Dolphin Article Reprint With Cover

7/27/2019 Dolphin Article Reprint With Cover

1/10

Reprinted withPermission ofthe Publisher


2/1026 www.timespub.t c

JoJo is a wild Atlantic Bottlenose dolphin that has been cruising the waters of Grace Bay for more than 25 years. JoJo has been declared a TC INational Treasure.

Two dolphinaria have been proposed for construc-

tion in the Turks & Caicos Islands. Although the

proposed developer makes no claims of the facili-

ties being focused on research or even public

education they are clearly commercial ventures

aimed at maximizing profits for the developers

the keeping of captive dolphins should be consid-

ered counter to both the marketing of the Turks &

Free by NatureThe case against Bottlenose dolphins in captivity.

By Don Stark, Turks & Caicos Reef Fund

Caicos Islands as Beautiful by Nature and in direct

conflict with the Environmental Charter signed into

effect in 2001, in which the TCI government com-

mitted to study and celebrate our environmental

heritage as a treasure to share with our children.

In this article, we explain why keeping captive dol-

phins go against both of these principles.

feature

S

TEVEPASSMOREPROVO

PICTURES

There is about as much educational benefit to be gained in

studying dolphins in captivity as there would be studying mankindby only observing prisoners held in solitary confinement. Jacques Cousteau


3/10Times of the Islands Fall 2013 27

Dolphins are relatively long lived, with wild male dol-

phins often living into their 40s and females into their

50s. Like human juveniles, they have a long period of

development and nurturing with their mothers. They

reach sexual maturity between the ages of 79 years for

females and 1012 years for males. Calves tend to stay

with their mother and her group of dolphins for many

years. During this time the juveniles learn behavioral andsocial skills necessary to function within the society of

their world.

In the wild, dolphins are wide ranging, fast swim-

ming, deep diving animals. They often travel as much as

150 kilometers in a day (about 100 miles) and can swim

at speeds reaching 50 kilometers per hour (about 30

miles per hour). They can dive to hundreds of meters of

depth in the ocean (maximum recorded is 492+ meters

or over 1,600 feet). They are natural foragers and the for-

aging methods vary by the specific environment in which

they live. Their diet consists primarily of fish but they also

eat cephalopods (squid and octopus), crustaceans (shrimp

and lobster), small rays and small sharks. An adult dol-

phin usually consumes about 5% of its body weight (711

kg. or 1525 lbs. of food) daily and the average dolphin

in the western Atlantic Ocean weighs in at several hun-

dred pounds (maximum recorded is 626 pounds (284

kg.).

It has been argued frequently (primarily by advocates

of keeping captive dolphins) that a dolphins ability to be

trained to learn tricks is solely based on conditioning,

much as training your dog to respond to the command to

sit is based on conditioning. Research on both wild and

captive dolphins over many decades have clearly demon-

strated that bottlenose dolphins are different from your

dog. They are highly intelligent animals that exhibit com-

plex behavioral, cognitive and social traits that

differentiate them from nearly all other mammals, terres-

trial or marine.

The brains of dolphins are highly developed. The sur-

face area of the cerebral cortex in dolphins (the so-calledgray matter which plays a key role in memory, attention,

perceptual awareness, thought, language, and con-

sciousness) is larger than that found in humans. In

absolute terms, the dolphin brain is larger than the

human brain, but when adjusted for body size and mass,

the relative size of the dolphin brain is slightly smaller

than the human brain, but much larger than that of non-

human primates, such as the great apes.

Intelligence is a difficult concept to define, let alone

demonstrate in a species with which communication is

A picture speaks a thousand words. From top: Divers haul a captureddolphin to a boat. A dolphin bites a girl at SeaWorld Florida. Diverswrestle a dolphin into submission.

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indirect. Intelligence is comprised of various behavioral,

social and cognitive attributes. Dolphins have clearly

demonstrated the ability to understand how different

things function, how to differentiate between different

objects, and how to understand combinations of complex

instructions. Dolphins have demonstrated self-awareness

by recognition of self in a mirror (an ability humans dont

develop until about the age of two), including recognizingwhen something has changed on their body (e.g., a mark

added). Dolphins have also demonstrated an ability to dif-

ferentiate the number of objects present at one time (few

or many) and whether two objects are the same or differ-

ent, clearly demonstrating their ability to comprehend

abstract concepts.

