Baltimore's National Aquarium Questions Captivity of Dolphins
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

Russell Tenofsky, Nonhuman Rights Project
July 2014

The good news is that CEO Racanelli does seem to be committed to the idea of a sanctuary and doing what’s best for the dolphins. “The sanctuary idea isn’t unique or our own,” he said. “But we are the first to make a deep inquiry—and at this stage it is [still] an inquiry—into how to do it. We are committed to doing whatever is best for the eight dolphins in our care.”

“This is a revolutionary decision,” NhRP Science Director Dr. Lori Marino said. “By even asking the question, Racanelli is light-years ahead of the rest of the captivity industry.”

The National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland has embarked on a revolutionary discussion: Should they retire their captive dolphins to a sanctuary?

John Racanelli, the aquarium’s CEO, recently began a process he dubbed “BLUEprint” – a multi-disciplinary endeavor to explore and re-evaluate how the aquarium can better depict the relationship between humans and the ocean.

“We want to do right by our dolphins and by our audience, and do a better job of serving our mission,” Racanelli told National Geographic. “We want to change the way humanity views and cares for the ocean. Everything we do is centered on that mission.”

Racanelli explained that society and science have evolved to the point where cetacean captivity may not be necessary for research, or even morally defendable, and he argues that we must apply our accumulated scientific knowledge to provide better treatment of dolphins.

“Times have changed,” he said. “And our understanding of the needs of the animals in our care has changed. A lot of very valid research has been done in the last 20 years to open our eyes to the cognitive and social behavior of dolphins. It’s incumbent upon us to avail ourselves of these findings, and that means figuring out how we can better care for these dolphins in the future.”

The National Aquarium is home to eight dolphins ranging in age from 5-year old captive-born Bayley to the 42-year old wild-born Nani. The aquarium no longer has a captive breeding program and the dolphins currently do not “perform” shows; instead “they do things they would do in the wild, such as porpoising together [making high-speed ballistic jumps out of the water] or lobtailing [slapping the surface with their tail], and our trainers explain why.”

“Our next step is to evaluate the most beneficial options for our aging animals,” Racanelli said. “There are many issues to consider when planning for the future of these social, cognitively advanced mammals.”

Part of this process will be an assessment of a sanctuary, or perhaps, specially designed outdoor exhibits on the Chesapeake Bay. However, if Racanelli is true to his word about being committed to the dolphins’ physical and mental health, then this seems highly unlikely because the Bay doesn’t match the natural habitats where the dolphins lived before being captured. It is noisy, heavily trafficked, most likely polluted, and an entirely different ecosystem. Certainly much better than the concrete boxes the dolphins are currently living in but hardly justifiable as a sufficient “halfway house” before being released back into the wild. Or, if re-release isn’t even possible, then absolutely not a reasonable long term solution as a sanctuary.

So, another problem to consider is that any sanctuary would have to be far away from Baltimore, thereby greatly undermining a large amount of the aquarium’s revenue base.

The good news is that CEO Racanelli does seem to be committed to the idea of a sanctuary and doing what’s best for the dolphins.

“The sanctuary idea isn’t unique or our own,” he said. “But we are the first to make a deep inquiry—and at this stage it is [still] an inquiry—into how to do it. We are committed to doing whatever is best for the eight dolphins in our care.”

“This is a revolutionary decision,” NhRP Science Director Dr. Lori Marino said. “By even asking the question, Racanelli is light-years ahead of the rest of the captivity industry.”

Hopefully, the rest of the captivity industry will quickly catch up and understand that dolphin captivity is neither educational nor ethically defensible. Racanelli seems to firmly agree. “[Of course, we] hope to develop a way for our peers to also do this, if it works for them,” he said . “If we figure out a way to do this and raise the money for it to happen, I can’t imagine not offering it to others, so that their animals could go to [the sanctuary] as well.”

It appears as if it’s time to start raising funds and securing space for sanctuaries.

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