Our new Case Against Marine Mammals in Captivity (CAMMIC) report details, with scientific evidence, why we should never force these intelligent, wild animals to live in artificial environments
Revealed in the report
- Wild cetaceans (whales and dolphins) travel 40-100 miles a day, achieve speeds of 30 miles per hour, and dive hundreds of feet deep. Even in the largest facilities, they have less than 0.0001% (one millionth) of their natural habitat range.
- One 2014 study found that a captive male orca spent nearly 70% of his time virtually motionless.
- Captive marine mammals suffer from a huge range of health problems, including extreme stress, neurotic behaviours and abnormal levels of aggression.
- Bottlenose dolphins are six times more likely to die immediately after capture from the wild and transfer between facilities.
- Annual mortality rates for captive orcas have improved over the years, but they still don’t match healthy populations in the wild.
- The number of ocean theme parks in China has jumped from 39 in 2015 to 76 in early 2019.
- Dolphin sea pen enclosures in Asia and the Caribbean are at extreme risk from hurricanes and tsunamis and damage the environment, including coral reefs and mangroves.
Follow the link to read the article in full on the World Animal Protection website