Communication skills are highly developed within the

dolphin world. They have an extensive array of clicks,

whistles and other sounds that form their own unique lan-

guage. Recent research has also clearly demonstrated that

dolphins have unique names for themselves that they

respond to when their name (signature whistle) is called

by another dolphin or even by a recorded copy. They can

also learn other languages, as demonstrated by their abil-

ity to learn a symbolic language (similar in concept to a

human learning sign language or reading words on a

page) as well as a computer generated sound language.

They have demonstrated the ability to construct and

understand word order both understanding and creat-

ing short sentences.

Dolphins also experience emotions much like

humans. They experience stress when a juvenile is sepa-

rated from its mother and when one member of a social

group is removed from the group. They appear to expe-

rience grief, as demonstrated by the fact that dolphins

have been found attending to and supporting dead com-

panions, often for several days.

It is postulated by scientists that there are eight fac-

tors potentially possessed by animals and that the more

of these factors a species possesses, the more equivalent

that species is morally and ethically to humans. Dolphinspossess seven of these attributes: they feel pain; they

have consciousness; they can grasp concepts; they can

reason; they use language and they exhibit emotions,

such as grief. The only factor that has not been demon-

strated yet is the ability to understand and follow moral

rules but it is likely that it is only a matter of time that

this attribute will also be found to exist in dolphins. In

fact, dolphins are more like humans than any of the non-

human primates such as chimpanzees and great apes.

Public opinion has begun to shift toward a negative

From top: A Turks & Caicos Tourist Board advertisement that empha-sized JoJos natural playground.As early as 1987, TCI visitors enjoyed interacting with JoJo at resortssuch as Club Med (middle) and The Meridian Club (bottom), althoughit was always on his schedule and locale.

TURKS&CAICOSTOURISTBOARD

TURKS&CAICOSNATIONALMUSEUM

COLLE

CTION

COURTESYTHEMERIDIANCLUB,

PINECAY



perspective on the keeping of captive dolphins. A survey

of 1,000 US citizens conducted by Yale University in 1999

found that 80% of the respondents did not believe dol-

phins should be kept in captivity unless there are major

educational or scientific benefits. A 2007 survey found

that only 30% of US citizens surveyed believed there was

a scientific benefit to keeping dolphins in captivity.

Canadian citizens expressed similar concerns in a 2003

survey in which only 14% of the respondents felt that

viewing dolphins in captivity was educational and 74%

thought that the best way to learn about these animals

was to view them in their natural habitat.Travelife, an organization established by the

International Tourism Services and the European Union,

now recommends that excursions to dolphinaria only be

offered where there is no opportunity to substitute an

excursion to view these animals in the wild. There is a

trend toward more and more countries recognizing that

dolphinaria are not appropriate facilities in their countries

and are banning them outright, with India being the most

recent country to join this fraternity (the UK doesnt ban

them, but the regulations governing them are so onerous

that it is not economically feasible to establish one there.)

What happens to these highly intelligent, social ani-

mals when they are kept in captivity? Many of their natural

skills and attributes begin to change, and generally not

for the better.

First off, dolphins when captured suffer tremendous

trauma and stress. There is a six-fold increase in the mor-

tality rate of dolphins captured from the wild in the first

five days after capture. In fact, this increase in stress mor-

tality happens each time a dolphin is transported,

probably because the transport process generally involves

capturing the dolphin and placing it in a sling to behoisted into some sort of confined container for trans-

port. Stress continues to be an issue throughout

long-term captivity, which results in many potential prob-

lems such as a compromised immune system and ulcers.

These potential maladies generally result in captive dol-

phins being regularly dosed with medicines for the

prevention or treatment of infections and ulcers.

Given the confined space of all captive habitats in

which dolphins are held, physical activity is greatly

reduced. Captive dolphins, who are not scavengers, must



be taught to eat dead fish since foraging opportunities

for live food are essentially eliminated. Since frozen fish

is nutritionally inferior to live fish, captive dolphins are

routinely given vitamin and other nutritional supple-

ments.

Social structures within dolphin communities are gen-

erally quite dynamic in the wild, but in captivity they are

forced into social structures in which dominance deter-mines the hierarchy. Smaller enclosures with multiple

dolphins result in a substantial increase in aggressive

behavior between the dolphins. This can be reduced, but

not eliminated, with larger enclosures.

Dolphin communication skills change, or dont

develop as they would in the wild. Vocalizations decrease

in diversity and new vocalizations are learned, often imi-

tating noises that are common to their new confined

environment.

