Question of the month

During an interview with Pierre Béland, Director of Research at the St. Lawrence National Institute of Ecotoxicology (SLNIE), Whales on-line asked him the following question:

Should we keep whales in captivity?

P. B. : This is not an easy question to answer. If you were to poll the research scientists that study whales (i.e. cetologists) you certainly would not get a consensus of opinion on that matter.

Here is a list of probable pros and cons you would be getting.

Pros

Scientists can learn about the biology of animals, and obtain knowledge that will be useful in the future, whether it be for a given species or for another one down the line. For instance, blood samples from belugas of the Chicago Aquarium are used to grow immune-defense cells in the lab and to develop tests which can now be used on the St. Lawrence belugas.
Eventually, further down the road, we may be in a position to use captive-born animals to repopulate a depleted area. (This has not been needed so far for whales, but it has proven invaluable for some species that had almost become extinct, such as the whooping crane and the California condor).
Captive whales are perhaps the only cetaceans that many city folks will ever see. If you want people to love and protect whales, the best way is to give them an opportunity to see one at least once in their lives.
Aquariums have educational programs that increase human awareness, especially that of children, of the need to protect the environment.
Part of the profits from aquarium operations is directed into research and conservation projects on wild populations.

Cons

The death rate of whales in captivity is quite high, most often higher than in wild populations. Thus, in a way, one could say that taking a whale into captivity is putting it through a slow death.
Much of the knowledge acquired from captive animals can also come from animals caught and then released in the wild. Alternatively, the money spent on research projects using captive whales could be spent on other equally valid research projects in the wild.
Whales in captivity are imprisoned. One can never provide them with an aquarium that is not only large and diverse enough, but that also offers conditions similar to those which one would encounter in the wild. It is relatively easy to design a cage for small animals, like rabbits or rodents, however this is certainly not the case for larger animals such as moose and, of couse, whales. This animal can swim over tens, if not hundreds, of miles and dive to depths of hundreds of metres.
Most cetaceans that are small enough to be kept in captivity live in groups. Aquariums rarely, if ever, provide enough space and funds to support a whole family or for that matter an entire social group.
Toothed whales, which are highly vocal in nature, often become silent in captivity. A possible reason for this change could come from the lack of social partners, boredom, and the unsuitable and reverberating nature of the concrete walls of their enclosures.
Even when aquariums make a profit, captive whales are very expensive. It costs millions of dollars to acquire them, and many more to build facilities and maintain them. That money could be used instead for research and conservation programs, and to bring city folks to see whales in their natural environment. In this way they could be taught to love and understand not only the whales, but their natural habitat as well.
The tricks that captive whales perform are not "natural" and give spectators the wrong idea about what whales are and about their true well-being.

In conclusion

We often make decisions based on sound and coherent arguments, as well as ethical and personal attitudes towards more fundamental issues. Personally, I think that human beings have a tendency to judge everything according to their own standards. Who are we to decide what is best for an animal? I am convinced that in this day and age there are more pressing matters than simply amusing people with whale shows. We have an overriding responsibility: to care for all weaker life forms that is, every species that may be negatively impacted by our actions. This obviously includes a lot of species, and whales are no exception. These species should remain where they evolved and flourished, and we should make sure that their habitats are protected so that they can go on living there.

Should we keep whales in captivity? Perhaps only when there is a danger of an individual dying, or a population or species disappearing. But even then, death is a natural event and the main reason why species are dwindling nowadays is because we are destroying their natural habitats. That is exactly where we should be directing funding: to the protection and rehabilitation of natural habitats.

Portrait of Pierre Béland

Report by Jon Lien : A review of live-capture and captivity of marine mammals in Canada
Portrait of Jon Lien