Marineland of Florida, USA — dolphin show, 1964.
The orca "Shamu"
performing at SeaWorld San Diego
A marine mammal park (sometimes
oceanarium) is a commercial
theme park or
aquarium where marine mammals such as dolphins, beluga
whales and sea lions are kept within water tanks and
displayed to the public in special shows. A marine mammal
park is more elaborate than a dolphinarium, because it also
features other marine mammals and offers additional
entertainment attractions. It is thus seen as a
combination of a public
aquarium and an
amusement park. Marine mammal parks are different from
marine parks, which include natural reserves and marine
wildlife sanctuaries such as coral reefs, particularly in
Australia.
History
The first marine mammal park, then called an oceanarium,
was established in St. Augustine, Florida in 1938. It was
initially a large water tank used to exhibit marine mammals
for filming underwater movies, and only became later a
public attraction. Today Marineland of Florida claims to be "the world’s first oceanarium".
The first park keeping orcas in captivity was Sea World
at San Diego in the 1960s, soon followed by Marineland of
the Pacific on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, in California, which closed down in 1986.
Between the 1970s and the 1990s, technical advances and
the public's increasing interest in aquatic environments
prompted a shift to large marine mammal parks with cetaceans
(mostly orcas and other species of dolphin) as attractions.
Within this time Sea World USA evolved as the most prominent
chain of marine mammal parks, with operations in Orlando,
Florida, San Diego, California, San Antonio, Texas, and
Cleveland, Ohio (which has since closed down).
Criticism and animal welfare
Many
animal welfare groups, such as the WSPA, consider keeping
whales and dolphins in captivity a form of abuse. The main argument is that
whales and dolphins do not have enough freedom of movement
within their artificial environments. The existence of
marine mammal parks is thus very controversially discussed.
Although sizable pools for whales and dolphins require an
extraordinarily technical and financial expenditure and are
usually nearly impossible to provide and maintain, many
marine mammal parks endeavour to improve the conditions of
captivity and attempt to engage in public education as well
as scientific studies. For that purpose many marine mammal
parks joined together in the "Alliance of Marine Mammal
Parks and Aquariums", an international association dedicated
to high standard of care of marine mammals. It was founded
in 1987 and established offices near
Washington, DC, in 1992.
Books
- Lou Jacobs, Wonders of an oceanarium: The story
of marine life in captivity. Golden Gate Junior
Books, 1965.
- Joanne F. Oppenheim, Oceanarium. Bantam
Books, 1994.
ISBN 0-553-09520-X
See also
[edit]
External links