$740K grant seeks to aid captive dolphins, whales
The Texas State Aquarium is joining a worldwide quest to improve the health and living conditions of dolphins in captivity.
The goal is pretty simple: determine how physical habitat, animal training and environmental enrichment impact the welfare of aquatic mammals called cetaceans, which includes dolphins and whales.
The effort comes in the form of a study, funded by a $740,000 National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Corpus Christi-based aquarium is one of 44 facilities in seven countries that will participate and get a chunk of the money.
“We can’t ask a dolphin how it’s doing, so we have to look at indicators of welfare” such as stress level and social behaviors, said Lance Miller, principal investigator on the study and the Chicago Zoological Society’s senior director of animal welfare research.
Since 2003, The Texas aquarium has been home to Dolphin Bay, a 400,000 gallon, 12 footdeep saltwater pool inhabited by Atlantic bottlenose dolphins. Aquarium officials did not return repeated requests for comment.
“We’ve worked with the Texas aquarium quite a bit,” Miller said. “So, they were an obvious partner.”
Across all institutions, data will be gathered on 290 common and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, 20 beluga whales and eight Pacific white-sided dolphins.
First, Miller said, scientists will develop indicators of welfare, such as stress levels, that could be determined by taking a blood sample. This would be similar to a person having their cholesterol levels taken during an annual physical, he said.
The next part of the study will focus entirely on the dolphins. Scientists will tag the animals with what Miller called a “fancy Fitbit” to measure their behavior: how far and how fast they are swimming, along with what parts of the exhibit they’re using, for example.
They also will videotape the animals movement in the exhibit to see how they are socializing and exploring, he added.
“Bottlenose dolphins ... are generally regarded as a species that thrive in professional care,” a Texas aquarium news release stated. “But there is a surprising lack of scientific-based inquiry into what conditions optimize good welfare of cetaceans in managed environments. Most animal-care decisions are made using information gained from research on a smaller scale combined with professional judgment from decades of experience.”
Data from the study will likely be published in 2020, the release stated, and used to improve living conditions in zoos and aquariums worldwide.
“We are excited to be a part of this groundbreaking study,” Jesse Gilbert, senior vice president and CEO of the Texas aquarium, said in the release. “The opportunity to obtain objective data from such a large number of institutions will provide a tremendous amount of information regarding cetacean welfare.”