Dolphinaria operators cite the fact that longevity in

captive facilities is comparable to that found in wild dol-

phins. But they often exclude the five day period

immediately after capture and/or transport, since this is

when the highest incidence of mortality occurs. The other

fallacy in this claim is that for most captive animals,

longevity increases as a result of reduced predation,

abundance of food and good medical care. There is no

increase in longevity for captive dolphins and, in fact,

there is continuing debate about whether longevity in cap-

tivity is actually less than in wild dolphins.

Sea pens (fenced off portions of open seawater or

lagoons) are thought to be better for keeping captive dol-

phins, but even the largest sea pens greatly reduce the

space available for the dolphins to swim. They also gen-

erally dont provide protection for the animals from

natural hazards such as storm surge from hurricanes. Nor

do they isolate the animals from human impacts and in

most cases increase their exposure to potential pollutants

(especially if the sea pen is located near an area with a

marina or a great deal of marine traffic), run-off fromparking areas, fertilizer run-off and potential exposure to

human waste.

The health of dolphins in captivity is also a challenge

to monitor. The lack of mobile facial expressions (yes, the

smile on their face is a fixed, unchanging expression,

unlike the smile of humans) makes it difficult to identify

animals in physical distress. Most often the first sign of a

problem is a lack of eating, with dolphins often dying

within a day or two of this observation, well before a diag-

nosis can be made by a veterinarian and treatment

started.

Captive dolphin programs require dolphins, which

means they have to be sourced from somewhere. Even if

the dolphins used to start a new facility are transferred

from an existing facility, captive breeding programs do

not generate enough dolphins to feed the demand from

new and existing dolphinaria. This means more dolphins

must be captured from the wild. Given that most dolphin

populations are virtually unstudied and the capture of

wild dolphins in areas where it occurs is essentially unreg-

ulated, the impact of these capture efforts on local

populations is unknown. But what is known is that the



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ISSUES TO CONSIDER:

Captive Dolphins in Sea Pens

Although better than artificial concrete pools, sea pens

used to house captive dolphins still have a number of

issues. These include:

Are they exposed to run-off from roads, parking lots

and waste facilities?

Are they exposed to oil and other pollutants from

heavy boat traffic and/or marinas?

Are they exposed to high levels of ambient noise

(music, boat traffic, industry, etc.), which can cause

stress in the animals?

Is there adequate sun protection, since dolphins can

be sunburned?

Is there adequate isolation space for sick animals and

to quarantine new arrivals so as not to expose indige-

nous animals to foreign diseases?

Is there adequate water flow to maintain healthy

water quality by eliminating uneaten food and the

waste generated by the dolphins in the facility? (An

adult dolphin produces about a gallon of urine a day

and about three pounds of feces.)

Is the waste from the facility not endangering any

coral reef system from high levels of nutrients that will

cause algae to overtake the reef?

Is there a safe place for the animals to be held in the

case of a major storm or hurricane?

Where will the animals come from and, if they are

coming from another facility, how will they be replaced

in that facility?

Are there regulations in place to govern the facilitys

structure, activities, operations and safety of both the

public and the animals, and who will ensure compli-

ance with these regulations?

What impact will constructing the facility have on the

existing marine environment?

What is the total economic benefit to be gained by

government from such a facility, including not just the

number of potential jobs created, but also the potential

negative impact on tourism?



methods used to capture dolphins for these facilities are

traumatic and lead to many dolphin deaths and destroyed

social structures.

Swim with Dolphins programs provide no educa-

tional benefits they merely exploit the animals while

exposing them to additional risks. These risks include:

increased stress related to too much exposure to humans

without adequate time or space to seek refuge fromforced contact; increased exposure to health hazards

from diseases transmitted by humans to dolphins (such

as respiratory illnesses) and health risks from inadvertent

or intentional touching of sensitive areas such as the

blowhole and eyes. Humans also are at risk during these

programs from aggressive behavior from the animals

(butting and biting) and potential disease transmission

from them. Many of the human injuries that occur during

such programs are not reported anywhere, so there are

no reliable statistics on how often they happen.

As Captain Cousteau was quoted at the beginning of

this article, dolphinaria provide no scientific or educa-

tional benefit to humans, nor do they provide any benefits

to the animals confined in them. They are not an attrac-

tion that is compatible with the Beautiful by Nature

Turks & Caicos Islands and only harm the TCIs eco-

friendly image.

Dolphin Article Reprint With Cover

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