Controversy on captive dolphins in Mexico

carlos55

carlos55

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
Ven maltrato a delfines... pero en ley que busca frenar reproducción
There has been a huge debate recently on captive dolphins in Mexico. A law prohibiting the keeping and breeding of captive dolphins was proposed by the right wing partido partido verde ecologista ( and yes in Mexico the greens are right wing) strongly based on the french law prohibiting the captivity of marine mammals. But in Mexico this proposal has met strong opposition because many jobs in tourist areas of Mexico depend on the swim with the dolphins venures. The state of Quintana Roo where Cancun is strongly opposes the ban. In this interesting article (en español,amigos) mexican biologists in charge of the dolphins explain why prohibiting the reproduction of dolphins actually endangers their welfare in animal collections.
 
Frenan en el Senado reforma del PVEM sobre delfines
The mexican senate decided to freeze or postpone indefinetly the legal initiative to ban keeping captive dolphins in this country. It was considered that more information was required to understand if such a move would really help the marine mammals.Also the economic impact of such a prohibition had to be evaluated carefully, since tourism to Mexico would be affected,and in particular in the Cancun - Tulum area. The french model of prohibiting marine mammals under human care seems not be accepted in Mexico for now.About 70 % of the dolphins in capitivity in Mexico were born in these exisiting facilities. The capture of wild dolphins is already prohibited by law in Mexico.The mexican dolphinarium ventures do have other establishments outside of Mexico, notably in Cuba, Jamaica, Bermuda and oddly enough, Arizona.
 
It will be interesting to see how this develops. I remember you stating on the thread about the new facility in my state of Arizona that it was sponsored by a company from Mexico. I have not heard anything about that facility since it opened and I would be curious how they are doing? I know I would not feel comfortable visiting and supporting them.

The facility in Arizona has dolphins in pools obviously (there is no ocean near Scottsdale!). Are the ones in Mexico also in man-made pools or do they swim in a natural bay on the coast?
 
I do not go to those swim with the dolphin places much, however the complete prohibition of marine mammals in captivity,the french model,seems very excessive and unreasonable. Yes,AD, most cautive dolphins in Mexico live in places that are on the coast and beach areas. Bottlenose dolphins are not endangered and actually breed quite well under human care in responsable dolphinariums. According to the biologists mentioned in the first article prohibiting reproduction among the dolphins is harmfull for 3 reasons.Sterilizing marine mammals is very risky as is giving contraceptives to females for long periods. Permanent bachleor groups create stress and dominance struggles among males that may result in injuries. Yet it seems that the main reason why the dolphin ban sank was económic. Those swim with the dolphin venues do bring in the yankee dollar as most visitors are from Canadá or the US. Eliminating these places in a moment when the Nafta is also sinking does not make sense in financial terms.
 
Does any one know about the situación in Hawaii ? The international press has ignored it completely. To find information about Hawaii by the mexican press is strange indeed.
 
carlos55 said:
Does any one know about the situación in Hawaii ? The international press has ignored it completely. To find information about Hawaii by the mexican press is strange indeed.
Click to expand...

By "the situation in Hawaii" do you mean the bill against the transfer of captive cetaceans? If so, it was deferred, so it's in limbo now. Unless there's another situation in Hawaii I'm not aware of.
 
That may be it. Could be related to how a mexican owned venture sent dolphins from Hawaii to Arizona.
 
This ban in mexico city only affects 5 dolphins in an amusment park, which will be transfered to another facility in Cancun. It is really a political act in our election period.
 
So I have been to a few of these in Mexico(only participated once just watched the rest). Generally it’s a mix between Aquariums, walled off lagoons, or sea pens that hold Dolphins. The ones that are tanks are very much comparable to SeaWorlds circular tanks(take that how you will). I personally haven’t like most of the ones I have seen, I am in Puerto Vallarta right now and I’m going to try and walk to one tomorrow.
 
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