Cataloguing Cetacean Exhibits

The Vegan

The Vegan

Well-Known Member
Inspired by Bronx Zoo Fan's excellent reporting on AZA elephant and polar bear exhibits, I thought it might be beneficial and interesting to create a catalogue of global cetacean exhibits and record their volume, collection, and, if available, their date of opening.

Feel free to add any relevant information, and I'll update the post so all the information stays current and readily available. This is a living document, of course, and likely won't be too comprehensive for a few months at least!

Thanks for your help and support!




CATALOGUE BY SPECIES:



BELUGA:

Mystic Aquarium (Arctic Coast, 1998-1999): 750,000 Gallons
[1 Exhibit; 1 Holding Pools; 1 Medical Pool; Outdoor]

SeaWorld San Diego (Wild Arctic, 1992): 600,000 Gallons
[1 Exhibit; 1 Holding Pool;1 Medical Pool; Outdoor]

Georgia Aquarium (Cold Water Quest, ) 800,000 Gallons
[1 Exhibit; 1 Holding Pool; 1 Medical Pool; Max Depth 24 feet; Indoor]

John G. Shedd Aquarium (Abbot Oceanarium, 1991; Renovated in 2009; LEED Certified Exhibit): 3,000,000 Gallons (total)
[3 Exhibits; 2(?) Holding Pools, 1(?) Medical Pool; Max Depth 38 ft; Indoor]



COMMERSON'S DOLPHIN:
Aquatica (Dolphin Plunge, 2008) 250,000 Gallons
[1 Exhibit, 2 Holding Pools; Outdoor]



PILOT WHALE:



BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN:

SeaWorld San Antonio (Discovery Point, 2016): 600,000 Gallons
[Outdoor] Current pool is 300,000 Gallons.

Texas State Aquarium (Dolphin Bay, 1990?) 485,000 Gallons
[1 Exhibit; 2 Holding Pools; 1 Medical Pool; Outdoor; 2 Bottlenose Dolphins]

Brookfield Zoo (Seven Seas, 1987) 1,500,000 Gallons*
[1 50,000 square foot Exhibit Pool, 2 Holding Pools; 1 Medical Pool; Max Depth 25 feet; Indoor]
Facility includes 14,500 square feet life support building. The filtration system is noted as handling 1.5 Million gallons; however, I do not know if this is equivalent to the volume of the dolphin pools or not. Seven Seas is noted as the oldest - and, at the time of its opening, the largest - inland dolphin habitat.

National Aquarium, Baltimore (Dolphin Discovery, 1990) 1,300,000 Gallons
[1 Exhibit Pool; 2 Holding Pools; 1 Medical Pool; Indoor]


Indianapolis Zoo (The Dolphin Pavilion, 1989?) 2,140,000 Gallons
[1 Exhibit Pool; 2 Holding Pools; 1 Medical Pool; Max Depth 8.23 meters (27 ft); Indoor]

Georgia Aquarium (AT&T Dolphin Tales, 2011) 1,800,000 Gallons
[1 Exhibit Pool, 3 Holding Pools, 1 Medical Pool; Max Depth 29 feet; Indoor]

Clearwater Marine Aquarium (Winter Zone, ): 250,000 Gallons
[1 Exhibit Pool, 2 Holding Pools; Outdoor]
Interestingly enough, Clearwater was fashioned from a former sewage treatment plant!

Clearwater Marine Aquarium (Dolphin Terrace, 2011) 80,000 Gallons
[1 Exhibit Pool; Outdoor; Houses 1 Male Individual]

Sea World Orlando (Key West, 1996) 1,100,000 Gallons
[2 Exhibit Pools; Outdoor]

Discovery Cove (Bottlenose Dolphin Exhibit, 2000) 1,250,000 Gallons
[Outdoor]


PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN:

John G. Shedd Aquarium (Abbot Oceanarium, 1991; Renovated in 2009; LEED Certified Exhibit): 3,000,000 Gallons (total)
[3 Exhibits; 2(?) Holding Pools, 1(?) Medical Pool; Max Depth 38 ft; Indoor]

Miami Seaquarium (Killer Whale & Dolphin Stadium, 1968) 400,000 Gallons???
[1 Exhibit Pool; 1 Medical/Holding Pool; Max Depth 20 ft; Outdoor]
For more information, see Miami's listing under Orca, below.



