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Canada to ban keeping whales, dolphins in captivity

cbc.ca

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Re: Canada to ban keeping whales, dolphins in captivity

#11

Post by SuoDuanDao »

mc32 wrote: post #5
tgraham wrote: post #3

Do they not still allow quite a lot of whale hunting?

I think they allow First Nations to hunt a certain amount —don’t know how that affects sustainability though; it’s for sustenance.

First Nations hunting rights typically do not extend to commercial rights (i.e., first nations can hunt but not sell the meat) so I would be surprised to learn there's much in the way of whaling still happening nowadays. First I heard of it still being legal, though I'm not surprised to learn it - treaty rights are very slow to be renegotiated.

Re: Canada to ban keeping whales, dolphins in captivity

#12

Post by Ensorceled »

blakesterz wrote: post #4

"Monday's vote notably impacts Marineland, the Niagara Falls amusement park and zoo that is considered the last Canadian park committed to keeping cetaceans in captivity." Wow, so they passed a national law that essentially targets just a single park? How often does that happen anywhere? (I know the back story but I never knew Marineland was the only place... not saying this is wrong or right, just surprised)

Our current Prime Minister is a big fan of making grand statements when it comes to progressive issues[1]. This is as much a message to the rest of the world as to Canadians.

[1] This isn't a criticism, per se, but this propensity does tend to get Trudeau and his party into trouble. I voted for his government in the last election and fully support this law.

Re: Canada to ban keeping whales, dolphins in captivity

#13

Post by mcv »

RankingMember wrote: post #10
kypro wrote: post #8

Is there evidence all these creatures dislike captivity and would prefer fending for themselves in the wild? Genuinely curious. Not that it means anything, but dolphins have always seemed happy in captivity so long as they are being cared for appropriately.

> It is not a matter of opinion that orca whales, bottlenose dolphins and beluga whales die prematurely when kept in captive settings, but rather a potent and recurring reality. Marino & Frohoff (2011) show that this is especially and most dramatically seen in the orca whale, with males living on average 29.2 years in the wild with an observed maximum of 60 years, and females living 50.2 years on average with an obse…

Would it be anthropomorphism to consider such a slide out a suicide attempt?

Re: Canada to ban keeping whales, dolphins in captivity

#14

Post by empath75 »

m-app wrote: post #7
vallode wrote: post #6

Seems like a move in the right direction but are there any exceptions to this rule? Surely there are some dolphins being kept in captivity for good reasons (health, conservation programmes), if such is not the case I don't see much of a downside to this apart from the obvious impacts on employment in that industry...

From TFA: "The bill has exceptions: cetaceans can be kept in captivity if they're receiving care or rehabilitation after an injury, or for scientific research."

The scientific research loophole seems like a pretty big one.

Re: Canada to ban keeping whales, dolphins in captivity

#15

Post by swarnie_ »

empath75 wrote: post #14
m-app wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From TFA: "The bill has exceptions: cetaceans can be kept in captivity if they're receiving care or rehabilitation after an injury, or for scientific research."

The scientific research loophole seems like a pretty big one.

So if you get a couple of marine biologist on your books and pump out a few papers per year the party can continue?

Re: Canada to ban keeping whales, dolphins in captivity

#16

Post by MichaelApproved »

empath75 wrote: post #14
m-app wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From TFA: "The bill has exceptions: cetaceans can be kept in captivity if they're receiving care or rehabilitation after an injury, or for scientific research."

The scientific research loophole seems like a pretty big one.

Japan exploits a similar loophole for slaughtering whales.

They are a signatory to the moratorium on whale hunting, but exploits a loophole which allows whales to be killed in the name of ‘scientific research’.

Re: Canada to ban keeping whales, dolphins in captivity

#17

Post by robotresearcher »

blakesterz wrote: post #4

"Monday's vote notably impacts Marineland, the Niagara Falls amusement park and zoo that is considered the last Canadian park committed to keeping cetaceans in captivity." Wow, so they passed a national law that essentially targets just a single park? How often does that happen anywhere? (I know the back story but I never knew Marineland was the only place... not saying this is wrong or right, just surprised)

It also prevents future parks from existing.

Re: Canada to ban keeping whales, dolphins in captivity

#18

Post by ysavir »

blakesterz wrote: post #4

"Monday's vote notably impacts Marineland, the Niagara Falls amusement park and zoo that is considered the last Canadian park committed to keeping cetaceans in captivity." Wow, so they passed a national law that essentially targets just a single park? How often does that happen anywhere? (I know the back story but I never knew Marineland was the only place... not saying this is wrong or right, just surprised)

The article mentions that the bill was first introduced in 2015. I wonder how many aquariums had started removing their whales and dolphins during that time.

Some quick searching shows that some aquariums have been doing this, including Marineland itself:

https://globalnews.ca/news/5238289/marineland-vancouver-aqua...

In this sense, passing the bill now might be less of an incentive to change and more prevention of a change back.

Re: Canada to ban keeping whales, dolphins in captivity

#19

Post by brohee »

RankingMember wrote: post #10
kypro wrote: post #8

Is there evidence all these creatures dislike captivity and would prefer fending for themselves in the wild? Genuinely curious. Not that it means anything, but dolphins have always seemed happy in captivity so long as they are being cared for appropriately.

> It is not a matter of opinion that orca whales, bottlenose dolphins and beluga whales die prematurely when kept in captive settings, but rather a potent and recurring reality. Marino & Frohoff (2011) show that this is especially and most dramatically seen in the orca whale, with males living on average 29.2 years in the wild with an observed maximum of 60 years, and females living 50.2 years on average with an obse…

See also the Blackfish documentary (which seem to have left Netflix sadly). Almost all captive male orcas have a floppy dorsal fin, that is a definite sign of ill health and seldom happens in the wild.
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