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

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Table of ContentsIntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Chapter 1Education, Conservation, and Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3The Conservation Fallacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Live Captures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Species Enhancement Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Mixed Breeding And Hybrids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Captive Cetaceans And Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10The Public Display Industry “Double Standard” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Ethics And Captive Breeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Stranding Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Chapter 2The Physical and Social Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Pinnipeds And Other Non-Cetaceans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Small Cetaceans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Chapter 3Husbandry and Health Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Chapter 6Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Chapter 7Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Chapter 8Cetacean Intelligence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Chapter 9Mortality and Birth Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Pinnipeds And Other Non-Cetaceans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Bottlenose Dolphins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Orcas And Other Small Whales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Other Cetacean Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Chapter 10Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Table 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Chapter 4Human-Dolphin Interactions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Dolphin-Assisted Therapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Swim-With-The-Dolphins Attractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Petting Pools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Appendix I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Chapter 5Risks to Human Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Injury And Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
IntroductionWhen drafting the Marine Mammal ProtectionAct of 1972 (MMPA), members of the U.S.Congress believed, or were lobbied into promoting,the long-accepted view that the public display of animals(at facilities such as zoos and aquaria) serves a necessaryeducational and conservation purpose. Subsequently, manydomestic statutes and regional and international agreementsincorporated a similar viewpoint, and wherever“take”—such as capture—was prohibited, an exemption foreducation and conservation was included. 1 These domesticlaws and international agreements often include specificprovisions that support the holding of marine mammalsin captivity for the purpose of public display.This platform was adopted without the benefit of scientificresearch. In fact, it has only been in the last decade or two thatresearch efforts have caught up with and begun to rebut the claimsmade by those who are marketing and making a profit from captivemarine mammals. With this greater understanding of the needsof marine mammals and the conditions of their captivity, the publichas become skeptical of assertions that the display of captivemarine mammals, particularly cetaceans (whales, dolphins, andporpoises), fosters an understanding of these species and hasbegun to ask if facilities are able to meet even the most basicneeds of these complex animals. Indeed, many believe that publicdisplay is no more than commercial exploitation of captive ani-The grace and beauty of orcas are showcased when they perform in captivity, but the setting is artificial and stifling for them.The true magnificence of these animals is fully realized only in their natural habitat. Photo: BigStockPhoto/Sergey Karpov
Page 1 and 2: THE CASE AGAINSTMarine Mammalsin Ca
Page 3 and 4: Authors: Naomi A. Rose, E.C.M. Pars
Page 5: Public display facilities often pro
Page 9 and 10: Education, Conservation, and Resear
Page 11 and 12: habitat (known as in situ) or in ca
Page 13 and 14: having a well-organized group is cr
Page 15 and 16: took advantage of a period of gover
Page 17 and 18: Unfortunately, captive facilities r
Page 19 and 20: than this one), even when there are
Page 21 and 22: Most cutting-edge behavioral resear
Page 23 and 24: plans are often wholly inadequate).
Page 25 and 26: sanitation methods that kill vegeta
Page 27 and 28: A prime example of the inappropriat
Page 29 and 30: Cetaceans are difficult to diagnose
Page 31 and 32: allowed to enter the area and dolph
Page 33 and 34: A detailed survey of public display
Page 35 and 36: Curaçao. The facility tried to dow
Page 37 and 38: The irony of the ocean beckoning ju
Page 39 and 40: This dolphin has been fitted with a
Page 41 and 42: The very traits that make dolphins
Page 43 and 44: The behavior of cetaceans also impl
Page 45 and 46: Most zoos and aquaria currently obt
Page 47 and 48: Of at least 193 orcas held in capti
Page 49 and 50: What replaces, with equal impact, p
Page 51 and 52: only occurs in areas where there is
Page 53 and 54: sions. This facility had already co
Page 55 and 56: The Solomon Islands government has
Page 57 and 58:
S. R. Kellert and J. Dunlap, “Inf
Page 59 and 60:
in May 2006). When one considers th
Page 61 and 62:
paper, from 1954, could be found th
Page 63 and 64:
traits (e.g., docile disposition, s
Page 65 and 66:
cial and non-profit sponsors, and s
Page 67 and 68:
D. A. Carder, “Hearing deficits m
Page 69 and 70:
154 Stereotypies are generally nega
Page 71 and 72:
y J. P. Schroeder entitled “Breed
Page 73 and 74:
Washington Legal Times, stating tha
Page 75 and 76:
about the welfare of the dolphins a
Page 77 and 78:
251 Small and DeMaster, “Acclimat
Page 79 and 80:
Pinnipeds and Other Non-Cetaceans28
Page 81 and 82:
held for two years in a tank hidden
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