We Need You Now!!!

DC lawmakers are welcoming public comments on the captive mammal industry from now until this Friday, May 7.

As many of you know, the Marine Mammal Protection Act's provisions for public display were reviewed last Tuesday for the first time in 16 years.

The Cove director, Louie Psihoyos sat on one of several panels in front of the House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife, as the issues concerning dolphinariums were explored in depth. (Watch the video here).

To get a license from The National Marine Fisheries Service, animal parks, aquariums and zoos need to prove the educational value of their programs. Yet there are questions as to what constitutes educational value.

"Many of the education programs at the animal parks include outdated and inaccurate information and often omit information critical of captivity," says Dr. Lori Marino, who studies whale and dolphin brains at Emory University in Atlanta. “The basic requirement that information be accurate is not being met,” she said.

"There's no education at all involved in a dolphin circus show," said Psihoyos, "The animals are trained to do stupid tricks for our amusement. We are beyond that. Our kids are beyond that.”

Predictably, SeaWorld defenders offered a different viewpoint.

“SeaWorld is a shining jewel,” said Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla. SeaWorld Orlando is in Grayson’s district, and the company has five other parks in Florida. “The economic impact is tremendous,” Grayson says. The parks offer an “opportunity to connect with wildlife in meaningful ways.”

Watching trained dolphins and whales perform for food is not the best way to learn about nature. "Dolphins in the wild don't moonwalk on water or do triple backflips," says Psihoyos.

Also, a look at past incidents indicates a clear need for regulation of these fun factories. That $78.95 ticket is a high price to pay.

Here's how you can help.

During this Public Comment period between now and the end of the day, Friday, May 7:

Email the clerk of the subcommittee hearing, Katherine Romans.

Tell them what you think, suggestion below:

"There is no educational value to the whale and dolphin shows prominent within public display facilities today. The ethics of riding atop these wild animals, feeding and forcing interactions with them, goes against everything we are taught about them – in fact, those types of encounters are illegal in the wild. And yet, public display facilities promote this bad behavior and even encourage it for paying customers.

This is a manipulation of fact for the benefit of financial enterprise.

I strongly urge you to establish strong oversight of the education programs for public display facilities of marine mammals. Under the current law they have become performance spectacles that serve our amusement rather than our education."

Or write your own comment. Keep it polite. Keep it brief. Keep this discussion going.

Want to have a stronger impact?

If your local Rep is on the list of Subcommittee members below, contact them directly. (You can find your local Representative here).

Mrs. Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Guam, Chairwoman
Mr. Henry E. Brown, Jr., South Carolina, Ranking Republican Member

Dale E. Kildee, Michigan
Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, American Samoa
Frank Pallone, Jr., New Jersey
Gregorio "Kilili" Sablan, Mariana Islands
Donna M. Christensen, Virgin Islands
Diana DeGette, Colorado
Ron Kind, Wisconsin
Lois Capps, California
Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire
Frank Kratovil, Jr., Maryland
Pedro R. Pierluisi, Puerto Rico
Nick J. Rahall, II, West Virginia (ex officio)
Don Young, Alaska
Jeff Flake, Arizona
Doug Lamborn, Colorado
Robert J. Wittman, Virginia
John Fleming, Louisiana
Jason Chaffetz, Utah
Bill Cassidy, Louisiana
Doc Hastings, Washington, ex officio