PETA Calls On Feds to Seek Permanent End to Dolphin Captures

Scientists Studying the Animals' High Intelligence Recommend That They Be Granted Special Status as 'Nonhuman Persons'

For Immediate Release:
January 8, 2010

Contact:
Lisa Wathne 757-622-7382

Today, PETA sent a letter to John E. Reynolds III, Ph.D., chair of the Marine Mammal Commission, urging him to recommend a permanent ban on the issuance of capture permits that would allow people to take dolphins from their ocean homes and families and send them to amusement parks. PETA's request comes on the heels of a study led by Professor Lori Marino of Emory University. The study concluded that dolphins are second only to humans in intelligence. As a result of this conclusion, researchers are recommending that dolphins be given the status of "nonhuman persons." No permits have been applied for or issued for capturing wild dolphins since 1993, yet no law prevents it. PETA believes that the door must be firmly closed on this abusive practice.

"Because the law does not prohibit dolphins from being removed from the oceans, kept in tiny tanks, and forced to perform stupid tricks, the government is supporting cruelty to animals," says PETA Director Debbie Leahy. "Dolphins grieve at the loss of a family member just as humans do, and there are dolphin tears in every aquarium tank."

For more information, please visit PETA's blog.

PETA's letter to Marine Mammal Commission Chair John E. Reynolds III follows.

January 8, 2010

John E. Reynolds III, Ph.D., Chair
Marine Mammal Commission

Dear Dr. Reynolds and Commissioners:

PETA is a nonprofit organization with more than 2 million members and supporters around the world dedicated to the protection of animals. We are writing regarding the results of a recent scientific study that concludes that dolphins are second only to humans in intelligence and to ask, in light of this information, that the commission use its authority granted by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, 16 U.S.C. Section 1402, to recommend a ban on the issuance of permits to capture and display of dolphins.

As described in Britain's Daily Mail, research conducted by Professor Lori Marino at Emory University in Atlanta revealed that the cognitive capacity of dolphins is second only to the human brain and that the brain cortex of dolphins has the same complicated folds associated with human intelligence. Thomas White, professor of ethics at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, recommends that dolphins be given the same moral standing as humans.

Other studies have revealed that dolphins have distinct personalities, have a strong sense of self, and can think about the future, and that new behaviors are passed from one dolphin to another. Dolphins are highly sentient beings who live in large, intricate social groups. They communicate with each other through whistles and body language, and when dolphins are injured or dying, others will come to their aid, supporting them at the water's surface so that they can breathe.

Removing these nonhuman persons (as one scientist describes dolphins) from their natural habitat and communities to display them as attractions at theme parks and resort hotels is a reprehensible practice that has brought a great deal of trauma and tragedy to hundreds of dolphins. In captivity, they spend their time performing silly tricks for food, being mishandled by tourists in swim-with programs, and swimming endless circles in tiny, barren tanks.

Although it has been nearly two decades since a permit was issued for a U.S. facility to capture dolphins, we hope you agree that Professor Marino's research provides an indisputable argument against the capture and display of dolphins, and we urge you to take whatever steps are necessary to proclaim a permanent ban on the practice.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Lisa Wathne, Captive Exotic Animal Specialist

cc: Dr. James W. Balsiger, Acting Assistant Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service