Biological Concerns

The very nature of marine mammals makes them unsuitable for captivity

MORTALITY AND STRESS

Stress caused by imposed social structures, handling, and confinement has been identified as a major factor in the decline in health and even death of captive animals. Research shows many marine mammal species to be extremely intelligent and social creatures that, in their natural habitat, interact with tens to thousands of pod-mates, hunt communally, and are wide ranging. Even the largest facilities provide less than 1/10,000 of 1% (0.000001) of the space available to animals in the wild. Facilities cannot adequately simulate natural habitats or provide for their complex social and behavioral needs.

For example, bottlenose dolphins travel up to approximately 90 miles (or about 150 km) per day, reach speeds of up to 30 mi/hr (or about 50 km/hr), and dive up to 1,000 feet (about 300 meters) into the depths of the ocean to fulfill their complex social and foraging behaviors. In captivity, U.S. regulations for enclosures housing a bottlenose dolphin only require about 24 feet (7 meters) in length (or 4x the average adult length; whichever is greater) and about 6 feet (2 meters) in depth (or ½ the average adult length; whichever is greater) - far from adequate! Even ‘semi-natural’ enclosures (i.e., open water sea pen) do not adequately replicate dolphins’ natural environment - they cannot carry out natural behaviors, there is poor water quality, and animals are often at risk of injury or death from storms.


CONSERVATION ISSUES

When the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 was drafted, it was thought that displaying marine mammals was important for conservation and education, which is why their confinement is permissible today. However, most facilities display whales and dolphins for human entertainment, not education or conservation purposes.

Captive facilities often misleadingly claim themselves to be conservation or research centers. In fact, only 5-10% of zoos and aquaria participate in valuable conservation programs and only a small fraction of the funds generated by these facilities is dedicated to conservation. Only one captive breeding program has targeted a now-extinct species – most are bred principally to replace the stock of display animals. Also, when individuals are captured from the wild, natural populations are depleted and the effects on individuals left behind are still poorly understood.