Special Issue Survey of Cetaceans in Captive Care

Aquatic Mammals 2005, 31(3), 326-350, DOI 10.1578/AM.31.3.2005.3265. Architectural Design of Pools and EnclosuresCetaceans, unlike pinnipeds which have access toland, live their entire life in the water. Wild bottlenosedolphins spend up to 75% of daytime travelingand feeding (Shane et al., 1986). They areexposed to a great variety of water movements,and although they tend to avoid extreme conditionsand seek shelter during storms, they havebeen seen surfing big waves and traveling in roughseas. A controlled environment removes manyof the choices that animals face in nature. Food,shelter, and medical care are provided, and breedingpairs and group composition is determined byhumans (Allen, 1996). Therefore, it is importantthat human and physical environments proposealternative chances for interactions and behaviourssuch as playing, resting, mating, and foragingto avoid “boredom” and stress. Dolphins relyon poolmates and humans for social interaction;however, trainers interact with them for only a fewhours a day, leaving the animals by themselves therest of the time. It is therefore important to recreatean environment as close to the wild as possibleby promoting the environmental enrichment of thehabitat—socially as well as architecturally.Great efforts have been taken during the pastdecade to recreate natural environments and enrichthe lives of terrestrial animals in zoos (Gibbonset al., 1994). Among marine mammals, sea otters,polar bears, pinnipeds, and even sirenians havebeen the first to benefit from this trend (Sweeney& Samansky, 1995). Only since the early 1990shave similar concepts been introduced to cetaceanexhibits. Curators, veterinarians, animal behaviourspecialists, zoologists, and architects are workingtogether to improve the environments of zoo animalsto reduce their stress, eliminate stereotypicbehaviour, and enhance breeding (Doherty &Gibbons, 1994). By using specialists, a higher levelof habitat detail can be achieved without accruingmajor additional costs (Sweeney & Samansky,1995). With the increase in the quality of habitatsand medical husbandry, survival rates of captivebottlenose dolphins have increased significantlyover past years (DeMaster & Drevenak, 1988;Ellis, 1995; Small & DeMaster, 1995a, 1995b).Furthermore, thanks to easier maintenance, thereis greater opportunity and time for training andresearch (Sweeney & Samansky, 1995).A successful habitat for cetaceans is an environmentthat promotes well being, where animalscannot injure themselves, where they caninteract or avoid each other easily, and where routinemedical checks can be performed adequately.Good husbandry of animals that live in the wateralso means providing a safe and convenient workingenvironment for trainers. Controlled cetaceanenvironments will be planned by studying species-specificbehaviours in the wild and introducingsignificant opportunities for expression of suchactivities. The need for producing environmentsthat provide greater behavioural richness has to bebalanced with the need to provide a safe environmentfor the animals. Errors in design and the replicationof inappropriate facilities will inhibit thecreative growth of the environmental design for animals,and may affect the animal’s health and wellbeing(Asper, 1982; Markowitz, 1990; Doherty &Gibbons, 1994; Sweeney & Samansky, 1995).Markowitz (1990) stated a truth that appliestoday more than ever and that clearly was highlightedby the results of this international surveyof cetacean facilities: “In studying the successesand failures of previous habitat design, one cangain considerable information which may helpprevent endless replications of the same difficulties.While there is some truth to the notion thatsending architects to see existing captive habitatsmay largely preclude revolution in the design, itis even more apparent that there are an awesomenumber of identical mistakes in the design ofhabitats which could easily be avoided if we werebetter students of each other’s facilities.”Innovations in construction technologies, progressin cetacean husbandry, and a better understandingof their behaviour allow curators andarchitects to design and realise safer, bigger, andmore natural exhibits, which better respond to theneeds of the animals and the desire of the visitorsto see these wild creatures in a more appropriateenvironment. Larger and more diverse environmentsprovide for a greater degree of socialisationand positive behavioural interactions amongindividuals and species (Geraci, 1986; Sweeney& Samansky, 1995). The aim of this chapter is topresent the suggestions given in the survey questionnairewith the goal of enhancing the quality ofdolphin and whale environments in human care.Please refer to the previous chapter fordefinitions of “natural,” “semi-natural,” “artificial,”and “semi-artificial” environments; “pools”; and“enclosures.” Since many of the suggestions werecommon to all types of facilities, it seemed clearer© 2005 EAAM