ORCA:

Miami Seaquarium (Killer Whale & Dolphin Stadium, 1968) 400,000 Gallons???
[1 Exhibit Pool; 1 Medical/Holding Pool; Max Depth 20 ft; Outdoor]
Lolita's Exhibit is the world's smallest and oldest Orca Pool. In fact, the pool does not even meet the shoddy AWA guideline that an Orca pool "must have a minimum horizontal dimension of no less than 48 ft. in either direction with a straight line of travel across the center ( 9 C.F.R. Sec. 3.104)" Consequently, the Miami Seaquarium's display of Lolita is not only callous but also federally illegal. APHIS has repeatedly allowed the Miami Seaquarium to continue to confine Lolita with impunity due to incorrect reporting of pool size, and, once the dimensions of the two pools were made clear, the disregard of the work island as "not an obstruction." The APHIS then made the case that Lolita and her companions were in good health, and therefore, no action should be taken. More information on this interesting and depressing legal matter can be found at MOTHERSEA: HOW APHIS MADE THEIR OWN RULES FOR MIAMI SEAQUARIUM

SeaWorld Orlando (Shamu Stadium, )
[Show Pool: 2,692,800 Gallons; Surface Area 10,000 square feet; Max Depth 34 feet (some sources claim 36); Three Holding Pools: Two of the pools are (each) 436,682 Gallons; Surface Area 3,892 square feet; Max Depth 15 feet; A third pool is 706,860 gallons; surface area 6,300 square feet; Max depth 15 feet; Two Medical Pools (each): 98,511 gallons; Surface area 878 square feet; Max Depth 12 feet; Exhibit Pool: Gallons unknown; Max Depth 36 feet.
 
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The Vegan said:
Thanks Mighty Orca! Looks like a nice Aquarium; I'd never heard of it before!
Click to expand...

I just felt the need to post it cause it always gets ignored, ha ha. I mean, it's the main aquarium in Texas, I'm surprised it doesn't get more attention. Then again, it's pretty much the only real aquarium I've been to, so I don't have much of a point of comparison, so maybe all the more famous aquariums like Georgia make it look like a dump.

The Lolita thing is pretty sad, but even if the people who enforce those laws wanted to do something, it's not like there's much they can do. If an animal facility or pet owner is abusing or neglecting a primate, tiger, or shoot, even an elephant, the animal can be taken away to a better facility. That's not really an option for most marine mammals, especially an orca. Kind of a bummer, really.
 
TheMightyOrca said:
...If an animal facility or pet owner is abusing or neglecting a primate, tiger, or shoot, even an elephant, the animal can be taken away to a better facility. That's not really an option for most marine mammals, especially an orca. Kind of a bummer, really.
Click to expand...

Funny you mention that...

Personally, I've always thought that SeaWorld would have a much better reputation if they were to pursue animal welfare causes with more vigor. They could make a great name for themselves if they were to call out the Miami Seaquarium on Lolita's conditions, and with the use of their immense monetary reserves, SeaWorld could wage a massive legal and media battle against the little aquarium - practically forcing the Seaquarium to give up Lolita. Then again, it would be fantastic if SeaWorld campaigned to end the hunting of cetaceans...but instead they just stand up and say, "Look, our hands are clean, can't blame us, leave us out of it!"

That's the real bummer.

Oh, and I should also note the funding is in place to construct a sea pen for Lolita in the San Juan Islands. Then again, I think most of us realize that Lolita is more than likely going to die in the miserable tank. To be quite honest, I think SeaWorld is the only hope for her.
 
Update: Two weeks ago I requested Pinnepedia and Odontoceti files from ISIS (my current workplace is not affiliated with the system). As of today, I have neither received the files nor heard back from ISIS representatives. I find this to be quite odd since my past requests were fulfilled within a week. I can't help but wonder if ISIS is not releasing its records on Odontoceti due to the massive public backlash against Cetaceans in captivity. Perhaps I will request holding info on a less explosive topic (Chiroptera?) to see if ISIS is indeed protecting what may be seen as valuable information...
 
The Vegan said:
Funny you mention that...

