Cetacean ban vote to take place on Monday

The Vancouver park board will vote Monday on a bylaw amendment to ban the display of cetaceans at the Vancouver Aquarium.

The proposed amendments would ban any new cetacean being brought to the aquarium, put on display there, or included in a show or performance. The only exceptions would be the three cetaceans already in the aquarium’s care: Helen, a Pacific white-sided dolphin; Daisy, a harbour porpoise; and Chester, a false killer whale. All three were rehabilitated from injuries but are not able to survive in the wild, federal experts say.

They could continue to be on display for life. However, the amendment would ban them from being used in shows or performances.

The aquarium is in Stanley Park and thus under the park board’s jurisdiction.

The wording of the proposed bylaw, released Tuesday, comes after two nights of public hearings and discussion in early March. A total of 44 speakers expressed varying degrees of support before the board voted unanimously to have staff begin work on the bylaw.

No cetaceans — which includes baleen whales, narwhals, dolphins, porpoises, killer whales and beluga whales — are allowed to be brought into the park aside from those caught in the wild before September 1996 or those born in captivity.

But the current bylaw make exceptions for endangered species with permission from the park board, or an animal that has been injured and requires rehabilitation and care, regardless of whether it can be released back into the wild.

Vancouver Aquarium president and CEO John Nightingale argued the proposed changes would hinder the aquarium’s rescue efforts, calling the park board’s actions “incomprehensible.”

“We are devastated that the park board would turn its back on vulnerable cetaceans at a time when they need our help the most,” he wrote in an emailed statement.

“Whether it’s helping a stranded false killer whale or a baby porpoise that was separated from its mother, the humane thing to do is to rescue and care for these helpless animals.”

Nightingale expressed concern that without a home for rehabilitated animals that cannot be released into the wild, the DFO might opt to euthanize injured animals instead of allowing the Aquarium’s rescue team to intervene.

Requests for an interview with park board chair Michael Wiebe were not returned by deadline. The board will meet Monday to discuss and vote on the amended bylaw.