Captive Cetaceans: A Handbook for Campaigners - Whale and ...

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In early January 1987, Kotar reportedly bit Kanduke's penis, turning the pool water red with blood and causing sufficient injury to cancel shows for two days (Mazzoil, personal communication). Brad Andrews (1991) explained that "Kotar was a younger animal while at the Florida facility" and described his behaviour as "consistent with a healthy, mature breeding male" when moved to Texas in 1988. When Kanduke died in 1990, the necropsy report (Walsh, 1990) indicated "a penile scar 10 cm long was present" (emphasis added). When the male orca, Ulysses, arrived at Sea World's San Diego park from Barcelona, reports indicated his purpose was to sire calves. Five months after his arrival, he had still not been introduced into the same pool with the only viable breeding female, Kasatka, who was still caring for her three-year-old calf. Trainer Mike Scarpuzzi said that, "it was crucial that Ulysses understand Kasatka, the dominant orca. If he doesn't, the results could be violent. Maybe even deadly" (in Kutcher, 1994). Marine mammal inventory reports reveal only a clue of the number of cetacean deaths resulting from traumatic injuries or possible incompatibility: "haemorrhage", "trauma by male dolphin", "traumatic cerebral haemorrhage", "killed by another animal", "related to jaw fracture", "jumped out", and "spinal fracture". Sometimes necropsy reports offer further insight. Of course, marine parks don't publicly announce each death which occurs. But occasionally deaths are highly publicised, especially those captured on video which call public attention to the incident. But there has never been any satisfactory explanation as to why animals which possess highly-sophisticated echolocation have broken observation windows or collided with pool walls, whilst presumably familiar within their surroundings. One can only speculate whether such incidents represent possible "fight or flight" scenarios. Although the U.S. Animal Welfare Act requires that, "marine mammals which are not compatible shall not be housed next to animals that would cause them stress or discomfort, or interfere with their good health", it is believed no facility has ever been cited for non-compliance with this regulation. Jamieson noted that "even the best zoos have problems with preventable mortality and morbidity due to accidents or abuse and are, all too often, in league, wittingly or unwittingly, with people whose idea of a good animal is one that turns a quick profit" (cited in Norton et al, 1995). Before the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) was amended in 1994, regulations were being considered which required, among other provisions, that: "whenever known to occur in social units in the wild, marine mammals held under special exemption permits must be held with other marine mammals of the same species in a manner and composition that in number, sexual ratio, and age structure provides the closest practicable approximation of the known fundamental social unit found in the wild" (NOAA, 1993). It is hardly surprising that the industry spent so much to prevent these, and other regulations, being enacted! Marine parks certainly don't hold orcas in a number or sex/age composition which resembles those found in wild populations. Following twenty years of extensive observational research of orcas in the Pacific Northwest, Olesiuk (et al, 1990) 20
estimated that stable populations were comprised of 56.4% females and 43.6% males. Overall, the composition was 50.3% juveniles, 18.7% mature males, and 31% mature females. In contrast, Sea World holds the largest number of orcas (19 as of January 1998). These, however, are distributed among its four parks. If they were all together, they would comprise 12 females (63%) and 7 males (37%). Overall, the composition is 12 juveniles (63%), 2 mature males (11%), and 5 mature females (26%). Other marine parks aren't even close. Marineland, Canada holds 2 mature females, 1 mature adult, and and 4 juveniles. Marine World Africa USA, Miami Seaquarium, Oregon Coast Aquarium and the Vancouver Aquarium all maintain solitary animals. It should be noted however, that the numbers held in captivity are far too small a sample for population comparisons. Even more appalling, is the maintenance of different species in the same pool which are never found together in nature. Several marine parks feature shows consisting of two or more species, some of which originate from vastly different geographical areas, such as dolphins from temperate/tropical zones, Pacific white-sided dolphins from temperate waters, and beluga whales from arctic zones. These groupings mislead the public about natural history and inter-species relationships. When cetaceans are placed in confinement and deprived of visual, acoustic and other sensory stimulation found in nature, then the fundamental premise of the MMPA is disregarded, namely: "Marine mammals are an integral part of marine ecosystems." The Act never refers to marine mammals independent of their natural ecosystems. In order to meet the standards of consistency within the purposes and policies of the Act, marine parks must display animals in a manner which demonstrates relationships between species and their natural habitat. When maintained outside this context, little knowledge or understanding is derived. Ornithologist Robert Loftin explained: "When an animal is removed from its context, the ecosystem, it is degraded immediately - most of its value is lost" (cited in Norton et al, 1995). Marine parks are able to construct small exhibits of aquatic fish capable of depicting ecosystems, but no facility has the capability to replicate nature in a manner large enough to convey this understanding with cetaceans. Causes of mortality... Sea World's written statements to NMFS reveal contradictory accounts of mortality causes among orcas within a single presentation (1991). Brad Andrews claimed that "more than two-thirds of the [orca] deaths we've experienced were related to old age, and illnesses or injuries the animals sustained before coming to Sea World." At the same time, veterinarian Jim McBain emphasised that "marine mammals in controlled environments are spared many of the problems affecting their counterparts in the wild, including such things as parasites, predators, natural toxins, natural disasters such as freezing, pollution, variations in the availability of food, and the need to compete with man for food." Yet, veterinarian Michael Walsh reiterated that killer whales "have died of a variety of diseases that can afflict any animal, anywhere (emphass added). A major proportion of our killer whale deaths were related to old 21
Page 1 and 2: Captive Cetaceans: A Handbook for C
Page 3 and 4: APPENDICES A: Cetacean-Free Facilit
Page 6 and 7: SECTION 1 Introducing cetaceans...
