whatyouthink5

As someone who worked with captive dolphins for nearly 3 years, my opinion of captive display might be a bit biased. I've also spent almost 4 years around many species of cetaceans as an enthusiast, and I've also gotten to see and interact with cetaceans in the wild. So I think I'm qualified to give a balanced view.

First of all, I will never be totally against captive display of certain cetacean species. I became interested, then passionate about, cetaceans as a result of my first experiences around dolphins in aquariums, so in my opinion it would be disingenuous for me to come out against captive display. That said, I do believe captive display must meet two very important standards, as given in a Discover Magazine editiorial some years ago: 1) the cetaceans on display must be given the best treatment possible, and 2) they must be displayed in a manner that educates and informs us. I always said a lot in my shows, and I never once got a complaint from an audience member that I said too much. I always made myself available for post-show questions, and often I got good ones. Dumb? Certainly not. We can accomplish a lot in a good presentation.

Another point: when I was in the wheelhouse with Jim Borrowman of Stubbs Island Charters on my first trip to see orcas in the wild, I asked his opinion of orcas in captivity. He actually favored it, under the provisos I listed above! Jim made the point that in one season on the Gikumi, assuming he took different people out to the whales each time and that they had sightings each time, he would still take fewer people to the whales in a whale watch season (May-Sept.) than saw the orca demonstrations in ONE DAY at the Vancouver Aquarium. He said his daughter could get a close-up view of a whale in the Aquarium that he could never give her from his boat. Even in 1987 Jim had spent a number of years on the water with the whales, so I found his answer especially telling. Jim also pointed out that our passengers were often those that were already interested in the whales. Temperamentally they were rather different than the fishermen we shared our campground with, who seemed more interested in the size of their salmon and the Leafs score than in orcas.

To me, aquariums were not built for those of us who love cetaceans and don't need to go see them in an aquarium to love them. I think we need them to get the present and future generations excited about them, so that we will have a future for cetaceans.

aravm98@yahoo.com

I guess my opinion is that captivity has become a neccessary evil. Before the first bottlenose dolphins came to Marine Studios, fishermen considered them nuisances and fought to kill them. Then, in the 60's, fishermen fought the same battle with killer whales in Pacific Northwest until Namu was captured and people fell in love with the orcas. I am of the opinion that those few animals saved the lives of countless others.

However, after that, I think the trade should have stopped, especially before the first captive birth. I know there's a lot of people out there who say "free all the whales" but the fact is, that would do more harm than good. These animals don't KNOW how to survive in the wild. Some have never even seen the open waters, let alone tried to catch live prey. I think it's incredibly near-sighted of people to say that all orcas should be freed - the calves especially wouldn't survive. I saw someone on a website who put it this way: it would be like taking a native New Yorker who's lived there all their life, stripping them naked, sticking them in the middle of the Amazon, and saying, "Be happy." It just doesn't work that way. That's not to say that these people don't have good intentions, though. When I worked at a wildlife rehab center, I saw how little exposure to people could habituate an animal. In just the space of a few weeks, an animal could begin to follow people around if we weren't careful. Imagine taking an orca who's been in captivity for years and, well, you get the idea.

I think the main reason to keep these animals now is for their own well-being. I'd love to see them out in the open ocean as much as the next person, but that's not likely to happen. I'm vehemently against the capture of more orcas. Breeding in captivity, IMHO, can't and shouldn't be stopped, though, as much as it would be nice to see. If we try to stop these animals from breeding, we'll only make them unhappy. Just my humble opinion.

dkscully@softhome.net