The Navy Marine Mammal Program (NMMP)

Anderson’s “Orca Behavior and Subsequent Aggression Associated with Oceanarium Confinement” states that, “a fundamental refocusing of our relationship with orcas is warranted, in favor of a new era characterized by mutual friendship, understanding, and much greater appreciation of these remarkable creatures than has been the case to date” (Anderson). In 1961, the practice of capturing wild orca whales to use for entertainment and educational purposes in amusement parks began; however, the captors knew little about the social complexity and strength of orcas. During this time, investors saw this magnificent animal as the proper investment to allocate revenue during the boom of amusement parks. After nearly forty years of orca captivity, researchers begin to unravel the nature of orca whales, and scientists now raise the question of if these powerful and intelligent mammals belong in captivity. Captors argue that captivity provides insight on a species is nearly impossible to study in the wild and promotes respect for the species. Activists and scientists plead that due to scientific data it is senseless to hold captive such a highly intelligent animal. Although activists and scientists create a convincing argument against orca captivity, millions of people flock to see orcas in captivity proving that

In the essay “Marine Parks”, Bill Daly The Power of Critical Thinking. 3rd Lewis Vaughn and Chris McDonald. Daly’s main claim is that marine parks, housing dolphins, whales, seals, and other marine mammals, have become a contentious issue. He explains the views of these problems set out to prevent the necessity of theses harsh institutions. Bill gathers a variety of different arguments from other people that argue on the critical issue of having marine parks open or closed; many arguments, for and against, maintaining such parks, range from the economic and scientific value of such places, to the cruel and in-necessary conditions the mammals are forced to endure. Below I intend to present a couple such arguments and introduce some critical evaluations, explanations, and my personal opinions.

However it is critical to understand that when they are conserved in captivity, we prevent them from getting their main biological needs from the ocean as a natural habitat. With their wide food spectrums, orcas hunt for turtles, sea lions, crabs, seals and many other food varieties depending on their ecotypes. This makes them travel over large regions in the ocean in search of the same. Just as human beings are top of the food chain with regards terrestrial animals, so are orcas in the oceans. It is therefore important to raise our voices against this practice to avoid the risk of classifying them as endangered species. Even though the whales “gave me so much in my life and my career” (BioExpedition 1), he grew to believe that the whales’ physical and emotional well-being was incompatible with captivity. Confined to unnatural social groups for the convenience of their owners, bored and restless, forced to perform tricks for food that trainers withheld as punishment, they occasionally slipped, he writes, “into the dark side” (Adler 2).

Since 1961, 157 orcas, or killer whales, have been ripped from their homes and shoved into captivity. 127 of these orcas are now dead. With the number of captured orcas plus the number of those born into captivity, The W.D.C. (Whale and Dolphin Conservation) reports that, “At least 162 orcas have died in captivity, not including 30 miscarried or stillborn calves” ( “The Fate”1). Out of the 127 taken into captivity, 44 have died in SeaWorld. There are currently 58 orcas residing in 14 marine parks in eight different countries. 24 of those orcas are held in SeaWorld’s three parks in the United States. Since 2002, 14 have been taken out of the wild and put into these marine parks. (“The Fate”1) It is not fair for these innocent creatures to be physically and mentally manipulated and damaged. Such brutality would not be condoned if it were targeted towards a human, and it should not be condoned when targeted toward an animal. Orca whales should not be held in captivity because they are forced to live in subpar conditions, they are mistreated while in captivity, and they are led to aggressive behavior.

There are five teams that are worthy of being called the greatest team in NFL history: the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers, the 1984 San Francisco 49’ers, the 2007 Patriots, however the 1985 Chicago Bears stand out amongst the crowd because of their outrageous defense, popularity amongst the NFL fans, and their roster that was filled with Hall of Fame talent. According to the 1985 Chicago Bears Statistics & Players (2017), the team finished with a season record of 15-1. News analyst Tony Andracki (2016) stated that, “The 1985 Bears turned in one of the most dominant seasons in American Sports” (p.1).

