The dolphin debate
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Friday, November 12, 2004
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Dear Editor,
I refer to the article, "Running debate over captive dolphins rages on" in the Sunday Observer of November 7.
With all due respect to Mr Stafford Burrowes, the majority owner of Dolphin Cove Ocho Rios, he is not a dolphin biologist.
Neither he nor anyone I know whom he employs is qualified to make statements about Cuba's dolphin population. In fact, Cuba has released a summary of its current research programme as part of its obligations under the international treaty on wildlife trade (CITES) and, by its own admission, has no population estimate, no data on stock structure, and no scientifically-based quota. Yet it reports that it has allowed the export of, on average, 15 dolphins a year for the last decade or more.
True dolphin scientists know that Cuba has no basis for claiming these captures are sustainable.
Furthermore, Mr Burrowes' statement about the Gulf of Mexico dolphins is incorrect. While the US government has a relatively reliable population estimate for this region, it knows little about stock structure.
As a result, it has imposed an informal moratorium on bottlenose dolphin captures - there have been none in US waters since 1989. Mexico definitely knows less than the US about dolphins in its Gulf waters, because the US has invested far more resources into dolphin research, as required by its laws.
As for saying he will allow his dolphins to "come and go" at will, Mr Burrowes is ignoring good animal management with this proposal. Israel used to allow dolphins in a Red Sea facility to come and go - the result was that local beachgoers reported being "attacked" by dolphins.
Apparently, the habituated captives (which swimmers thought were wild animals) wanted these people to feed them and got upset when they didn't. Israel now requires the facility to keep its gates closed.
Lastly, dolphins can live to be 40 or 50 years old and routinely live into their 20s. Mr Burrowes tries to pass off five deaths of these long-lived animals in four years as "normal". Not only is he not a biologist, he doesn't seem to understand basic life history well either. An insurance agent would not want to insure any person who lived somewhere with this kind of mortality rate.
Dr Naomi A Rose
Marine Mammal Scientist
Oceans and Wildlife Protection
The Humane Society of the United States/
Humane Society International
Washington, DC 20037 USA
eml nrose@hsihsus.org
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