Personally, I've always thought that SeaWorld would have a much better reputation if they were to pursue animal welfare causes with more vigor. They could make a great name for themselves if they were to call out the Miami Seaquarium on Lolita's conditions, and with the use of their immense monetary reserves, SeaWorld could wage a massive legal and media battle against the little aquarium - practically forcing the Seaquarium to give up Lolita. Then again, it would be fantastic if SeaWorld campaigned to end the hunting of cetaceans...but instead they just stand up and say, "Look, our hands are clean, can't blame us, leave us out of it!"

That's the real bummer.

Oh, and I should also note the funding is in place to construct a sea pen for Lolita in the San Juan Islands. Then again, I think most of us realize that Lolita is more than likely going to die in the miserable tank. To be quite honest, I think SeaWorld is the only hope for her.
Click to expand...

But unless the pen actually gets built, no law enforcement is gonna try and send her there. Not gonna send an animal to place that doesn't exist yet, after all.

I do agree, it would be nice if SW did more for marine mammals that live in poor captive conditions. They have a lot of power, money, and influence. I think they have animals on loan to MSQ, so maybe they just don't want to lose potential business partners. Or maybe they're afraid that when people go after poor facilities, they'll eventually go after captivity as a whole. Which would be pretty dumb to think, lots of zoos help out in rescuing animals from poor facilities and many zoos help out animal sanctuaries.

Anyway, Ceta-base is a great website, I should've linked it to ya earlier. I recommend following their Facebook page, they do a great job of updating on captive ceta news. A new aquarium is Moscow is going to be opening up pretty soon, so it should be easy to get information once it opens. I know they have 3 orcas, and they'll also have bottlenose dolphins and belugas. Though I haven't seen tank dimensions yet. I've been trying to keep my eye out for the recently captured Russian orcas, (you'd think it would be easier to keep track of a bunch of orcas, ha ha) so if you want, I can post here if I find something new.

I generally don't pay a ton of attention to cetacean captivity (though since I follow a lot of cetacean blogs on Tumblr, I do pick up a good share of info) but sometimes I follow unusual cases, like when a place rescues or captures a species that isn't normally kept in captivity. Vancouver Aquarium is keeping a rescued false killer whale with their lag. I believe that makes them the only North American facility outside of Hawaii to current hold one. The Marine Mammal Research Program facility in Hawaii has one, but I don't think they're open to the public so I dunno if they count. Hawaii Sea Life park might have some, but I'm having a hard time finding the numbers. Why don't they just list it on their website?!

The Dolphin Research Center in Florida has an Atlantic spotted dolphin.
 
TheMightyOrca said:
...Vancouver Aquarium is keeping a rescued false killer whale with their lag. I believe that makes them the only North American facility outside of Hawaii to current hold one. The Marine Mammal Research Program facility in Hawaii has one, but I don't think they're open to the public so I dunno if they count. Hawaii Sea Life park might have some, but I'm having a hard time finding the numbers. Why don't they just list it on their website?!

The Dolphin Research Center in Florida has an Atlantic spotted dolphin.
Click to expand...

I'd heard about Vancouver keeping the FKW Chester with their lone lag Helen; a lot of animal rights & animal welfare advocates are enraged that Helen was not relocated to a more appropriate locale where she could socialize with their own species. Personally I'd prefer if she was loaned indefinitely to Shedd and the Belugas were kept in the million-gallon "Wild Coast" pool, which is twice as large as the "Arctic Canada" pool. As for Chester; well, the only other FKW in the US is Kina, kept in a Seapen as a research animal for the University of Hawaii...and then Sea Life Hawaii has their Wholphins. So...maybe Chester can be friends with the belugas?

Anyways thanks for helping me out! I'll see if I can get specs on the Dolphin Research Center. :)
 
Due to the fact that I can no longer edit the first post on this thread, I will be using this thread for research only and then publish full catalogues of cetacean exhibits. Feel free to continue adding any information about captive Cetacea and their exhibits and please correct any mistakes I might make! I will try to complete a US catalogue first, followed by a Canadian catalogue. Afterwards I will attempt Mexico, Central American Countries, and Europe.

Thank you for your help and support!

- The Vegan
 
The Vegan said:
John G. Shedd Aquarium (Abbot Oceanarium, 1991; Renovated in 2009; LEED Certified Exhibit): 3,000,000 Gallons (total)
[3 Exhibits; 2(?) Holding Pools, 1(?) Medical Pool; Max Depth 38 ft; Indoor]
Click to expand...