Page 8 and 9: graceful, but not particularly fast
Page 10 and 11: SECTION 2 Captivity Capture methods
Page 12 and 13: chronic inactive hepatitis, acute h
Page 14 and 15: Mexico from Texas to northwest Flor
Page 16 and 17: SECTION 3 Confinement.. More consid
Page 18 and 19: In August 1967, Marineland of the P
Page 22 and 23: age, or to illnesses or injuries th
Page 24 and 25: SECTION 4 Responses to typical pro-
Page 26 and 27: NMFS authorized four facilities to
Page 28 and 29: Response: While many people do visi
Page 30 and 31: ‘It’s not natural’ (given by
Page 32 and 33: catch a few zzz's in the seas, danc
Page 34 and 35: evidence for supposing that captive
Page 36 and 37: population dynamics. Photo-identifi
Page 38 and 39: (like talking about ‘motivation',
Page 40 and 41: SECTION 5 Refuting the myths. The a
Page 42 and 43: Most disturbing is the number of pe
Page 44 and 45: • Zoos have rarely acknowledged p
Page 46 and 47: Aquarium. "The students did not get
Page 48 and 49: species will be increasingly essent
Page 50 and 51: yielded some important findings on
Page 52 and 53: interesting questions about the sys
Page 54 and 55: from the other whales during the bi
Page 56 and 57: Sea World's 1993 handout, The Facts
Page 58 and 59: particular animal was subdominant a
Page 60 and 61: Conclusion... Captive breeding is a
Page 62 and 63: volunteers of the Whale Rescue Team
Page 64 and 65: Diego, has said, "We don't have a s
Page 66 and 67: Recently, the origin of the profess
Page 68 and 69: strategies is convincing policy mak
Page 70 and 71:
mammal community definitely knows w
Page 72 and 73:
Larry McInerney, who constructed th
Page 74 and 75:
SECTION 8 Alternatives to cetacean
Page 76 and 77:
Despite their continuing insistence
Page 78 and 79:
that human-designed naturalistic en
Page 80 and 81:
discovered that zoos are not, in fa
Page 82 and 83:
Clearly, reintroductions are certai
Page 84 and 85:
Aquarium - was disposed of at sea,
Page 86 and 87:
eceived extensive publicity interna
Page 88 and 89:
Lolita, the oldest surviving captiv
Page 90 and 91:
through a meticulously-planned, gra
Page 92:
dollars). By 1988, concrete tanks h
Page 95 and 96:
AZA/Alliance. (1993, July 28). Test
Page 97 and 98:
Brumsted, R. (1984, August 1). Lett
Page 99 and 100:
DeMaster, D. & Drevenak, J. (1988).
Page 101 and 102:
Geraci, J. (1986). Introduction and
Page 103 and 104:
Jamieson, D. (1985). Against zoos,
Page 105 and 106:
Marinelife Oceanarium. (undated). F
Page 107 and 108:
(1991). Essay: Looking at captive d
Page 109 and 110:
Rodgers, T. (1997, January 22). You
Page 111 and 112:
(1990). Marine mammal behavioral di
Page 113:
Winston, M.L. (1992, December 28).
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