Aquarium DLC

[yoav_r]

Expert opinion seems divided, though everything I’ve found saying their welfare is good is from experts who aren’t disinterested - mostly employees of parks that keep them.

That's a catch-22 these days unfortunately, as an "uninterested" party nowadays is very likely to hold at least second hand bias against cetacanns in captivity due to general ideas in the populace.

I'll try searching the papers the head zoologist from the zoo I worked in showed us.

 

[ElectricMonk]

That's a catch-22 these days unfortunately, as an "uninterested" party nowadays is very likely to hold at least second hand bias against cetacanns in captivity due to general ideas in the populace.

I'll try searching the papers the head zoologist from the zoo I worked in showed us.

By disinterested, I mean someone without a vested interest (e.g., an employe of a park or a study funded by a park). A disinterested (not the same as uninterested) researcher could be a university researcher, for example. The marine people I know mostly say marine mammals probably don’t do well in captivity (based on their biology etc.) but none of them are cetacean or behaviour specialists, so…..

 

[yoav_r]

The marine people I know mostly say marine mammals probably don’t do well in captivity (based on their biology etc.) but none of them are cetacean or behaviour specialists, so…..

I tend to think a more accurate statement would be "pelagic animals are less likely to do well in captivity". This goes for pelagic sharks, rays, cetaecans, turtles and fish.

Coastal and freshwater animals seem to do well. Among the cetaceans belugas and bottlenose dolphins seem to do really well in captivity. Reef sharks do well, as well as coastal turtles like loggerheads and greens.

On the other hand great white sharks, thresters, marlins, leatherback sea turtles, orcas and tuna all don't do well in captivity, so the trend to my (unproffesional) eye seems to has to do more with pelagic lifestyle than with the clade of the animal.

 

[ElectricMonk]

I tend to think a more accurate statement would be "pelagic animals are less likely to do well in captivity". This goes for pelagic sharks, rays, cetaecans, turtles and fish.

Coastal and freshwater animals seem to do well. Among the cetaceans belugas and bottlenose dolphins seem to do really well in captivity. Reef sharks do well, as well as coastal turtles like loggerheads and greens.

On the other hand great white sharks, thresters, marlins, leatherback sea turtles, orcas and tuna all don't do well in captivity, so the trend to my (unproffesional) eye seems to has to do more with pelagic lifestyle than with the clade of the animal.

That’s certainly one factor - there are other factors that matter too - cetaceans are much more behaviourally complex than most mammals, let alone fish. To a degree this makes it worse to keep shallow water species because the habitat complexity is very different in a tank compared to a coastline. River dolphins (which on your argument should do even better than coastal species) do exceptionally badly.

 

[yoav_r]

River dolphins (which on your argument should do even better than coastal species) do exceptionally badly.

Do they? I remember reading an article last year that experiments in the east have managed to improve captive river dolphins welfare significantly, which may be critical as they are all endangered.

Has any high profile zoo tried to keep them in recent years?

 

[ElectricMonk]

Do they? I remember reading an article last year that experiments in the east have managed to improve captive river dolphins welfare significantly, which may be critical as they are all endangered.

Has any high profile zoo tried to keep them in recent years?

The only ones I’ve heard of in captivity are in fenced enclosed areas of natural river. I don’t think any zoos have tried to keep them for a while. (Haven’t checked though).