NEWS

ACRES IN THE NEWS
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The New Paper
6 July 2003

UNDERWATER WORLD'S PINK DOLPHINS: Conservation or exploitation?
by Calvin Low

Everyone loves dolphins - those smiling denizens of the deep we associate, through folklore and National Geographic, with sagacity and their carefree ways among the waves.

But the smile of the captive dolphin - like Underwater World Singapore's (UWS) pink dolphins at the Dolphin Lagoon - also appears to be its curse, for it reveals no pain.

Not that the nearly 500 paying patrons cared two Sundays ago.

Before the 3.30pm show, they were more interested in spotting the two females in the still murkiness of the show pen, exclaiming each time a sluggish fin cut the surface in the 34 deg C heat.

"See over there - there's the dolphin!" exclaimed Madam Shirley Teo, 44, to her three children against the blaring music.

"So cute!" exclaimed Linda Lim, 11, seated nearby.

During the show, oohs and aahs greeted the dolphin's "cute" and "clever" antics. No prizes for guessing who won the day: Education or entertainment.

After Han and Euang's show, it was Jumbo's turn to complete the visitor's afternoon of fun, by presenting himself to be rubbed and touched so those in the paying queue can have their "been there, done that" photograph taken.

These activities are nothing to scoff at in terms of revenue generated.

Not at $17.15 per entry and $5 per photo with Jumbo, multiplied by "thousands of visitors a day".

So who's complaining? Animal welfare groups are. From local groups Animal Concerns Research & Education Society (Acres) and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), to international organizations like the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

All are against the commercial exploitation of captive dolphins because of:
· The cruel confinement of these ocean mammals
· The conduct of captive research, which is of little, if any, relevance to the conservation of wild dolphins
· The deprivation of the dolphins' instinct and natural way of life, including loss of their social structure and enforced dependence on humans for food
· The dangers of human-dolphin contact, including the possible transmission of disease.

As a result, half of captive dolphins die within the first two years of captivity. Survivors live to five years, according to data from The Marine Connection in the UK. In the wild, the average lifespan is 45 years.

SIZE MATTERS

Dolphin Lagoon holds 30 million litres of water. But this is sub-divided into five pens, the smallest being the size of a basketball court.

Critics argue that this is inadequate for ocean-living dolphins whose individual overlapping home-ranges are between 30 and 400 sq km, according Dr Thomas Jefferson's three-year study of wild Hong Kong Pink dolphins.

Acres' president Louis Ng cited Swiss dolphin specialist Giorgio Pilleri, who studied dolphins in captivity for 20 years. Professor Pilleri concluded that captivity, coupled with the destruction of the dolphin's sophisticated social structure, causes "psychological disturbance, and neurotic behaviour almost identical to that of humans held in solitary confinement"

As a result, the UK government closed all dolphinariums there in 1993.

UWS does not refute charges that its research on its captive dolphins is of little, if any, use to the conservation of pink dolphins in the wild.

Professor Pilleri, who himself regretted confining dolphins for research concluded: "Keeping dolphins in artificial conditions can do little else than produce artificial scientific results."

This is because dolphins in captivity lose their natural instincts and their biological cycles, including ovulation, are altered by the artificial conditions in which they live.

Researchers involved in Dr Jefferson's study of wild pink dolphins in Hong Kong also found - after having collected information like movement patterns and social organsation - that such data could not have been gathered in a captive setting.

Captive dolphins also present a small genetic pool which severely limits captive breeding programmes.

To avoid the high risk of in-breeding, such programmes rely on further captures from the wild to replenish dolphinarium stocks.

Because dolphin tricks have lost their novelty, the captive industry worldwide has moved to "swim with the dolphin" programmes.

But before you jump in, read the fine print on your indemnity form carefully.

WDCS and The Humane Society of the US are concerned that the promotion of captive dolphin touching and feeding programmes will encourage the public to repeat their experiences with wild dolphins and whales - which is potentially dangerous.

In two separate incidents in Florida, people were badly bitten by wild dolphins:

One needed 20 stitches to her leg, and the other needed emergency room treatment for a deep wound in her hand.

DISEASES

Then there's the potential for disease transmission.

The US National Marine Fisheries Service recently acknowledged that it is possible for diseases to be transmitted between wild marine mammals and humans, such as through dolphin bites and a variety of fungal and viral agents.

Dolphins have been known to suffer from diseases like hepatitis.

While no human-dolphin disease transmission has yet been reported, some dolphin watch organizers are not taking chances.

In Hong Kong and Scotland, the dolphin-watching code of conduct prohibits touching, swimming or feeding marine animals.

