The captivity of dolphins and whales began in the 1960s with the movie and then show “Flipper.”The star of which was a bottlenose dolphin named Kathy. The success of the show ignited the demand for aquatic based entertainment and the exploitation of dolphins and whales for entertainment began. Since then thousands of whales, dolphins, and porpoises have been taken from their natural habitats and moved into captivity all over the world. The captivity of these animals is cruel. It’s ecologically damaging, harmful to the animals and dangerous for humans.
September marked the beginning of another dolphin hunting season in Japan. During which, pods of dolphins are trapped in a cover; dolphin trainers select which ones will be sold into captivity; and the rest are slaughtered. This season, 6 have been sold into captivity, 28 were released, and 134 were killed. Captivity is just as cruel as killing them. We take animals used to swimming hundreds of miles a day and put them in tank. They’re used to constant socialization with other members of their pod and we isolate them. Dolphins and whales are surprisingly a lot like humans. They have a need for contact. Just like newborn babies need skin on skin contact to create bonds and develop, whales and dolphins travel in very close nit pods and touch each other with their flippers to create that social interaction. In captivity, that is taken away from them. Dr. John Lilly researched dolphins in particular and discovered that they breathe voluntarily. He found that if dolphins, whales, or porpoises are kept in isolation, their social deprivation may be so severe that they commit suicide by voluntarily ceasing to breathe and/or eat. Several of Lilly’s research animals died in this way.
Dolphins and whales have always been considered intelligent and kind animals. They come very close to a human brain aptitude; have some form of communication, self awareness, and an expanded capacity for processing emotions. The early Greeks believed that dolphins actually descended from men who had jumped overboard, and for that reason they were always kind to humans. A few years ago there was a scuba diver who was hit by a boat. He was found 32 hours later, unconscious and surrounded by about a hundred dolphins! They had taken turns holding the diver above the water so he wouldn’t drown. This incident is a perfect example of the great lengths that dolphins and also whales go to, to help and protect humans. Why can’t we do the same for them?
Ecologically, the demand in whales and dolphins for the entertainment industry is a major threat to wild populations. There are now ten different types of endangered whales, including the blue and sperm whale. There are four species of dolphins that are now endangered, and the Baiji River Dolphin is the number one on the recently extinct species list. Captivity has caused pathologies among the animals, such as dorsal fin collapse which is seen in 60 to 90 percent of captive populations of killer whales. This is in no way an indicator of the health of the animals, but it is a huge indicator of the artificiality of captivity and the unnaturalness of it.
Marine parks are increasingly claiming that the research done with the captive animals is critical to the protection and conservation of wild cetaceans. However, the research done in captivity is not applicable to wild populations. The physical restrictions on conditions in captivity, along with the unnatural socialization, differing diets, and stress caused by the requirements to perform, clearly show that captivity bears little resemblance to a natural environment. Studies of the behavior or health of the animals is not relevant to wild animals and has very little potential to improve the conservation of wild cetaceans.
In 2009 the trainer of Tilikum, a 5400 kg bull orca was pulled under water by her ponytail and drowned by the whale responsible for two other deaths. The death of Dawn Brancheau was the latest in a string of incidents since the beginning of captivity. Since the 70s there have been 24 attacks by killer whales, some of them fatal. Some believe that this number is surprisingly low for the size and strength of killer whales. However, when compared to the attacks in the wild it is incredibly high. In 40 years there have been 3 attacks none of which have been fatal. Controversially, there motive behind the attack is unclear and experts say they will never know why Tilikum pulled her under. It is unclear whether it was an act of aggression, overabundant playfulness, or a premeditated action. This tragedy demonstrates the unpredictability of and strength of killer whales and the true lack of control we have over them.
You may ask yourself, what can I do to help? You can help by not endorsing the captivity of dolphins and whales by not visiting marine parks and other facilities where captivity is celebrated. In doing this you will be indirectly protecting whales, dolphins, and porpoises from the cruelties, stress and early death that awaits them in these parks, and getting us one step closer to ending captivity.
http://library.thinkquest.org/17963/captivity.html
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=killer-whale
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_whale
http://bed2.gremm.org/eng/pag.php?PagRef=2-5-4-1
http://www.wdcs.org/stop/captivity/index.php
http://marinelife.about.com/b/2010/02/24/arguments-for-keeping-whales-in-captivity.htm
http://www.littletownmart.com/dolphins/
http://news.discovery.com/animals/dolphin-intelligence-explained.html
http://www.wdcs.org/submissions_bin/capmayerscijustifications.pdf