Whale and dolphin protest slated Saturday for Mystic Aquarium
Mystic -- Mystic Aquarium will be one of the 60 sites around the world where protests will be held Saturday to bring awareness to whales and dolphins being held in captivity.
Saturday will mark the 4th annual Empty the Tanks event, a “protest and public awareness campaign against the cetacean captivity industry.”
“While Mystic is known for their great rehabilitation work with seals along the East Coast, keeping highly intelligent, social animals confined to a tank for entertainment purposes is inhumane and cruel. There is nothing educational about painting with a beluga or watching one swim in circles,” the group said in a press release announcing the event. “Mystic needs to focus their efforts on rehabilitation and release and stand with the growing public by phasing out the breeding, display and keeping of these animals in captivity.”
Last year about 50 people from various groups protested in front of the aquarium on Empty the Tanks day. The group said it will again hold a peaceful demonstration from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday on the grassy area across from Exit 90 from Interstate 95 and on Coogan Boulevard at the entrance to the aquarium.
The aquarium displays belugas in its Alaskan Coast Exhibit. Last year, a group of aquariums including Mystic Aquarium lost their appeal of a federal decision denying the Georgia Aquarium permission to import belugas from Russia for breeding purposes. Some of those whales may have come to Mystic.
In its recently completed strategic plan, the aquarium acknowledged it faces challenges when it comes to maintaining its collection of Steller sea lions and beluga whales, as the population of those animals in zoos and aquariums declines and “the avenues for importation and breeding are limited or non existent.” The aquarium owns just one beluga whale and relies on loans from other facilities to populate its Arctic Coast Exhibit.
The plans states that while reintroducing dolphins to the aquarium has been suggested, the “extreme capital requirements of more than $50 million and the often unfavorable public attention, render them implausible at this time.”
Dolphins were once among the most popular attractions at the aquarium, but they have not been part of aquarium’s collection since 2001, when the remaining two dolphins were moved to other institutions. Animal rights groups would likely protest if dolphins were brought back.
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