View on keeping cetaceans in captivity?

[ThylacineAlive]

Wait I always took it as zoos and aquariums were too afraid to enter the program was it that or was there active pushback from the AR lobby?

Zoos and aquariums were never going to take in Vaquitas, afaik the plan was for a private breeding center within Mexico that focused on breeding them. I don't think animals were ever planned to be brought into the United States nor do I know of any American collections that ever had direct involvement in the attempted establishment of a breeding center. It was AR pushback that delayed the project from ever going forward until it was far too late.

~Thylo

 

[Westcoastperson]

I don't think animals were ever planned to be brought into the United States nor do I know of any American collections that ever had direct involvement in the attempted establishment of a breeding center

So I’ve heard and read a few things. I have heard that there were plans to use the Dolphin program at camp Pendleton(1) to catch vaquitas but the program never worked. I know a while back a baby was caught in a program to bring some into captivity but was released. That was all I had ever heard about the program.
(1) the marine mammal program at Camp Pendleton was a military program that would use Dolphins seals and belugas for military use. Some possible reasons include scouting, mine detection, enemy detection (the belugas were for Russia I’m assuming) and other aquatic military operations. The program at Camp Pendleton held California Sea lions and bottle nose Dolphins and you could actually watch them training from the bay. I once kayaked down a few years ago to watch. Now the program is defunct but I don’t know where the animals went.