The Case against Marine Mammals in Captivity - The Humane ...

need many more individuals of most species than they typicallyhold to maintain the appropriate amount of genetic diversity. 87Rather than for conservation, cetaceans are bred merely to providereplacement stock for public display 88 —an ongoing need giventhe high rate of mortality in captivity. 89These newly captured Russian belugas are crowded intoa barren holding pen like guppies in a pet store aquarium.Photo: Lloyd HannemannBelugas have also recently been imported (primarily from Russia)by China, Thailand, Egypt, Taiwan, Bahrain, and Turkey. 83 Most ofthese countries do not have facilities capable of keeping this Arcticspecies at an appropriate temperature. As with Cuba and its bottlenosedolphins, Russia sees its belugas as a resource for generatinghard currency—the sustainability of its capture program andthe welfare of the animals are distant considerations at best.SPECIES ENHANCEMENT PROGRAMSOne way dolphinaria and aquaria try to justify their existenceis by claiming that they are aiding in the conservation of speciesthrough species enhancement programs; that is, breeding endangeredspecies in captivity to someday supplement depleted wildpopulations. 84 Species enhancement programs have become thefocus of many zoos in the developed world, and, in fact, zoos inEurope are legally required to undertake such programs with theaim of releasing captive-bred animals into the wild. 85If species enhancement programs were truly a primary purposeof dolphinaria, they would be targeting species that are at risk inthe wild or are from depleted populations. However, most captivecetaceans in U.S. facilities are non-endangered orcas or bottlenoseThere is a notable lack of conservation-priority species being bredin dolphinaria, which does not support the claim that their captivebreeding programs are for conservation purposes.dolphins, whose populations, if depleted or endangered, may infact owe their reduced numbers to removals by the public displayindustry! 86 These species breed readily in the wild—their numbersare not limited in natural habitat by low reproductive rates but byhabitat loss and other factors. There is a notable lack of conservation-priorityspecies being bred in dolphinaria; thus, the facts donot support their claim that their captive breeding programs arefor conservation purposes.It has been estimated that, if dolphinaria were serious about breedinga captive population for conservation purposes, they wouldFinally, the core of any successful species enhancement programis the ability to reintroduce captive-bred progeny into the wild, 90a technique that has actually had scant success in the recovery ofany threatened species 91 and is especially unlikely to be effectivefor cetaceans. 92 However, the efforts of the public display industryto prevent captive cetaceans from being released expose theirconservation claims as being mere self-promotion. Indeed, thepublic display industry appears to be attempting to produce a“captivity adapted” population of marine mammals that wouldover time become unfit for release to the wild. 93As the capture and import of animals have become problematicfrom economic, logistical, and image standpoints, dolphinaria andaquaria have made captive breeding a central objective. However,if captive dolphin facilities were serious about trying to conservethe species that they possess, they would be focusing on protectingthe habitats of wild populations and would actively be trying toensure that their captive-bred animals could be reintroduced, andsurvive, in the wild. 94Most captive-breeding programs simply ensure a supply of animalsfor display or trade, creating in many cases a growing numberof surplus animals of questionable genetic backgrounds.MIXED BREEDING AND HYBRIDSContrary to the conservation myth proffered by the public displayindustry, the captive birth of an animal does not necessarily enhanceits species’ prospects for survival. For example, the birth ofan orca of mixed Atlantic and Pacific genetic stock is an event thathas virtually no connection to the conservation of orcas or theirhabitat, because, among other things, the animal is geneticallymixed and cannot be released into either population. Animalsfrom populations that could not breed together in the wild due togeographic separation regularly have offspring in captivity. Evenworse, cetaceans belonging to completely different species havebeen bred together to produce hybrids, 95 which could not be releasedand have absolutely no value in terms of species conservation.Most captive-breeding programs simply ensure a supply of animalsfor display or trade, creating in many cases a growing numberof surplus animals of questionable genetic backgrounds. These animalsare poor candidates for release into the wild or, for that matter,future breeding efforts, and face uncertain futures at best.CAPTIVE CETACEANS AND CULTUREIt is becoming increasingly clear that culture exists within manymarine mammal populations. By “culture,” we mean specializedbehaviors that are taught to, and learned by, animals within the10