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5 Arguments Against Keeping Captive Cetaceans

5 Arguments Against Keeping Captive Cetaceans

Written by Leisure Pro Staff
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Published on September 9, 2014

Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series that explores the viewpoints of both sides in the great debate over captive cetaceans. Check back tomorrow for arguments in favor of the practice.

Keeping cetaceans like orcas and dolphins in captivity is a tradition that goes back many years, but there are some arguments against this practice. There are questions about what and how much captive cetaceans can think and feel—and what humans should do about those thoughts and feelings.

Nothing should be captive.

One argument goes that nothing should be held against its will. Nothing should be kept in captivity, so dolphins and whales would fall under that category. People who agree with this position would not be receptive to anything short of release for all cetaceans in captivity.

Captive cetaceans do not get enough physical exercise.

Some argue that since dolphins, for example, swim for a hundred miles a day in the wild, they suffer from not being able to do the same in captivity. Some experts claim this is the reason that the dorsal fins of captive cetaceans are often limp and folded over from disuse. While making bigger tanks to house cetaceans is a nice gesture, it does not change the perception held by some proponents of this argument that a captive cetacean does not get enough exercise.

Captive cetaceans do not get enough mental exercise.

Most people would not prefer to do the same mind-numbing activities day after day, so captive cetaceans—at least according to one argument—also likely do not enjoy such a boring routine. The intelligence of dolphins in particular has been well-documented, so some feel that dolphins need mental stimulation like humans do.

Capturing cetaceans is cruel.

Entire pods of cetaceans are often destroyed in the process of capturing just a few young cetaceans, so some people balk at the idea of cruelly killing off animals just to capture some for sport. This argument centers more around the perceived cruelties of the capture itself rather than the cruelty of captivity.

Captive cetaceans are all about the money.

Some critics of keeping cetaceans sneer at the claim that cetaceans are kept for educational purposes; instead, they claim that dolphin and orca shows are more about making money than educating people about cetaceans. These people also often feel that learning things about cetaceans through research is primarily about exploiting cetaceans in captivity to make money through discoveries.

Leisure Pro Staff

Leisure Pro Staff

Marketing Director for LeisurePro