Comments on: Close Encounters with Marine Mammals: At What Price?

By: Bb1991

Bb1991 — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 22:21:00 +0000

I would love to know where you found this information. This is simply not the case. If an animal chooses not to perform, they are still given all of their dietary needs. They are in no way starved nor is their diet affected. You can ask any trainer about this. An animal is asked for a behavior, and if they choose not to do that behavior they are not rewarded for it, but their food is still given to them.

By: Gil. V

Gil. V — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:28:00 +0000

You are right to an extent. A lot of dolphins and orcas have stopped performing and have starved themselves to death. But it is that reward that keeps them performing. They are starved so they can perform, prefect example of pavlov’s dog. You would do anything yourself if you were starved and the only way to get food was to perform stupid tricks.

By: Gil V

Gil V — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:25:00 +0000

A good reply, but your chosen example is for lack of better words silly. To compare them to a human working for a pay-check is nowhere near the same. The closest comparison to their world is if you were wrongfully accused and sent to prison were you are forced to do stupid trick for the guards. The emotional and psychological stress endured in such an environment would come close to what these animals endure.

None of the tricks that they perform for peoples amusement are done in the wild, nor the aggression that they exhibit on each other. The simple fact that not one single human has been killed in the wild by a killer whale speaks volumes. And to further comment, the more scientists research this animals the more they realize they don’t belong captive.

By: Gabriela Garcia

Gabriela Garcia — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 02:39:02 +0000

Great piece, Sara, that raises some really interesting questions. When I was in Hawaii, I elected not to take a whale watching boat because I had read about how it disturbed the natural process of whale migrations. Then one day I just happened to see them from the shore, and could hear them with my head under the water. It felt far more spiritual than a time I had swam with dolphins in my childhood, mostly because it wasn’t a forced encounter and it wasn’t about me at all, but rather just the natural world unfolding. I am intensely curious about wildlife, but I think there are a lot of opportunities for education and encounters that don’t require capturing animals or forcing them into unnatural situations.

By: Mike Connolly

Mike Connolly — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:59:12 +0000

Your rebuttal is well worded, but also makes some assumptions.

You write: “The assumption is that dolphins and marine mammals in captivity are miserable.” I agree that misery is not something that can be measured in a non-human animal. But, captive animals do display signs of stress that can be quantified. For example, some captive marine mammals develop stress-related illnesses (gastric ulcers), unnatural swimming behaviors and displays of aggression not normally observed in the wild. There are plenty of scientific studies on these points.

You also write: “If so, then why do wild dolphins willingly initiate human contact?” Sure, there are occasions when a curious dolphin will approach a human swimmer, for example, a scuba diver. When a pod of dolphins is regularly approached in their habitat by many tour boats, humans are the initiators. That’s why there are federal guidelines in place to safely observe marine mammals from a reasonable distance.

Your analogy concerning office work doesn’t quite apply to marine mammals that do not have a choice about performing or not. People can always quit their jobs or go on strike. Captive dolphins and whales cannot choose to stop performing.

By: Abbie

Abbie — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:25:02 +0000

Couldn’t have said it better myself, JoAnna!

By: Trisha Miller

Trisha Miller — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:31:03 +0000

JoAnna I agree with all of your comments, but I do think that, as much as I hate the idea of our takng marine animals out of their natural environment, there is one benefit to such shows……it makes more people care about them.

People who’ve seen a silly-tricks show at a marine park will care more about the Orcas than those who haven’t. And that caring can translate into easier fund raising when needed to help with lobbying efforts that can keep these animals from being hunted to extinction.

So, at the risk of exposing the extent of my geekness, to paraphrase Mr. Spock, “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one”….or the few….

By: Jessica Joy F.

Jessica Joy F. — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:00:16 +0000

There is a big assumption in your article.

“But what public audiences see at SeaWorld shows – dolphins and whales jumping through hoops and performing tricks – is unnatural.”

Just because the dolphins don’t behave like that in the wild, does that mean they hate what we do with them? If I lived outside society, I wouldn’t sit at a desk for 8 hours a day– but perhaps I do it because I love the paycheck, and it’s worth it to me. Maybe I even love doing it. I sure wouldn’t have that choice if I had to spend 24-hrs. a day hunting and gathering food, and protecting myself from the elements and enemies.

Carrying the comparison even further, we could say that a desk-job increases risk of disease and debilitation because of the sedentary nature of the job (just like swimming with the dolphins can be detrimental to the dolphins’ health). But not every desk worker suffers those problems, and certainly desk workers have a much lower risk of traumatic accidents and other life-threatening problems. Does the majority of dolphins suffer from their contact with humans? If so, then why do wild dolphins willingly initiate human contact?

The assumption is that dolphins and marine mammals in captivity are miserable. As humans, we would be miserable in captivity, right? Once again we are anthropomorphizing… just as much as those who think dolphins are happy because they appear “smiling.”

By: meagantx

meagantx — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:52:41 +0000

Thank you for this article! It is so important that we think about these things not only as travelers but in how we want future generations to view nature.

@JoAnna – loved your last statement…

By: JoAnna

JoAnna — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:22:21 +0000

I’m a strong believer in allowing animals to have their space and letting them behave as they naturally would. Humans took over their space; the animals aren’t the ones at fault when they’re forced into unnatural situations.

I am also okay with organizations that rescue animals who have been injured or are in otherwise dangerous situations if left in the wild IF the point is to rehabilitate and provide a safe space for those animals. In regard to this statement:

“It’s also true that some marine theme parks contribute to endangered species conservation and research. For example, SeaWorld works to rescue and rehabilitate Florida’s endangered manatees before returning them to the wild.”

I think that’s great. In fact, I think it’s important. But I don’t think these animals should be subjected to unnatural tricks purely for human entertainment. It’s our own fault (and by our, I mean us as a human society set on being the dominant species) that the SeaWorld incident and similar incidents happen. Animals are animals. If we locked a human up in a cage, his reaction would probably be similar.