Outerbridge leads calls for Dolphin Quest closure
Hamilton mayor Graeme Outerbridge has called for the Island to follow the UK’s example and outlaw the practice of keeping captive dolphins.
The environmentalist spoke out as animal lovers raised concerns about whether Dolphin Quest is becoming overcrowded after two calves were born there within a week of one another.
“Here in Bermuda we are not following the lead from the UK and banning these kinds of facilities,” Mr Outerbridge said.
“It’s not any kind of scientific facility — it’s there for moneymaking. I’ve been an advocate that we should get this facility out of where it is — I think it’s the wrong location and it’s cruel to those animals to keep them there. It’s a confined area, hardly an ideal place for a dolphinarium.”
The first newborn calf arrived early last Monday morning and the second was born on Saturday, prompting the Dockyard tourist attraction’s general manager Christine Mihelcic to state: “We are so proud of our thriving dolphin family. The first few days and weeks of a young dolphin’s life are extremely critical and our highly experienced team will closely monitor moms and calves around the clock in the coming weeks.”
But readers of The Royal Gazette reacted to the news with concern over whether the facility was big enough to adequately house its growing family of dolphins.
Kim Smith told this newspaper that she measured, by foot, the three pools at Dolphin Quest and estimated they were no more than 2,800 square feet each.
“It’s certainly not big,” she said. “I reckon there is at least a dozen dolphins. I did a little bit of research [and] it’s not the type of conditions that dolphins thrive in.”
However, Ms Mihelcic said the Dolphin Quest pool’s volume of 800,000 gallons was well above the established minimum for a population of ten Bottlenose dolphins.
The facility’s capacity is ten times the space required under the US Animal Welfare Act.
“Dolphin Quest Bermuda currently has nine Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins, including the two born in the last week,” Ms Mihelcic said. The group has an agreement with the Bermuda Government not to exceed 12 dolphins.
She said Dolphin Quest had never sold an animal born at the Bermuda facility — and that its only dolphin taken from the ocean is a 40-year-old named Cirrus captured in the 1970s by the US Navy.
One animal has died at Dolphin Quest Bermuda over the course of 15 years, she said — adding that there are “no documented cases” of dolphins or people falling ill as a result of casual contact.
“Since interactions began in the Royal Naval Dockyard, almost 186,000 guests have met our dolphins,” Ms Mihelcic continued.
“There have not been any guests injured by a dolphin at Dolphin Quest Bermuda.”
The facility takes part in breeding loans with other aquariums, and takes part in an artificial insemination programme to maintain its population of the animals.
Andrew Madeiros, from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), said Dolphin Quest had talked in the past about creating a large “open sea” enclosure for its dolphins, but the plan didn’t seem to have progressed.
Asked about creating an open sea area for the animals, Ms Mihelcic said Dolphin Quest was “always interested in exploring ways to further enhance the dolphins’ natural environment, as well as the visitors’ experience”.
Dr Madeiros said the international dolphinarium industry had its own self-regulating body, the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums, and Dolphin Quest met its standards for the number of animals in its care.
“They have never exceeded that number,” said Dr Madeiros. “Their numbers are lower than they have been in the past. We did have the facility evaluated a number of years ago by a marine specialist, who looked at the square footage and depth. There were some changes he suggested and they actually did do those changes.”
Ms Smith shared a letter she sent to Ms Mihelcic, after a visit to the venue; she added that she never received a response.
“I decided to write to you in regard to my increasing concern and sadness about the growing number of dolphins that are now housed in the horribly limited amount of space ... at the Royal Naval Dockyard,” wrote Ms Smith.
“Last summer I was very disturbed to see that at least nine dolphins were being kept in three side-by-side pools that probably don’t measure more than 2,800 square feet and now I believe there are at least 12 dolphins in residence. Simple mathematics shows that equates to a mere 233 square feet of living space per dolphin.
“I appeal to your heart that knows that keeping these large animals in these conditions is cruel and ethically criminal.”
Dolphin Quest, which opened in Bermuda in 1997, insists it is “devoted to public education and to the conservation of marine wildlife”. Its website states: “We are widely known for our creative approach to dolphin-human interactive programs, education, commitment to ocean wildlife research, exemplary animal healthcare and successful breeding programmes. Our innovative encounter programs promote a spirit of connection to the marvels of the oceans.”
But the World Society for the Protection of Animals, along with other animal protection groups, campaigns for the closure of all dolphin attractions, on the grounds that it is cruel to keep dolphins in captivity in a pool where they cannot behave naturally.
A 2009 report commissioned by the WSPA and the Humane Society of the United States pointed out that a number of countries have now banned the capture and public display of cetaceans. The report described a captive dolphin’s experience as an “inescapable life”.
Dolphins have a fundamental right to life, the US owner of Dolphin Quest said last night — but their habitat in the wild is increasingly under threat.
“Many people have strong feelings about animals, and generally that’s a good thing,” Rae Stone told The Royal Gazette. “Animals enrich our lives, teach children to care for others, and connect us to nature in meaningful and important ways, but there are some people who think we should all be vegetarians, and dogs should not be subjugated to our will or live in apartments.
“Horses shouldn’t carry people and surely don’t ‘belong’ on an island. Horses should be free to roam the open plains, where they would have to fend for themselves.
“Just as there are few open plains with adequate food and shelter for horses to roam, there are few if any wild nurturing spaces left in our oceans. Ocean habitats are increasingly clogged with marine debris that entangle dolphins and whales. Toxic chemicals that run off our land into rivers and streams dump eventually into our oceans and poison their food and contaminate the milk they feed their calves.”
More than two thirds of the world’s fish species are depleted or threatened, she added — including the prey fish that dolphins depend upon to survive.
“We are going to have to learn to respect differences of opinions and find more productive ways to join forces, working together to find solutions to the increasingly complex challenges that threaten our oceans and the dolphin’s most fundamental right, the right to survive as a species,” she said.
“At Dolphin Quest we teach people how to be Ocean Advocates. We fund millions of dollars of research and support meaningful conservation programmes. We encourage others who really love dolphins to come visit our dolphins, learn how to be part of the solution, and how to support legitimate dolphin conservation and research efforts.”
