and display of wild dolphins in dolphinariums across NSW. There were three at the time. However, an unforeseen loophole in the law saw that captive breeding could still occur.

“They closed and I expected they’d stay closed but we are now aware of this quirk in the law that allows them to continue,” Mr Carr told Huffington Post Australia.

Over the next few months the Bill will go through a formal drafting process. Once that’s completed a debate will be scheduled in parliament.

If passed, the new legislation will directly affect Dolphin Marine Magic in Coffs Harbour; the only remaining dolphinarium in the state. Opened in 1970 the attraction is currently home to five dolphins.

In August last year the park came under fire when their youngest dolphin, Ji, suddenly passed away. At the time, details of the death were kept under wraps which raised a lot of questions.

SBS recently revealed that the young dolphin suffered a heart-attack after efforts were made to extract foreign material from his stomach.

Dolphin Marine Magic’s baby dolphin Ji and his mother Calamity. Ji sadly passed away in 2015. Picture: Supplied.Source:Supplied

Medical complications aside, captivity has long been criticised for not being able to meet the needs of these highly intelligent, active and social animals.

The topic formed the basis of the documentary Blackfish, which covered the sad case of Tilikum, the killer whale. The documentary asserted that confinement can produce psychosis, which in turn makes these animals unpredictable and aggressive.

Mr Carr believes that captivity is not conducive to the species’ mental and physical wellbeing.

“To think of these creatures being confined in a pool one third the size of an Olympic swimming pool is to know what this is all about. It’s plain cruel” he told reporters at a press conference in Sydney.

“We think the crooked smile on the face of a dolphin shows they’re enjoying captivity but the captivity is in fact driving them mad.”