Aquariums and Marine Parks

Marine-mammal facilities are part of a billion-dollar industry built on the suffering of intelligent, social beings who are denied everything that is natural and important to them.

In the wild, orcas and members of other dolphin species work cooperatively, form complex relationships, communicate using distinct dialects, and swim up to 100 miles every day. In aquariums and marine parks, they are forced to swim in circles in small, barren concrete tanks. Deprived of the opportunity to make conscious choices and to practice their cultural vocal, social, and foraging traditions, they are compelled to perform meaningless tricks for a reward of dead fish.

Families Torn Apart
Hundreds of marine mammals, including the original Shamu, have been taken from U.S. waters and placed in aquariums and theme parks. Although American parks and zoos have not captured dolphins from the wild since 1993, it is still legal for them to do so.

Capturing even one wild dolphin disrupts the entire pod. In the wild, female dolphins spend their entire lives with their mothers and sisters within the family pod. They communicate with each other through whistles and body language. Dolphins swim together in family pods or tribes of hundreds.

To obtain a female dolphin of breeding age, animal traffickers chase the pod to shallow waters, where the animals are surrounded with nets that are gradually closed and lifted onto boats. Unwanted dolphins are thrown back. Some die from shock or stress, and others slowly succumb to pneumonia when water enters their lungs through their blowholes. Pregnant females sometimes spontaneously abort babies.

Captivity’s Tragic Consequences
In addition to the undeniable cruelty of taking wild animals from their natural habitat and communities, keeping dolphins in captivity dooms them to living their lives as nothing more than mere attractions at theme parks and resort hotels, where they are forced to perform silly tricks for food in front of huge crowds of screaming people. They are also forced to swim with tourists and are often hand-fed and petted by curiosity seekers. However, most of the time, they are forced to swim endless circles in tiny, barren concrete tanks, and the reverberations from their sonar bounce off the walls, driving them insane.

Research shows that captive dolphins suffer from higher mortality rates than wild dolphins, even though they have regular medical care and an environment free of predators. Wild orcas can live for decades (it has been documented that some have lived to be more than 90 years old), but at SeaWorld, 22 orcas died between 1986 and 2010—an average of nearly one each year—and not one died of old age. Their deaths were caused by severe trauma, intestinal gangrene, acute hemorrhagic pneumonia, pulmonary abscesses, chronic kidney disease, chronic cardiovascular failure, septicemia, and influenza.

The Trouble With ‘Interactive’ Programs
Touch tanks and “swim-with” programs allow the public to pet, kiss, or even “ride” dolphins. These programs invade the animals’ already diminished worlds and are dangerous and stressful for the animals as well as for human participants.

Animals in “petting pools” can become injured and anxious as a result of constant poking and prodding, and exposure to bacteria that they are not immune to can make them ill. Even programs that enable people to swim with wild dolphins are damaging to the animals. Boats and swimmers often chase, block, crowd, injure, and scare animals, upsetting their natural feeding, resting, traveling, and playing behavior.

Poor Government Regulations
Marine mammals kept in aquariums have little federal protection, and the few laws that do exist are often ignored. Florida’s Sun-Sentinel reported that the federal government “has allowed violators to continue operating for years even after documenting contaminated water, starvation or deaths” and “does little to enforce rules and rarely levies fines or closes facilities.” As a result, aquariums and theme parks have little incentive to fix problems, improve conditions, or comply with reporting requirements.

What Can You Do
People around the world are recognizing that dolphins, orcas, and other cetaceans do not belong in captivity. Consumer boycotts have forced all of England’s marine-mammal exhibits to close. Israel and Australia prohibit the importation of dolphins for use in entertainment. Plans for the construction of a dolphin tank at a marine center in Virginia were abandoned following an extensive public outcry.

Please don’t visit parks or zoos that keep marine mammals in captivity. Encourage your local aquarium to create more space for rehabilitating (and releasing) injured wildlife by refusing to breed any more animals, and if you encounter poor conditions, please contact the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Write to The Blackstone Group—the company that owns SeaWorld—and ask that it immediately set in place a firm and rapid plan to release the animals to sanctuaries that can provide them with a more natural environment.