Every summer, many families make trips to see dolphins and orcas perform spectacular feats in marine-themed amusement parks. Humane Society International/The Humane Society of the United States and the World Society for the Protection of Animals have issued the fourth edition of their in-depth report, "The Case Against Marine Mammals in Captivity," to educate tourists about the suffering that goes on behind the scenes.
"The public should be aware that many facilities, especially those in developing countries, capture their dolphins directly from the wild," said Naomi Rose, Ph.D., senior scientist for Humane Society International and co-author of the report. "Dolphins suffer terrible trauma during capture and the animals left behind may never recover from the loss of these members of their community."
The fourth edition, released today, reflects the changing nature of the captive display industry. The industry has evolved over the years; while some display facilities have closed in the United States and Europe, more have opened in the Caribbean and Asia, where there are few or no regulatory restrictions on operators. Japan's brutal dolphin drive hunts have continued to capture bottlenose dolphins and other species for sale to display facilities, primarily in Asia, and promotion by cruise lines is contributing to the expansion of "swim with" activities in the Caribbean. These trends, combined with increasing concerns about hurricanes that have damaged display facilities and killed dolphins, as well as a growing body of research on dolphin intelligence, increase the need to phase out captive marine mammal displays.
"The captive display industry operates under the veil of conservation and education yet the evidence is clear that these complex and intelligent animals are being exploited for human entertainment," said Sharanya Krishna Prasad, WSPA U.S. program officer. "The HSUS and WSPA believe that the captive experience for marine mammals is so contrary to their natural experience that it should be rejected outright."
Among the Report's Main Findings:
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