An artist’s rendition of the sea sanctuary, slated to be completed by 2020. Image: National Aquarium
In the last few years, the issue of captive animals at places like SeaWorld has become a real talking point. Despite the fact that there are a loud group of people who claim that SeaWorld does more good than harm, the brass tacks are that they have intelligent, social creatures that are meant to be in the ocean in tiny tanks, performing for our pleasure. They do it for money. We pay to see animals that are miserable doing tricks they would never do in the wild, and these places say it’s in the interests of science. But releasing the captive whales and dolphins back into the wild isn’t an option. Most were born into captivity, while others have been penned up for so long they could no longer resume a normal life. So what to do with them? There’s really only one viable option: sea sanctuaries. And eight bottlenose dolphins at the National Aquarium just won the captive lottery.
The National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland, released the news that their dolphins will be moved into a sea sanctuary. “We now know more about dolphins and their care, and we believe that the National Aquarium is uniquely positioned to use that knowledge to implement positive change,” John Racanelli, CEO of the aquarium, said in a statement. “This is the right time to move forward with the dolphin sanctuary.”
That’s a big deal. Until now, sea sanctuaries have only been a pie-in-the-sky idea. People have been thinking about making them for a long time now, but they’ve never actually become a reality. At the moment, a group called The Whale Sanctuary is looking for a suitable place to build one for cetaceans at SeaWorld, but it’s still very much in the developmental stages.
It’s strange, if you think about it–there have been sanctuaries for other mammals for decades. “There are sanctuaries for other large, highly social, and wide-ranging mammals, including elephants and great apes, but there are none anywhere in the world yet for dolphins and whales,” said Lori Marino, the executive director of The Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy. “Cetacean sanctuary initiatives are long overdue, and we now have the best possible team of experts to ensure an optimal quality of life and care for individual cetaceans.”
Because most of the dolphins that will be relocated were born into a life of captivity, they probably wouldn’t be able to survive on their own in the wild. The sanctuary, however, will be almost as good as the real thing–just with a few human watchdogs. The National Aquarium is looking for a suitable place right now, and it will be in subtropical or tropical water. The dolphins’ well-being is first and foremost, as it should be. “The sanctuary [will be] … defined by a set of principles and corresponding practices, ensuring that a ‘dolphin-first’ approach is the guiding philosophy,” said the aquarium. They’re also looking to add more dolphins from other places.
The decision to open the sanctuary came after half a decade of consideration. There were other options, of course, including building a larger enclosure for the dolphins and moving them elsewhere. Nothing was as good as a sea sanctuary, though, so they made the decision to do the right thing. “We’ve evaluated this for five years,” said Colleen Dilenschneider, who sits on the board at the National Aquarium. “[We] have decided that this is the right decision for the dolphins, and, thus, for our organization.”
SeaWorld, of course, isn’t into the idea. A few months ago after they announced they’d end their orca breeding program under public pressure, when faced with the very realistic option of releasing their animals into a sea sanctuary, said that “[whales] would be helpless to avoid contagious diseases, parasites and pollutants. They would be sitting ducks, stuck in one place no matter what the tide brings in, whether it’s an oil spill or a hurricane.” SeaWorld also decided to change the name “sea sanctuary” to “sea cage”, which is ironic considering what they condemn their animals to.
Of course, SeaWorld could be right. There hasn’t ever been a sea sanctuary anywhere in the world. Time will tell, but whatever the case, dying in a dying in a sanctuary has got to be better than dying in a tiny tank .
The sea sanctuary is slated to be completed by 2020. Donate HERE.
