Boycott Zoos

Relics of unenlightened past

Inquirer News Service

THE RECENT death of Hook, a 13-year-old female whale, at Ocean Adventure Park illustrates why marine mammals do not belong in captivity. ("Whale death revives calls for Subic park's closure," Inquirer, 7/18/05)

In open waters, marine mammals, such as killer whales and dolphins, may swim up to 100 miles a day. In marine parks, these animals face the same walled environment day in and day out, swimming in endless circles. A killer whale in a marine park will have to swim around the edge of a typical tank more than 500 times just to cover 50 miles.

Marine park trainers force newly captured dolphins and killer whales to learn tricks by withholding food from those who refuse to perform and by isolating them. According to former dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry, "positive reward" training is a euphemism for "food deprivation."

Captivity may also drive some of these highly intelligent animals insane. Dolphins navigate by echolocation, bouncing sonar waves off objects to determine their shape, density, distance and location. In a tank, says Jean-Michel Cousteau, dolphins "are bombarded by a garble of their own vocalizations…. Because these are sounds of communication as well as navigation, their world becomes a maze of meaningless reverberations."

Marine mammal parks are relics of our unenlightened past; and facilities such as the Ocean Adventure Park should close their doors for good. In the meantime, the best thing any of us can do is to refuse to visit parks and zoos that have captive marine mammals on display.

DAN ABRIL, representative, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta Asia-Pacific)