Opposition as Aquarium Seeks Import of Whales

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/science/earth/strong-opposition-to-aquariums-plan-to-import-beluga-whales.html?ref=earth A proposal to import 18 Beluga whales for popular interactive park attractions in the United States is drawing fierce opposition from animal rights advocates and others who object to their removal from the wild. The museums claim that they would like to take the whales in captivity for captive breeding, research and education. But, if this proposal is granted, it would remove these intelligent and social marine mammals from their native waters and their families, which has been highly controversial and argued over. However, to complicate things, the Federals government's decision will be based not on bioethics but on the language of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which recognizes a benefit in winning the hearts and minds of paying customers who become attached to animals like the Beluga Whale. Such an organization aims to please everyone who is on their bandwagon. Currently, there are 31 Beluga whales on display in the United States; some are too young to breed and others are nearing the end of their 35 year life span. Most attractions offer customers the ability to swim with the mammals, which raises controversy because some claim that such an activity makes the environment highly uncomfortable for the mammals and unnatural. Hal Whitehead, a marine mammal expert, claims that any type of captivity, even if it is high end, does not mimic the whale’s usually long migrations and their variety of changing habitats. So naturally, the whales are being deprived of their natural habitat and "normal" way of life. However, on the other hand, captive breeding does provide the Beluga whales with the numbers they need and it does create the diversity they need to thrive. With the agency covering this conflict, in receiving over 4,000 comments, a majority of them are negative and are asking that more environmental agencies speak out on this topic. Although the aquariums are claiming that they need multiple whales for research in order to find out how they can thrive when their arctic habitat is being destroyed due to climate change, many environment experts believe that they are collecting whales solely for the entertainment for their customers. Right now it is a case of he said she said.