For years the killer whale, also known as Orcinus orca, has been drawing the attention of the public through the entertainment industry. These marine mammals have been bringing in billions of dollars to amusement parks such as Sea World, but at what cost? An idea that these killer whales can live happily and content while in captivity may be going through the minds of the public, but this cannot be further away from the truth. To have such complex creatures in captivity is not morally correct and there are many points against it, such as their level of emotional competence, violence between the killer whales, violence of killer of whales towards trainers, shorter lifespans, physical harm, and their level of intelligence. After taking a look at how these creatures function and the conditions they are put in while in captivity, there is no question about whether or not these mammals should be kept in captivity; an experience such as this affects these marine mammals just about the same as it would affect a human because of their high highly developed emotions and complexity. Since these industries do not have a natural authority over these creatures no matter the cause, the best thing they could do for these killer whales is to stop capturing them and return those who are capable back to the wild.

The amount of cetacean bycatch in the fishing industries of the world has decreased incredibly since it was first announced as a problem(NOAA 8). In the 1960’s, there was an estimated number of 500,000 dolphins caught as bycatch per year by fishing industries alone(NOAA 8). There was an act, the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act, that was passed in 1972. This act’s main goal was to reduce marine mammal bycatch. This act required that “scientific studies were initiated, observers were placed on fishing boats, fishing gear was inspected,

On Saturday May 20th a confused Humpback whale gets stuck in the Ventura Harbor in California. The Coast Guard attempted to guide the Whale in various ways. The First way was to lure it with food but it did not take the bait. The next way was to emit sounds in the ocean to also lure it out but again it did not. Officials said they were worried about all the boats in the harbor being damaged because of the whale.

There are so many interesting things about them. Dolphins have been around for about 15 million years now. They’re extremely intelligent, probably even more intelligent than us humans. Dolphins are becoming endangered because of humans and many don't know that. They are known as the oceans most kind animals.Dolphins have originated millions of years ago,are extremely endangered,and are becoming endangered.The most important thing to know about dolphins would probably be how they originated because without that those cute aquatic mammals wouldn't even exist.

Throughout the years, marine mammal bycatch has continued to be a growing concern due to a steady increase in mammal mortality rates. Mike Gaworecki mentions in his article that during this past month the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration initiated a rule limiting seafood imports from different countries that do not meet the United States new bycatch standards. Bycatch is a term that means catching unwanted species when intending to fish for a different type of species. On a daily basis multiple dolphins, whales, and other unwanted animals are being captured because of inappropriate or ill-suited forms of netting and traps. By implementing this rule the United States government hopes to prevent and reduce future cases of inappropriate capture. NOAA claims that they feel this is necessary because they want to enforce more restrictions on fishery related marine mammal deaths, while influencing other countries to improve on their fishing methods.

The Vancouver Aquarium uses dolphins and belugas to provide entertainment and utilizes the profit gained, to aid them in research. In The Case for Animal Rights, Tom Regan’s moral principles state that there should be total abolition of the use of animals in science as well as for entertainment purposes (337). Moreover, he claims that humans and animals have equal values and rights. Based on this principle, I argue that the practices of the Vancouver Aquarium of using belugas and dolphins for scientific and entertainment purposes is immoral and thus unjustified.

Central Idea: Dolphins are unique creatures that possess numerous abilities such as, their intelligence, communication skills, and behavioral patterns.

This marine use is especially important and safer for animals due to the make and purpose of these underwater bombs. These marine uses actually go back to 1960. It started as a study of these marine animals and ended up discovering that these animals had brilliant sonar detecting skills that could help in finding underwater bombs. This expanded very quickly, and the use was soon used in wars, the first being the Vietnam War in 1965. The first use was when the US sent five dolphins to Vietnam in an effort to detect underwater bombs set up by the Soviet Republic.

There is something about dolphins that fascinates me. They are some of the most intelligent and beautiful animals that I have ever seen. Their faces are so cute that every time I look at a dolphin it looks like it is smiling at me and wants to tell me something. The noises they make represent some kind of language and it makes me wonder if they can really communicate. I also want to know what kind of feeling they have and whether they have emotions. This is why I chose to do this I-search project on dolphins; the different kinds of dolphins there are, the places that they can be found and their mental abilities.

Dolphins are well loved by humans because of its light spirited statue of beauty and grace. Countless proofs of dolphin-human solidarity are also captured on film and shared online. It just means that dolphins are as smitten with us as we, humans are with them. Being close to humans are one thing, but dolphins are also very intelligent aquatic animals that can easily catch up underwater tricks lesson.