The Tribune

By RIEL MAJOR

THE birth announcement of a new bottlenose dolphin in captivity at Blue Lagoon Island signals that animal tourism continues to be dark chapter for The Bahamas, according to one environmental activist.

Sam Duncombe, reEarth’s president, told The Tribune yesterday it is unconscionable that such facilities continue to operate in 2019 given all the scientific research regarding the beloved mammal. She reiterated her organisation’s call to “empty the tanks”.

“Dolphins are sentient - they recognise themselves as individuals. They call each other by name. They give birth to live young and nurse them for up to three years. They swim 50 plus miles a day and feed on a variety of live seafood,” said Mrs Duncombe. 

“They teach their young, they play, they grieve, they love. They form lifelong bonds and live in family groups. It is interesting that these animal prisons never disclose when one of their ‘inmates’ die. Empty the tanks! Empty the cages!”

The environmental activist said dolphins should be placed in sanctuaries to live the rest of their days in peace rather than harassed daily for profit.

“These captive bred animals are now a subspecies of dolphins - most will never be able to return to the wild because they’ve not learned to hunt or to protect themselves in the wild. They are fed dead fish which they literally beg for… In the wild they’d be underwater catching fish.

“All over the world facilities are beginning to close and homes — sanctuaries — will be needed to house them. Baltimore Aquarium has retired their dolphins and are working on a sanctuary for theirs.

“It’s a crime against nature.” said Mrs Duncombe. 

According to the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), dolphins are intelligent and social creatures that, in the wild, interact with hundreds of pod-mates, hunt communally and have entire coastlines as their playground. In captivity, all of this is denied them.

The WSPA says: “Captive dolphins are fed dead fish (wild dolphins only catch and eat live fish) and they face a profound reduction in space and stimulation.

“Dolphins in the wild may swim up to 40 or 50 miles in a day and can dive to depths of hundreds of feet. Even in the largest captive facilities, dolphins have access to less than 1/10,000 of one percent of the space available to them in their natural environment. Because of this, dolphins in captivity are often restricted to swimming in circles. In many dolphins, this behaviour is a sign that the dolphin is suffering psychologically; it is engaging in what is known as a stereotypical behaviour. 

“For an inquisitive, intelligent creature like the dolphin, a barren tank offers no exploratory stimuli compared to the vast, complex ocean.” 

The WSPA further states that captive dolphins are reduced to “little more than beggars” due to the use of food as a training tool. 

“Dolphins in captivity are not given the option to end interactions or performances when they would like to. They are trained to perform through ‘operant conditioning,’” the WSPA says. 

“For many animals, this means that satisfaction of hunger is dependent on performing tricks; for others, hunger is deliberately induced so the training will be effective.”

Blue Lagoon released a press statement earlier this week introducing an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin calf named Duchess as the “newest member of the family” on its island.

Her mother Princess, at age 52, is one of the oldest known dolphins in captivity around the world. 

Duchess was born in the all-natural habitat on Blue Lagoon Island on November 21, 2018. 

In 2018, Dolphin Encounters at Blue Lagoon Island became the first facility in the Bahamas to achieve certification by the American Humane Conservation programme, the company said.

“They inspect us. And we have to satisfy them that our animals have the best possible care... that they come first in everything we do. They’re completely independent and non-profit. They are only interested in animals’ welfare. And yes, we were the first in the Bahamas and we’re amongst the handful of zoological facilities at the moment worldwide that do have this accreditation,” George Rodgers, Blue Lagoon’s zoological director, explained.

Duchess is the 21st of the 25 dolphins at Blue Lagoon Island to be born under the care of Blue Lagoon’s marine mammal team.