+brian.srock Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 I had no clue this was standard practice for Aquariums in Japan and possibly even the US! http://news.yahoo.com/heartbreaking-images-dolphins-drained-aquariums-result-routine-practice-191700631.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 I wouldn't doubt it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Capt. Obvious Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 seems to me like it would make more since to have 2 tanks connected, move dolphins to tank two while cleaning tank one, then repeat for tank two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Given the ridiculously un-stimulating life in a tank, I would think the dolphins would be glad of any change... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 The article certainly seems to me to misrepresent the practice of keeping dolphins in captivity. It does highlight the horendus and needless slaughter of dolphins in the Japanese town of Taiji. The photo's and video's linked to of the dolphins show workers paying attention to the animals contradicting the article's quote "staff ignored the dolphin". It is also notable none of the animals are thrashing about in distress which I would expect if they were stressed. Unfortunately the link regarding "suicide" is only a single annecdotal observation and while clearly distressing for Mr. O'berry (as it would be for me to expeirience the death of an animal in my arms) it would help if there was some reasearch referenced supporting this position. The spin in this article is eviedent from it's failure to point out research showing "In the wild, the average life span of the bottlenose one year or older is an average of 25 years. In captivity, bottlenose dolphins live an average of 30-35 years"1 (which is consistant with most apex predators in captivity and for many of the fish we keep it is probably much longer in captivity). It seems also pertanant to point out the last US the last permit issued for the capture of a bottlenose dolphin was in 1989 and a significant percentage of the dolphins in US institutions are captive raised, what would be cruel would be to release these captive dolphins back into the wild without the survival skills they need to know what to eat and what to avoid. 1 http://understanddolphins.tripod.com/dolphinsincaptivity.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.