National Aquarium in Baltimore: Who's Pulling The Flippers?

It would seem that the aquarium's management have completely lost site of the reasons why urban zoos and aquariums are so important in their ability to give visitors (particularly the young) a close-up and personal experience of wildlife and its importance in matters of conservation.

The National Aquarium in Baltimore has displayed dolphins for many years but are now considering retiring them to a "sanctuary".  CEO John Racanelli states in a recent article in the Baltimore Magazine that films such as "Free Willy", "The Cove" and "Blackfish" have driven such an agenda. 

If this is the case, then this really is an absurd idea and the reason given for promoting it by the aquarium's CEO are weak to say the least.  If he is honestly justifying removing the dolphins from the aquarium on the basis of the above mentioned films then the lunatics really have taken over the asylum. 

Not Dying To Entertain...

The problem is - and as can be seen by the animal-rights lobbyists - that no sooner is one claim, i.e. they (marine mammals) die young in captivity is over turned another takes it places. The lobby groups just keep changing the goal posts; it is a well known ploy which makes true debate almost impossible as they are sadly fixed in their ideological position

A recent published analysis of federal data by The Associated Press shows that SeaWorld's annual survival rates for killer whales and some other marine mammals are very much the same or better than their wild counterparts.

What's Wrong With Blackfish?

Cetacean-Captivity.Tumblr.Com

Not So Scientific American

The article is jaw dropping in its content and one could be forgiven as not to think this was written by Ingrid Newkirk of the animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA).

We live in strange times which have become even stranger if one is to judge by the recent editorial in the journal Scientific American (March, 2014) entitled "Free the Elephants and Orcas in Captivity".

This was an unashamed polemic on 'the rights' of large brained mammals such as elephants and killer whales in relation to their use and display in captive environments such as zoological collections clumsily dovetailed on the back of news of the recent restricting of biomedical testing on chimpanzees in the USA.

Animal-Rights Group Attack Richard Branson's Virgin Travel

The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) - now branded Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) - is still banging the drum for the contentious and discredited animal-rights film 'Blackfish'.  Its latest efforts is a press release to travel journalists such as The Daily Telegraph alerting them to their campaign to put pressure of various travel firms (including Richard Branson's Virgin Travel) not to promote and sell packages that included trips to the SeaWorld marine park in Orlando, Florida claiming that companies such as Virgin are: "...profiting from the cruel captivity industry".

Sea Pens: Not the Panacea They Are Perceived.

"Numa" the first purposed acquired captive killer whale being moved in the sea-pen in 1966.

Perhaps one of the most irksome comments that come from the animal-rights community and self-styled marine mammals expert is that of the use of sea pens.   

This has again been muted with the fanciful idea that 'Lolita' -  the killer whale at Miami's Seaquarium - will be given over to animal-rights activists to be moved to a proposed but yet unbuilt sea pen in Washington State - due to her possible listing as an 'endangered' species.