The Cove

[toucanwalk]

Desite the mixed messages it is good that this film has been drawn to the attention of the worldwide public and media. After seeing Dolphins and Whales and the complex social ties and their intelligence it is surely questionable that they should be kept in captivity at all the same goes for elephants,the maount of money it costs to keep these animals and build housing could be put to use in the wild. Don't get me worng I love zoos good ones anyway but certian species just need to be in the wild.

 

[John Dineley]

Desite the mixed messages it is good that this film has been drawn to the attention of the worldwide public and media. After seeing Dolphins and Whales and the complex social ties and their intelligence it is surely questionable that they should be kept in captivity at all the same goes for elephants,the maount of money it costs to keep these animals and build housing could be put to use in the wild. Don't get me worng I love zoos good ones anyway but certian species just need to be in the wild.

I disagree. If you are going to base the criteria on social grouping and ‘intelligence’ then what about the great apes? Surely they should not be captive care. The whole business of cetacean ‘intelligence’ is also very over rated. See Klinowska review of this issue.

Brains, Behaviour and Intelligence in Cetaceans<BR> (Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises)

You should also be aware the majority of bottlenose dolphins in Europe and the USA where captive bred. They do well in aquaria and zoos with appropriate care and do not suffer and die young as many of the animal-rights propagandists would like you to think.

Common Captive Myths

It interesting you should mention elephants as you are no doubt referring to the recent DEFRA report on these animals.

http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Document.aspx?Document=WC05007_7719_FRP.pdf

Likewise there was a similar report undertaken regarding dolphins in captive care in the UK in 1985 after concerns raised about the care of cetaceans in the UK by various animal and environmental groups the then Department of the Environment, now part of DEFRA, commissioned biologists Dr Margaret Klinowska and Dr Susan Brown to research and review the keeping of these animals in UK zoos and aquaria.

Klinowska and Brown's report 'A Review Of Dolphinaria' was published in 1986 with various recommendations to be implemented by those holding captive cetaceans by no later than 1993. The authors did have the authority to recommend that cetaceans should not be held in captive care if their research supported such a position. However it did not and they maintained that these animals could be successfully kept in animal collections provided they were given the right conditions.


Finally captive dolphins ‘social grouping’ are not with wild animals but within the animal in their immediate environment i.e. their pool mates. Moreover, in the case of wild bottlenose dolphins their social grouping are always in flux with animals moving away, regrouping etc. I would refer you to the work of scientist such Dr Randy Wells regarding this research.

Sarasota Dolphin Research Program

Bottlenose dolphins like all zoo animal require 'special' care but are not more special than any other zoo animal.

 

[toucanwalk]

I just feel some animals more in the case of elephants are too big too complex and simply to expensive to keep in a captive enviroment and zoos could spend money on other species who are less well represented or contribute to wild projects which would cost far less than to house them in captivity,but thats just my personal view.
I get tierd of hearing zoos spending vast amounts of money to house PULL species It would be far better for the biggest and finest zoos who have the space and resources to house species such as elephants in large herds and in the biggest areas they can provide.
I

 

[sealion]

It is true that dolphins are complex creatures, and so in turn they require complex living conditions; but as long as these are understood they can still be cared for very well. Just look at how successful the breeding programs are in the best facilities. There is only so much research you can do on wild dolphins, and we all know how much they have to-do with the fishing industry alone!

They get high publicity because they are easily loveable, but this doesn't mean to say that they should be classed any differently from all other animals.

 

[Sir Scoobs-A-Lot]

I watched the cove in the hope that it would put me off dolphinaria, but it didn’t. I’ve never seen a dolphin enclosure that I’m completely happy with but I can’t bring myself to feel strongly against the keeping of cetaceans in captivity either. I hoped this film would persuade me against the keeping dolphins in captivity, but it didn’t
In fact, I found the message in this film to be confused. It started off arguing that the capture and sale of live dolphins to dolphinaria, subsidized the capture and killing of dolphins for food. The logic being that if dolphinaria stop buying dolphins, the capture of dolphins for food would also cease. It ended up saying that the Japanese killed dolphins (and continued waling) because they don’t like being told what to do by other nations; a kind of two figures (one finger if you’re not British) up at the world. In this case, a stop to the sale of live dolphins to dolphinaria would do nothing to stop the slaughter of dolphins for food. Thus the film ended up arguing against itself.
The film also claimed that one of the original Flippers committed suicide by holding its breath. This raises two points; 1) dolphins were once thought to be voluntary breathers but this is not now considered to be the case (I learnt that from this site. Maybe someone will confirm this). 2) If we accept that flipper hated captivity so much she killed herself, then we should also accept that all the dolphins that don’t kill themselves are happy in captivity.
One final (tongue in cheek) point. Some people talk about dolphins as if they’re so cleaver they’d put Einstein in the shade. If they’re so clever, why are they so willing to jump through hoops for a fish? I’m sure humans in the same situation would just refuse to perform and therefore, be of no entertainment value.

The so-called suicidal dolphin was alive and well when this propaganda movie came out. Cathy was in her late 40’s when she passed