A News Commentary by Doug Draper
How promising this may finally be for some of our most wondrous beings we should feel privileged to share a life with on this planet!
Protesters have rallied for years in front of Marineland park in Niagara Falls, Ontario. File photo by Doug Draper
For the first time in decades- possibly for the first ever, for that matter – we seem to have a government in Ontario that is taking seriously the health and welfare of marine mammals – whales and other ocean animals held in captivity in zoos and aquariums in the province for little more than peoples’ passing amusement.
This past Tuesday, January 27th, 2015, the still relatively new Ontario Liberal government of Kathleen Wynne issued a media release like no other I have seen from past Conservative NDP and Liberal governments in this province, promising to, as the release puts it, “take action to increase protection of marine mammals and prohibit future acquisition and breeding of orcas.”
“Ontario is moving ahead with enhanced standards of care for marine mammals such as dolphins, belugas and walruses, to ensure both greater protection and improved treatment,” says the release from Wynne’s government. The new standards of care,” promises the government … will be among the best in the world.”
As a reporter who tried to do some coverage of the controversy of marine mammals displayed in captivity, most particularly at the internationally popular tourist attraction Marineland, in Niagara Falls, Ontario, going back to my years as an environment reporter at the once-independent St. Catharines Standard newspaper in the 1980s and 90s, this is promising news from the government of Kathleen Wynne. And I applaud her for it as it never happened under the former governments of Liberal Dalton McGuinty, Tory Mike Harris or NDP Bob Rae.
I also applaud every person who has had the courage to speak out over the years, going back to individuals like Dan Long, Dan Wilson, Catherine Ens and others, who were often threatened, vilified and written off as kooks by those who could never see through Marineland’s popularity as a tourist attraction to the ethics of plucking some of the world’s greatest mammals out of their ocean homes and confine them to oversized tubs.
File photo by Doug Draper
John Holer and his Marineland administrators have continuously insisted that they offer the greatest of care to the mammals under their custody, and at the end of this post Niagara At Large will include Marineland’s response to the Wynne government’s media release, available for all to read on the amusement park’s website.
Yet once again, who cares if these are the best cared-for marine mammals in captivity on the planet. They should be in their natural environment with their pod families, and we can all go see them there on whale watch excursions if we really care to.
So follow the steps the Wynne government takes on this and make sure you let her government know your views as it makes final decisions on where we go as a province on the health and welfare of these great fellow travellers we have the privilege of sharing the short time we all have on this planet.
Following are the Wynne government’s media release and the response from Marineland.
Ontario Strengthening Protectsions for Marine Mammals
From Queen’s Park, January 27th, 2015
Ontario is moving ahead with enhanced standards of care for marine mammals – such as dolphins, belugas and walruses – to ensure both greater protection and improved treatment.
These new standards of care, reflecting advice from an expert report by University of British Columbia marine biologist Dr. David Rosen, will be among the best in the world.
New standards would be developed in a number of areas including:
- The size of pools used to house marine mammals
- Environmental considerations such as bacteria content, noise and lighting
- Appropriate social groupings
- Regulations for the handling and display of marine mammals
The government will establish a technical advisory group compose of veterinarians, animal welfare groups, industry, and enforcement partners to provide advice on the final standards and timing of their implementation. This group will report back with their findings within six months.
Marineland’s Response
There is no greater priority for Marineland than the health and welfare of all of its animals, including its marine mammals. We have always, and will always live up to the highest, achievable, science-based standards in the world
Marineland, therefore, welcomes and fully supports the express recommendation of the Expert Panel’s report released today that, “We recommend the timely adoption of the Guidelines On The Care and Maintenance of Marine Mammals established by the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) as a specific Standard of Care for marine mammals under the OSPCA Act.”
Marineland was an active participant and member of the working group that developed the CCAC standards over almost a decade of careful study and review.
The CCAC standards represent the current best practice scientifically peer reviewed marine mammal standards in the world.
We are also confident that if the newly announced Technical Advisory Committee is allowed to be guided by science, and not ideology, the zoos and aquariums of Ontario will have no difficulty in meeting or exceeding the additional achievable standards that will be legislated. Ontario’s accredited zoos and aquariums already meet or exceed the highest science-based and achievable standards.
The acquisition of killer whales is governed by international treaties and legislation entered into by the Federal Government with which Marineland has always complied. Marineland will await additional details regarding this portion of the announcement before commenting further.
Direct employment at Marineland is currently approximately 700 jobs, of which students represent 400 and seniors 200. We are one of the largest employers of youth and senior citizens in the Niagara Region. All of Marineland’s employees are dedicated to the health and welfare of our animals and the enjoyment of our guests. We look forward to welcoming new and returning guests this 2015 season where they will see for themselves the love and care we deeply feel for the wonderful animals in our trust.
(Niagara At Large invites you to join in the conversation by sharing your views on the content of this post below. For reasons of transparency and promoting civil dialogue, NAL only posts comments from individuals who share their first and last name with their views.)
Niagara At Large 
(Let’s ignore for the moment whether animals are treated “humanely”.)
What an irony – if it weren’t for Marineland and others whale-napping and imprisoning whales,
– would anyone have studied them?
– would the public know enough about them to protest and abolish whalng?
– would the public know enough to protest whale captivity?
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I’m glad you brought up the likes of Dan Long, Dan Wilson, Catherine Ens who at one time or another worked tirelessly to speak out against marine mammal captivity at Marineland. In fact a lot of groundwork was laid by them and others paving the way for effective activism being used today. I’m really happy that they might actually finally see some of the results they worked hard for.
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Lorne White, there have been and continues to be many people studying whales ‘despite’ Marineland….Everyone who appreciates wildlife did not necessarily learn to care and appreciate it by visiting Marineland. Believe it or not, there is life beyond the gates of a two bit amusement park in Niagara falls.
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Agreed, Cath Ens.
But the majority of the Developped world has seen marine animals (including our mammal cousins) as:
– food
– lamp oil
– corset stiffener
– ink
– ivory trinkets
– perfume
– fertilizer
– winter clothing
– etc.
and the public would have continued in this vein until the abuse of the industrial method destroyed everything in the high seas, as we have done with dodos, passenger pigeons, etc.
I predict that when we abolish zoos of marine & land animals (soon), it will spell the nail in the coffin of wild animals. People need to SEE, Smell, Touch, Hear our fellow creatures to appreciate & respect them. Otherwise, we won’t let our governments spend our grandchildren’s money to even study nature (all expense is debt, unless we descend to Greece where governments finally are forced to stop spending). Too many people see scientists as a luxury to cut.
The new rules would never have arrived if Marineland didn’t exist to protest.
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the new rules would never exist if animals were seen as equals and not enslaved for human enjoyment. im sorry lorne but i cannot agree with you. there will always be a need to study nature and its beauty. having animals in cages will harm humans studies on animals NOT aid them. out kids should not grow up in a world where they think its natural to go to a zoo and see sad animals there for their enjoyment, because at the end of the day that is why they are there, not science. there are much more humane ways to study animals in the wild them ripping them from their families and locking them up.
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