Aquariums

As someone who is adamantly opposed to aquariums (and zoos but that’s for another rant), I hear the same tired arguments all the time:

“It gives people a chance to appreciate ocean life first hand”

Actually I think it does the opposite, by turning the complex workings of an ocean into a sideshow. I think that keeping wild animals captive insults and patronizes how intelligent these animals are (and they are intelligent, whales are just behind humans and apes in intelligence).What kind of respect for nature is being taught when keeping animals in confined spaces for personal motives is the example being set? (Just to be clear, I’m not talking about starfish or algae rather the larger animals that are forced to live in tanks)

“It provides priceless education”

Not buying it. Does every single man, woman and child need to go into space to learn about or understand it?

“Aquariums serve as a sanctuary for rescued animals”

This one is outright laughable. The mortality rate is high for animals that are captured for captivity, both during the capturing process and during their life in captivity. In addition, how are we determining what animals need to be rescued? The Vancouver Aquarium for example, is allowed to capture or import wildlife if it is in ‘distress’ however there are various definitions for distress. The animal could very well be in distress due to the enormous boat chasing it. Then animals are only kept if they can not be rehabilitated, although the larger mammals are rarely released (it might have something to do with their value, an orca whale is worth approx $25,000).

I’ve never heard anyone argue that these creatures are happier in their tanks because I guess not even the biggest tools believe that anymore. Whales and dolphins spend their lives covering thousands of miles while travelling in groups, singing and composing songs that they will repeat every year. This a lifestyle that is completely denied to them in an aquarium. And although it’s very nice of aquariums to ‘rescue’ animals in ‘distress’, their track record argues that they can’t provide a healthy life environment: http://www.straight.com/print/151900, or http://www.peta.org/factsheet/files/FactsheetDisplay.asp?ID=63

“The animals have trainers that love them”

I have no doubt that trainers love the animals that they work with however it’s beside the point and completely naive. Isolation and withholding food are common methods to train these animals despite how much they love them.

I guess my biggest gripe is not with the people who capture these sea animals, the selfish trainers, nor is it with the fat cats who run aquariums; it’s with the people creating a demand for such a spectacle. Paying money to see a lonely animal confined to swimming circles in an empty tank isn’t my idea of entertainment. It just seems like a sad paradox that we consider ourselves the most advanced species on the planet but forcing a depressed animal to jump around in the water for food is what will still consider entertaining.