"Performers" or "Prisoners"

For decades animals have been removed from the oceans and placed in captivity in the name of scientific research. The arguments in support of this practice appear valid enough.

• "It's too difficult to follow them in the wild."
• "There are too many external factors influencing their behavior."
• "We can't guarantee they will stay long enough to perform the tasks."
• "It's too expensive to travel to all the places they can."
• "We can't tell them apart. How can we be sure it's the same one?"

All these things are true. The problem is that our scientists never stopped to ask themselves "IF" they should change this situation, instead they only asked "HOW" could they change this situation. Put simply, their targets were free creatures who could do as they pleased whether it was what the scientists wanted them to do or not. So what did our brilliant scientists do to combat this problem? They robbed these creatures of their freedom.

As a result we now have what are often described as Aquatic Theme Parks, Money-Making research institutions. From a business perspective it was a grand development. Instead of constantly pouring money into research to track the animals through the sea, now they only needed to feed them and provide a small place for them to swim. An added bonus was that the general public, having the huge disposable incomes that they do, would come and pay to visit with these creatures up close. Something they wouldn't normally be able to do while the creatures were free.

Everyone was winning all around, the public saw creatures they normally wouldn't and the research was becoming a money making venture instead of a surmountable cost. But what of the creatures who were being forced into slavery? They were falling victim to mankind's tendency to not see animals as creatures with feelings. They were seen as "animals" and "tools, nothing more.

Dolphins in particular were targets for such programs because they were relatively small compared to their larger cousins the Killer Whales and others. Obviously the smaller the animal, the less it costs to house and feed it. Dolphins are also one of the more trainable species, thus feeding the impulse to teach them tricks and have them perform for the public who pay to see them. People are amused by animals doing seemingly amazing things, and the more tricks they learned, the more people came to see them.

The general public would see these magnificent creatures performing the same things several times daily, seven days a week, and the dolphins never seemed to complain. They always obeyed and did as they were told and did it well. Why would anyone question their happiness. We'd assume they were content since they were still listening and performing. We were in error. We still are in error.

Wild dolphins live in very close knit family groups where it is not uncommon for one female to baby-sit for another; for others to help one when they are sick; and for the whole group to go out searching when one goes missing. When a family member is captured the whole group suffers, not just the individual caught.

These lifestyle characteristics carry through even when their freedom is taken from them. Dolphins are very noble creatures and have been known to perform right up until the end. Once in captivity they yearn for companionship and they need to feel close to someone. Once caught that companion usually becomes their trainer. The dolphin begins to trust their trainer like no one else. This makes sense considering the trainer is the person who feeds them, spends time with them, shows them love, and generally takes care of them during a time of great turmoil and sadness at losing their family. The trainer becomes the dolphins family.

This extreme trust is what pushes a dolphin to perform every day. I'm not saying that dolphins only perform because their trainers instruct them to. Some individuals truly enjoy performing and can hardly wait for their next show. For these individuals a captive life isn't so bad. But when a boat heads out and captures a few dolphins to house in captivity, there's no way to ask them if it's what they want to do with their life or if they'll be happy. It's like the old anecdote of running away to join the circus. Obviously a young person wouldn't do it unless it was what they wanted to do with their life, but a dolphin doesn't have that choice. There's no such thing as an aquarium recruitment center where they accept only volunteers.

The ones working so hard only to serve their own loyalty to their captors are the ones who will work unbearably right through until the day they die. Their nobility kills them, and their life is one filled with misery. Who are we to force these creatures into such servitude?

There isn't really any doubt that it's something we should not have done to these creatures, but it has been done and all we can do is try to make the situation better. Thankfully, there are organizations who are making efforts to improve the lives of their captive Dolphins. Seaworld(tm) for example, has some of the worlds best standards for housing captive dolphins. In 1997 Seaworld of Ohio actually had a baby dolphin born and survive. I know this because I was lucky enough to be visiting Ohio (I'm from Nova Scotia, Canada, where there are no such marine parks) and was able to see them when the baby was only 7 days old. He was so CUTE! Seaworld parks are the only parks I would even consider going to because I don't like the idea of my money funding the cruel activities of sub-standard institutions. One of the worst offenders that I've personally experienced, I am ashamed to admit, is in my own country. It's hard to believe that a country like Canada would allow it to happen, but it's there. I can't say the park's name because of defamation purposes, but it's the only park of its kind in Canada so it wouldn't be hard to tell whom I'm referring to.

But I digress. Dolphins have always been relatively easy to breed in captivity, but they tend not to mate if they are not happy or comfortable with their situation. The fact that these animals successfully bred in captivity without any outside encouragement goes to show that improvements are being made to make the dolphins feel more at home.

It is little consolation when one compares it to a free existence in the open ocean. However, it goes to show that they are safe and for the most part happy. There is no feasible way to have all captive animals returned to the wild and all such marine parks destroyed. There is far too much demand for them. Instead, our efforts would be best placed at trying to improve the conditions under which presently captive dolphins live, and limiting the number of marine parks in existence. In doing so we could ensure that those individuals already in captivity had a minimal amount of suffering. Tanks MUST be large enough for the animals to swim freely. From my studies that would mean a length of at least three football fields and a contoured bottom with a depth of 50 feet at its deepest points. This would give the animals space to reach their top swimming speeds and to properly exercise their muscles. These of course would be ideal conditions but unfortunately would be exceedingly expensive to upkeep.

Once the animals were happy and well provided for we could completely eliminate the harvest of individuals from the wild to put in parks. There would be no new parks to stock and those animals already in captivity would breed to provide future generations for the parks. Individuals born in the park would stay with the only family they'd ever known and would be spared the hardship of having to leave them. Never having experienced the open ocean they would be content in their existence and they would bond with their own kind not to trainers. A greater understanding and appreciation of these creatures would result.

Copyright 1999-2003 - By Norma Ranieri.