Special Issue Survey of Cetaceans in Captive Care

Aquatic Mammals 2005, 31(3), 279-280, DOI 10.1578/AM.31.3.2005.279ForewordOne freezing day during the winter of 1990on the Pacific coast of Japan, I was kneelingat the edge of a dolphin pool, playing with myfavourite dolphin, Kai, a shy and slender femalePacific bottlenose dolphin. I was pleased to seehow she seemed to enjoy our moments together.She always displayed her pleasure to see me withleaps, splashes, and loud vocalisations, pushingher way to me, displacing other animals despiteher low rank in the hierarchy of the pool. We hadgreat moments together during our daily eveningtacit appointment. Unfortunately, I could not seeher under water because the pool was not equippedwith windows. Upon arrival near the pool, I almostfell in the cold water because I had just slipped onice accumulated on the corners of the square pool.To be able to cuddle and play with her, I was bentin two, kneeling on the pool side, with puddles ofwater seeping into my plastic boots. Like everyday, my back was sore, my knees were bruised,every part of my body hurt. I felt miserable in suchan uncomfortable position. My body was strainedfrom the efforts of carrying hundreds of kg of fishevery day, four buckets at a time, through narrowstaircases, arms full of frozen packs between thetruck and the freezer, and between the freezer andthe kitchen. Thirty-three dolphins; three belugas;four killer whales; and innumerable walruses,seals, sea lions, and sea otters had to be fed everyday by the small pinniped and cetacean teams,mainly composed of young light-framed Japanesewomen! To this very day, I remember trying for thefirst time to picture in my mind the ideal pool forKai, along with a more comfortable ledge on whichto handle her, a fish kitchen at the same level as thestage and closer to the pools, and every pool accessibleby trolleys. From that day on, I started puttingin writing some of my ideas about the design andhusbandry problems which had been making theanimals’ lives unnecessarily stressful and my life,as an apprentice dolphin trainer, needlessly tiring.I drafted a whole list of items that could be modifiedand improved—from the shape of the pool,the design of the kitchen, to husbandry protocols.At the end of my stay at Kamogawa Sea World, Ihad several notebooks filled with sketches, plans,photos, and notes scribbled in French, English, andJapanese.I had a degree in architectural design and apassion for cetaceans. Thanks to a scholarshipfrom the Japanese Ministry of Education, I couldreconcile both interests in Japan by studyingmarine architecture at the Nihon University inTokyo. I had toured many of the numerous dolphinariain Japan and had been accepted for a sevenmonthtraining at Kamogawa Sea World, which atthat time was the largest and most famous institutionin Japan. It is located on the Pacific coastof the Chiba Peninsula that forms Tokyo Bay, ina small remote tourist resort that is 2 hours fromTokyo. At Sea World, I was completely immersedinto the life of the dolphinarium, sharing the sameaccommodations as my young Japanese colleagues—theirmeals, their parties, emergencysituations, joys and sorrows with the animals, and16-h days. The time spent there still remains forme an incredible experience in my life, as well asan extraordinarily rich professional training.It was later, after I left Japan and stayed inFrance for several years, that the opportunitywas offered to me by Dr. Elizabeth Taylor, headof the Dolphin Study Group of the TropicalMarine Science Institute (TMSI) at the NationalUniversity of Singapore (NUS), to do a full-timeresearch project on cetacean environments inhuman care. I could finally combine my educationin architectural design and my short experience indolphin training and husbandry to try to enhancethe environment of captive dolphins and whales,as well as the working conditions of their trainers.I dug up my notebooks and left for a new part ofAsia, a place so dear to my heart.I was first employed by the Faculty ofArchitecture of NUS and then by TMSI when theinstitute became an official entity within the university.The research grant allowed me to travelin Asia, Australia, and the USA. During visits tonumerous dolphinaria, I saw the same mistakesrepeated over and over again, mainly by architectsfor whom the expression of their art conflictedwith the remarks and suggestions of trainers,curators, veterinarians, and research scientists, orby uninventive replication of the same designs.Sometimes these mistakes were made by managerstoo eager to please the public to the detrimentof the animals. Fortunately, there also were visitswhen the environments included some ingenioushusbandry features that would greatly facilitatemedical training; a stunning new design conceptfor pools, a great support facility layout, or a reliablehusbandry protocol to promote preventivemedicine.© 2005 EAAM