View Full Version : Mayor wants to free whales and dolphins in Vancouver Aquarium
MermaidMichelle
04-10-2014, 01:58 PM
This is wonderful news! The Mayor of Vancouver is following suit with others who want to free cetacean nonhuman persons from imprisonment! :mermaid kiss:
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/vancouver-mayor-wants-to-phase-out-program-that-keeps-whales-and-dolphins-in-captivity/24984/
Mermaid Adriel
04-10-2014, 03:59 PM
great :D let's hope for it!
Nausicaa
04-10-2014, 04:30 PM
I don't really know anything about the Vancouver Aquarium, but this does raise a question that I've had for a while now; Why are cetaceans so different from other marine mammals like sea otters and sea lions, and what makes them so different from other animals that are kept in educational places like aquariums such as the fish and nonvertibrites(sp?) that are also on display?
What's so bad about keeping small cetaceans in captivity when it's shown to be such a positive thing on so many levels? I don't mean to come off as condescending or cruel or anything like that but I've only ever seen dolphins and beluga whales in captivity before, and I think that if I'd never had that experience I wouldn't have gained the interest or the love of marine life that I have now.
As far as I know (and please correct me if I'm wrong) it's illegal for theme parks and aquariums to capture wild animals for the sake of putting them on display or for research and has been for quite a while sense the whole SeaWorld and Killer Whale fiasco, and with the shorter life expectancy of captive animals most of them would have been born in captivity or rehabilitated from injuries or illnesses that would have killed them in the wild, so to say something like "Whales and dolphins are people too so they should just be set free" seems to me to be kind of an uneducated statement to make, based off emotion and not really caring about the animals or their welfare.
Captive whales and dolphins and even other marine mammals (sea lions, seals, otters etc.) serve as such an important educational tool for the public and for research of marine biologists that it far outweighs the negative aspects of the practice.
I have an entirely different stance on the captivity of Orca Whales though, I do think it's impossible to give such a big animal the quality of life it deserves in captivity, and that keeping something so highly intelligent in a bathtub to do tricks for fish is a perfect example of dim-witted human cruelty. But once again when I weigh the benefits against my own personal feelings I come up with the same belief that despite my own personal emotions on the point, that no one should be able to make laws against things like that and a Mayor of a city who probably doesn't know anything about the animals at the aquarium shouldn't just be able to wave their magic wand of power and tell those who've devoted their lives to it that they're wrong and they're hurting people's feelings and they shouldn't do it anymore.:confused:
And while I do agree that marine animals shouldn't be kept for entertainment or to perform in shows, there's not really going to be any instant fix, you can't just "let them go" and for that reason I find it very hard to agree with people who feel so strongly about the captivity of marine life because it seems to me that the opinions of most activists on the subject are VERY passionate but without much logic and care for the actual animals themselves ie. the movie "Big Miracle" and the story behind it, or any of the emotionally charged antics of the "Whale Wars" crap.
So while I wish that I could offer my support I don't think there's nearly enough information in the offered article to change my opinion.
AniaR
04-10-2014, 08:45 PM
good on the aquarium for not resisting but rather working with
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