Breeding dolphins face an uncertain future. They are more valuable

In a criminal investigation after a series of dolphins died, Gulf World Marine Parks moved seven bottlenorth dolphins and four rough pipe dolphins to three separate Florida facilities this month.

It is still unclear how these dolphins will work in the new environment. Located in Panama City Beach, Gulf World and St. Augustine and Duck Kee Marine theme parks are owned by Dolphin Company, one of the world’s largest dolphin chains.

The Mexico-based operator filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late March, excluding the future of hundreds of dolphins at multiple facilities. The infamous facility held by Miami Sicarium – Orca Lolita (also known as Tukitae) for 53 years in a small tank, was ended last year by county officials.

Celebrating the July anniversary, the 2013 documentary, Blackfish, challenged the public image of Orca, a prisoner of war as a celebrity in Happy Go Lucky. Orcas are powerful predators with intelligent, socially complex, family-linked. In captivity, they face boredom and stress, and have no ability to choose a social partner or hunt and carry out other natural behaviors, such as diving hundreds of feet deep or swimming 40-100 miles a day. Other whale species that have been taken prisoner, such as the Beluga whale and Bottlenorth dolphins, are facing the same stressor.

“Blackfish” spent 70% of his time telling the story of Tilikum, an Orca that has been covered for decades by the Marine Corps theme park Seaworld, as a breeding stud. In 2010, he let the longtime trainer get excited frustration out and pulled her into his tank to slap her to death. Tens of millions of people eventually watched the film, leading to the “Blackfish Effect,” and studied it at university as a warning substance for companies currently facing crisis. SeaWorld’s reaction to the film was arrogant, misleading and ultimately damaging the brand. The tourism company cancelled its partnership, and the company became the butt of internet jokes, and its inventory plummeted.

A general backlash from “Blackfish” led California to phase-by-step through the Orca display, which was held in 2016. On the same day the bill was introduced, SeaWorld announced it would end its ORCA breeding program at three parks (the company still has 18 ORCAs). Ten years later, the film’s impact has caused a true social paradigm shift, leading to a recent wave of bankruptcy and closures across the marine theme park industry.

The obvious question now is, “What will happen to the remaining animals?”

In France, the country’s last two dolphins are ordered to export the remaining potential by 2026. A dozen Bottle North Dolphins and two Orcas await their fate, on a shuttered marinadeland anti-base under the care of skeletal staff. In Canada, where the government banned CETACEAN displays in 2019, after the long-time owner of the facility died, the only remaining dolphins (grandfather under the law) struggled to sell their property, deleting an estimated 30 belugas and four dolphins “quickly”; Since 2019, 18 Belugas have died in Marineland Canada (Marineland anti-base is also not associated with Marineland dolphin adventures). The facility is being investigated for deplorable animal welfare conditions.

Unfortunately, relocating these animals is not as easy as bringing them back to the ocean. Frankly, most people rarely return to a wild, independent life, but for some, it may be possible. The cervix is ​​behaviorally, socially and ecologically complex – they have a culture. For now, it is beyond us to teach the whales that were raised and born, or to teach the young ones who were caught and held in the box for a long time.

Regarding wildlife sanctuaries, you can always buy land and humanely retire chimpanzees, bears and tigers, but it is impossible to buy the ocean. We need to secure permission from government authorities to use a large area of ​​clean and safe coastline, but this is not an easy task. Ultimately, there may be some operational seaside sanctuaries for former cetacean entertainers, but realistically, only a small percentage of the world group of around 3,000 captive ketachans will be housed in this way. I am on the board of the Whale Reserve Project, which seeks to establish 8-15 cold-water whale and dolphin sanctuaries in Nova Scotia, Canada. The world’s first and only seaside sanctuary in Iceland currently owns two belugas.

For decades, I have been campaigning to end the capture of coce bones from the breeding of captives at the end of the wild (and therefore the current animals will be the last generation), end the live sticky trade, and build as many seaside sanctuaries as possible. But all that progress takes time. Care for these animals now requires deep pockets and specialized skills. Today, only a handful of state-of-the-art facilities can properly accommodate them.

This prevents most captive potentials from going anywhere. However, if dolphin communities work together to move from optimizing the visitor experience to maximizing animal welfare, we can work together to improve their lives.

Obviously, these facilities must be accountable for the unacceptable circumstances they have created. They like to blame animal advocates, but that’s why so many whales, the intelligent, beautiful, and amazing beings – face an uncertain future. They have profited for decades and now have a dignified retirement to “performers.” That’s the final curtain call.

Naomi Rose is a senior scientist in marine mammal biology at the Institute of Animal Welfare. She has spent more than 30 years dealing with the welfare of captive worm disease in the United States and abroad.