Strictly speaking this total volume includes the entire section, which also has exhibits for sea otters, pinnipeds, penguins and some smaller tanks. However, most is for the cetaceans, which includes three main pools (2,000,000 gallons, 230,000 gallons, and 400,000 gallons respectively) and a medical pool (60,000 gallons). That's a total of c. 2,700,000 gallons for their belugas and Pacific white-sided dolphins.
 
The Vegan said:
I'd heard about Vancouver keeping the FKW Chester with their lone lag Helen; a lot of animal rights & animal welfare advocates are enraged that Helen was not relocated to a more appropriate locale where she could socialize with their own species. Personally I'd prefer if she was loaned indefinitely to Shedd and the Belugas were kept in the million-gallon "Wild Coast" pool, which is twice as large as the "Arctic Canada" pool. As for Chester; well, the only other FKW in the US is Kina, kept in a Seapen as a research animal for the University of Hawaii...and then Sea Life Hawaii has their Wholphins. So...maybe Chester can be friends with the belugas?

Anyways thanks for helping me out! I'll see if I can get specs on the Dolphin Research Center. :)
Click to expand...

I would think a tank for belugas might be too cold for a false killer whale. If Helen got sent away, the best option for him would probably be to send him to a different facility as well. False killer whales have been kept with bottlenose dolphins, and they've been known to interact in the wild, so there would be a number of options there.
 
temp said:
Strictly speaking this total volume includes the entire section, which also has exhibits for sea otters, pinnipeds, penguins and some smaller tanks. However, most is for the cetaceans, which includes three main pools (2,000,000 gallons, 230,000 gallons, and 400,000 gallons respectively) and a medical pool (60,000 gallons). That's a total of c. 2,700,000 gallons for their belugas and Pacific white-sided dolphins.
Click to expand...

Okay, great! Thank you for the clarification! I'll add the correct dimensions into the final catalogue. :)
 
TheMightyOrca said:
I would think a tank for belugas might be too cold for a false killer whale. If Helen got sent away, the best option for him would probably be to send him to a different facility as well. False killer whales have been kept with bottlenose dolphins, and they've been known to interact in the wild, so there would be a number of options there.
Click to expand...

You might be right about that, although to my knowledge, the ranges of the two species overlap in the Gulf of Alaska...

Though there are no perfect options for Chester, I agree that larger pod of bottlenose dolphins would be a healthier social setting. It's very unfortunate that he was so young was he stranded; if he was just a bit older, he probably would have been successfully released. :(
 
I know this is Canada, but I'm going to add it anyways.

VANCOUVER AQUARIUM:

"The largest pool is the Wild Coast pool, which houses white-sided dolphins. It holds about 1 million U.S. gallons, measuring 7 metres deep and 48 metres across. The Arctic Canada exhibit, which housed Beluga whales, holds about 500,000 U.S. gallons."

Vancouver's Aquarium - Canadian Consulting Engineer
 
DOLPHIN QUEST, HAWKS CAY, FL.

SEAPEN
Approximately 0.55 Acres in surface area. Conservatively estimated at 2.1 million gallons. 2 Exhibits, 3 Holding Pools.
 
The Vegan said:
You might be right about that, although to my knowledge, the ranges of the two species overlap in the Gulf of Alaska...

Though there are no perfect options for Chester, I agree that larger pod of bottlenose dolphins would be a healthier social setting. It's very unfortunate that he was so young was he stranded; if he was just a bit older, he probably would have been successfully released. :(
Click to expand...

They do hang out in colder waters, but it does seem that they're more common in warmer regions. Even his stranding was a surprise since the species is so uncommon in that region. He might be able to live in a beluga-cold tank, though maybe it wouldn't be the #1 option. They aren't kept in captivity too much so I wouldn't know about the best conditions. In the wild, they're usually found in pretty large groups so I do wonder if he'd be better off in an aquarium with a larger group of dolphins. I dunno. Shame he didn't have a shot at being released, but I am impressed that the aquarium was able to keep him alive.
 
SIEGFRIED & ROY'S SECRET GARDEN DOLPHIN HABITAT

2.1-2.5 Million gallons (sources conflicting) 3 Exhibit Pools, One Med/Holding Pool. Max Depth Unknown.
 
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