Acres and SPCA urge the public to reconsider visiting Dolphin Lagoon.

SPCA's executive director Deirdre Moss:

"We have always objected to these dolphins being used for entertainment purposes and being made to perform unnatural acts for the public."

So if you must see dolphins, WDCS recommends solely boat-based watch trips that doesn't involve you entering the water.

UWS: Its education through fun

Underwater World Singapore (UWS) believes its pink dolphins are well cared for.

In an e-mail response, UWS said: "…Our mission is to educate the public through providing fun, entertainment and the opportunity to get close and personal with the dolphins, so as to foster understanding…"

UWS does not consider the option of releasing them to the wild as being helpful to the species' conservation due to man-made threats in the wild. Past attempts elsewhere have mostly been unsuccessful.

To criticisms of cruel confinement of the dolphins, UWS said Dolphin Lagoon holds 30 million litres of water, "one of the largest at dolphin facilities in the world".

IS THIS NATURAL DOLPHIN BEHAVIOUR?

The Dolphin Lagoon's promotional brochures promise the visitor a demonstration of the pink dolphins' "natural ability like spy-hoppong, tail-walking and vocalization".

But the crowd-pullers are circus stunts that hardly qualify as natural dolphin behaviour.

· Dolphin surfboards for humans
· Jumping through hoops
· Cradling balls while swimming upside-down
· Twirling hoops
· "Bye bye" tail wave
· and balancing balls on their snouts

Free Splash and his pod

Free Willy and Finding Nemo hold lessons for Dolphin Lagoon.

The popularity of both movies demonstrates just how powerfully tales of homecoming tugs at peoples' hearts.

And how it galvanise human compassion into turning reel life to real life for Keiko, the star of Free Willy, and helped end 20 years of captivity with his return to Islandic seas where he was captured as a two-year-old.

But the marine park industry loathes Keiko his freedom, saying it is a waste of money to rehabilitate him.

They conveniently forget that, if not for them, he wouldn't need to unlearn the circus craft they forced upon him.

Until today, applications still come in from marine parks to have him recaptured and displayed at their exhibits.

The story of Dolphin Lagoon's six pink dolphins bears comparison with that of Willy and Nemo - except that the happy ending is still nowhere in sight for them.

Will Han, Euang, Pann, Jumbo, Pet and little Splash, the seven-month-old baby dolphin, ever return to the ocean?

Here are four reasons why UWS should bring their story to a happy ending:

They've paid their dues

"Since the Dolphin Lagoon opened in 2000, more than two million people have visited," said UWS. Now that's a lot in gate-takings.

It is understandable that, the goldmine there pink dolphins are, the UWS would be most reluctant to let them go. But think about it from the dolphin's standpoint.

Whatever cost it took to bring them here, the dolphins have more than earned back for UWS. These endangered wildlife deserve to retire there instead of being exploited as working pets.

There's life after captivity

In June 1991, a dolphin called Bahama Mama escaped from the Treasure Island facility in the Bahamas.

She had spent 14 years in captivity. In November 1992, a team of Earthwatch researchers observed her freely associating with the group of seven dolphins, including a calf. Despite getting no preparation for release, Bahama Mama had successfully reintegrated to the wild.

End lab life

Dolphin lagoon isn't exactly an idyllic Blue Lagoon for these dolphins.

The stress of living in an artificial environment, which reduces the 45-year lifespan of wild dolphins to an average of five years after capture, has set the clock ticking.

Already, UWS has witnessed 20-year-old Natam's miscarriage on Sept 22, 2000 and its premature death six months later from acute gastritis, a common stress-induced ailment.

Then there was the death of a newborn on Feb 18, 2001 within 15 minutes of birth.

UWS has already collected four years of biological data of these dolphins. How long more does it intend to subject them to life in a lab?

Besides, in a Nov 13, 1999 news report, didn't UWS promise Jalan Hijau, the youth wing of the Nature Society, that it would consider releasing dolphins to the wild if its captive breeding efforts succeed?

Splash is the living, breathing evidence that it has.

If you love somebody…

Having saved the dolphins from certain death-by-wok in Thailand, UWS should complete its good deed by setting them free.

And UWS should be responsible for the pod's continued well-being in the wild for as long as they take to reintegrate.

Freeing the pink dolphins is a win-win proposition for UWS:

If the dolphins enjoy human contact as much as they claim, they'd swim back to pose for pictures after being set free.

If not, UWS would have won the world's praise for its enlightened action.

Tip: With captive dolphins' lower life expectancy and the fading popularity of dolphin shows, don't wait for the pink dolphins to turn into white elephants before taking action.

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