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Why would a museum located just a few minutes from the Atlantic Ocean—where dolphins frolic freely from spring to autumn, delighting tourists and locals alike—build a captive-dolphin display?
It seems hard to believe, especially when public opinion is decidedly against keeping marine mammals in captivity. Yet this is exactly what the Virginia Marine Science Museum plans to do!
 Until now, the Virginia Marine Science Museum (VMSM) has been known for its stranding center, which rescues and tries to rehabilitate sick and wounded marine animals, and for its dolphin- and whale-watching excursions, boat trips that allow the public to observe these majestic animals where they live—in the ocean. But now the museum is taking a giant step backwards with quiet plans to add a dolphin tank that would contain at least six dolphins, as well as other marine mammals.
Dolphin Double-Speak
The museum claims that its project won’t harm wild animals because it will be obtaining “nonreleasable” animals from other facilities, not capturing dolphins from the ocean. Of course, no permits to capture dolphins in the wild currently exist—so all that the museum is saying is that it won’t be breaking the law!
“Nonreleasable” is industry-speak for captive or captive-bred, not (as the VMSM hopes you’ll think) a reference to injured animals who cannot be returned to their ocean homes. The VMSM’s planned display would provide a market for captive-bred babies, animals it hopes will bring in the tourists and their wallets. Such activity gives other aquariums the incentive to breed and apply for permits to capture dolphins—creating more “nonreleasable” animals!
What the Experts Say:
“When you put a dolphin or a killer whale [orca] in a pool, it’s like throwing them in jail.”
—Jean-Michel Cousteau
“They say that exhibiting [dolphins] has educational value, but the only thing it teaches is the fine art of human cruelty.”
—Ric O'Barry, former dolphin trainer for the television show Flipper
“No aquarium, no tank in a marineland, however spacious it may be, can begin to duplicate the conditions of the sea.”
—Jacques Cousteau
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The Deadly Drive Fishery Connection
In what’s called a “drive fishery,” fishers in Asia use small motorized boats to herd dolphin pods into shallow waters, where they can’t escape. Most of the dolphins have their throats slit so that their flesh can be eaten or used for fertilizer, but selling young animals to aquariums is what makes drive fisheries so profitable.
A shocking example of this practice occurred last October, when Japanese fishers rounded up nearly 100 bottlenose dolphins in the port town of Futo. Six dolphins separated from their families during the bloodbath were purchased by marine park representatives who were on the scene; the rest were slaughtered.
While U.S. aquariums are prohibited from buying dolphins directly from drive fisheries, transfers from facility to facility allow aquariums to acquire the offspring and other family members of drive fishery victims. In fact, U.S. aquariums refuse even to condemn this violent practice, making it very clear exactly where their interests really lie!
Did You Know?
• Dolphins swim together in family pods of three to 10 individuals or tribes of hundreds.
 • In the sea, dolphins swim up to 100 miles a day. A dolphin in a marine park would have to swim around the edge of a typical tank more than 500 times just to cover 50 miles.
• Dolphins navigate by echolocation, bouncing sonar waves off objects to determine their shape, density, distance and location. In a tank, says Jean-Michel Cousteau, a dolphin’s “world” becomes a maze of meaningless reverberations.
• Jacques Cousteau vowed never to capture marine mammals again after witnessing one captured dolphin kill himself by ramming his head into the side of his tank over and over again.
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The Public Wants Dolphins to Be Free!
In England, consumer boycotts have forced all marine mammal exhibits to close. In Brazil, it is now illegal to use marine mammals for entertainment. Israel has prohibited the importation of dolphins for use in marine parks. Canada no longer allows beluga whales to be captured and exported. South Carolina has banned exhibits of whales and dolphins. It’s time for the rest of the United States to do the same!
 •Be heard! Get friends, coworkers, relatives and neighbors to join you in writing the Virginia Marine Science Museum. The only tanks to be built should be those used for rehabilitating sick or wounded animals. Write: VMSM Board of Trustees, 717 General Booth Blvd., Virginia Beach, VA 23451; fax: 757-437-4976.
•Also, ask Virginia Beach’s mayor to step in. Mention that you’ll spend your tourist dollars elsewhere if the captive-dolphin display is built! Write: The Honorable Meyera E. Oberndorf, 2401 Courthouse Dr., Bldg. #1, Virginia Beach, VA 23456; fax: 757-426-5699; e-mail: ctycncl@city.virginia-beach.va.us. Please cc your letter to the mayor to the Virginia Beach City Council (at the same address).
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