Some marine mammals CAN NOT live in captivity

[CatWoman]

This is the 3d whale to die this year.....

Beluga's death stirs passions

Gasper. Ralph. Norton. And now, Marina.

Marina the beluga whale died Saturday morning, held close by people who had tried to help her in those final hours. She'd stopped eating about two weeks ago and became so disoriented that she hurt her snout while swimming. She had ulcers. Her helpers wept as Marina's heart sounded its final beats.

In death, her name is added to the inventory of large swimmers that have succumbed at the Georgia Aquarium this year.

Gasper, another beluga, died in January. Whale sharks Ralph and Norton followed — Ralph, also in January, and Norton in June. Aquarium officials now say the whale sharks' deaths may have arisen from an "honest mistake" — the addition of a chemical that might have impaired their nervous systems.

The four deaths resurrect the simmering disagreement between those who see the value of having animals on display and people opposed to zoos, aquariums or any facility that keeps animals in exhibits.

Marina's death, said an official with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), was unfortunate — and inevitable. At 25, she was an older beluga, and may not have lived that long in the wild. "Nature," he said, "isn't pretty."

Nor is keeping a whale in a tank, responded an activist with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. "The quality of that whale's life," she said, "was deprived."

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2007/12/01/beluga_1202.html

[LeftyMom]

1. It used to be that deaths of whales and dolphins in captivity had to be reported to the feds

They don't even bother to keep track anymore. Apparently, the rate at which zoos, aquariums and animal parks wear out and replace mostly endangered and highly intelligent mammals is no longer of official interest.

[blues90]

2. I hate zoo's and containment

They always tout how they make things natural , bull shit , natural is in the wild . I can't even imagine how a small tropical fish feels let alone a whale which is a mammal that lives in nature with a family group .

There are countless animals sitting in petshops that were pulled out of their homes , bagged and shipped and sit in a cage either to die or bought and die a slow death .

People assign human qualities to them as if the turtle or fish or snake has somehow adapted to life in a cage .

[jeff30997]

3. "Some marine mammals CAN NOT live in captivity"

And a lot of other mammals are in captivity in the US too:

1 out of every 142 Americans is now actually in prison, 1 out of every 32 of us is either in prison or on parole from prison, according to yet another report on Americans behaving badly from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
This means that 6.7 million adult men and women -- about 3.1 percent of the total U.S. adult population -- are now very non-voluntary members of America's "correctional community."


In China with a Billion more peoples(1.3 billion people)there's

1 million people in jail.The population of inmates housed in prisons and jails in the United States

exceeds 2 million. Disgusting.

[God23]

4. Thank you for pointing this out. n/t

[RC]

5. Executable offenses is much higher in China.

At least at the moment. The bu$h administration is working to fix that I hear.

[jeff30997]

7. So true. n/t.

[CatWoman]

6. I'm not talking about humans here

you want to discuss humans, start your own thread.

thanks in advance.

[jeff30997]

8. You're talking about mamals...

But I'm sorry for the inconvenience.Really.

[CatWoman]

10. um "marine" mammals.........

[SoCalDem]

9. very sad.. I don't need to see them. I am happy just knowing they exist

and would prefer them to exist in the wild ..I always felt sorry for the animals in zoos.. poor Marina..rip

[eppur_se_muova]

11. Hoping that webcams and online video will replace zoos for many.

Or one optimal, most Nature-like zoo, with webcams.

[eppur_se_muova]

12. I read recently that adult sea turtles cannot be kept in captivity ...

their urge to migrate is so strong that they will keep trying to swim in one direction, no matter the size or shape of their pool. And they have an instinct for deep diving, much deeper than any pool.

Many populations of sea turtles are endangered, so captive breeding may someday (likely soon!) be their only hope.

Perhaps artificial magnetic fields could be used to give them the impression that they are migrating, by slowly varying the field with the passing seasons.:shrug:

[Blue_In_AK]

13. Alaska's only captive elephant, Maggie,

has recently been moved to the PAWS sanctuary in California because there was such an outcry from animal rights activists, as well there should have been. Now, all you Outside aquariums and zoos can please send our belugas and polar bears back to Alaska. Thanking you in advance.