The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Science wades into pool
Are dolphins in captivity emotionally and physically healthy?
The trainer touches her fingertips to the smooth rounded forehead of a common bottlenose dolphin named Noelani, a hand cue for the marine mammal to “chuff ” or forcefully exhale through her blowhole, a behavior similar to a human cough. After quickly catching some of the spray on a 3-inch glass slide, the trainer rewards Noelani with a treat — some herring or sardines from a silver bucket resting on the side of the dolphin habitat behind the scenes at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago.
The respiratory sample is one small piece of data in the largest international study on the welfare of captive dolphins and whales in history, led by the Brookfield Zoo and incorporating the work of 44 accredited aquariums and zoos in seven countries.
The researchers believe these animals are prospering, but say there’s little science on what conditions are optimal for dolphins and whales under professional care: What are the characteristics of the best habitat? How does the type and timing of animal training influence the behavior of these marine mammals?
The project intends to fill that void by analyzing every aspect of their lives, from swimming patterns to veterinary exams to videos of their behavior, as well as gastric, blood, fecal and other physical samples. Some of these approaches are novel in examining positive indicators of behavior and emotional states rather than just ensuring the animal isn’t showing signs of stress, said Lance Miller, vice president of conservation science and animal welfare research.
“When you think about animal care and welfare, there’s the art and the science to it,” he said. “I think 30 years ago it was more of an art form. You had a lot of people with a lot of great knowledge because they had worked with the animals for so long. What we do now is we don’t try to take away from that art, but we try to use science to kind of mesh the two.”
Heightened scrutiny
The study, which is expected to be complete in 2020, comes as zoos and aquariums face heightened scrutiny nationwide, with some animal rights activists questioning the ethics of keeping typically wild animals in captivity. And that scrutiny is heightened when tragedy strikes at a zoo.
“After careful consideration, the board and staff concluded that the best way forward is to create a protected, year-round seaside refuge for our colony of dolphins,” a spokeswoman for the National Aquarium said in an email. “We believe that the relocation of our dolphins to a natural sanctuary setting will offer them an opportunity to thrive in an environment suited to their natural behaviors.”
The decision was praised by the Humane Society of the United States as well as PETA, which challenges the notion that these marine mammals can be happy and healthy in a state of captivity.
“Fundamentally, these dolphins should be in seaside sanctuaries where they have the space to roam,” said Delcianna Winders, PETA’s vice president and deputy general counsel. “The concern with dolphins would be more that their complex needs can’t be met in a captive situation when they need so much space.”
Yet Brookfield Zoo staff say aquariums and zoos play a critical role in helping animals in the wild through research, education and conservation efforts, while maintaining high levels of care.
“A lot of the animal rights activists, they base a lot of their thoughts on their feelings, and throwing and projecting our human emotions onto the animals,” said Rita Stacey, curator of marine mammals. “By going through a study such as this, we’re really putting the science behind how the animals thrive in our care.”
Noelani dives under water, turns and presents her tail, from where the trainer will draw a blood sample once a month.
The seven common bottlenose dolphins at the Brookfield Zoo know the routine and are trained to take part in data collection. Each time they perform a requested behavior, they’re rewarded with clapping, body rubs, a favorite toy, a cube of flavorless gelatin or a snack of herring or sardines.
Stacey says participation is voluntary and the dolphins can choose to swim away or engage in another activity — they’re never denied food or proper care — though most of the time they choose to take part.
“When somebody asks me are the dolphins happy, it’s hard to quantify what’s happy to a dolphin,” she said. “When our animals are doing the same sorts of behaviors that dolphins do in the wild, when they’re healthy, they’re disease-free and they reproduce, we have a lot of indicators that say our animals are thriving in our care. But this study should give added information to assure that the animals are in good welfare. And we’re hoping to learn more about how can we continue to improve the animals’ lives.”
The study
The project includes roughly 290 common and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, 20 beluga whales and eight Pacific whitesided dolphins at facilities across the globe. The data are gathered in two phases during summer 2018 and winter 2019, continuing into March.
Part of the study outfits the animals with movement tags — a device with sensors similar to a human Fitbit — which tracks their speed and depth and location in the water.
Three-dimensional models show how the animals are engaging their habitat and what percentage of the space they use, giving a better indication of how exhibit size and design impact movement.
Researchers expect to analyze 7,040 hours of data from the movement tags, as well as 636 veterinary exams, 880 weekly surveys completed by trainers, 1,320 hours of video of the marine mammals, 636 blood samples and 3,180 fecal samples.
Not human traits
To a bystander, the process might appear arduous. But the anatomy of a dolphin is quite different than that of a human.
“With a dolphin, their blowhole is only connected to their lungs, their mouth is only connected to their stomachs,” Stacey said. “So when we put this in, they don’t have that natural gag reflex that we do. Over time, the dolphins learn the tube just goes down and it comes up and it’s no big deal.”
Bill Zeigler, senior vice president of animal programs, cautions against anthropomorphizing, or projecting human traits or motives onto animal behavior. For example, visitors sometimes lament that the polar bear seems “lonely,” because it’s housed alone, but these animals are largely solitary in the wild, he said.
Zeigler said the concept of animal welfare has evolved over the last few decades.
Staff will sometimes create randomness in exhibits to better simulate nature, such as automatic feeders that drop food periodically, allowing animals to forage for it as they would in the wild, he said. The first tests were about 10 years ago.
“We began to see a real difference in the behavior of the animal,” he said.
The dolphin and whale study was funded by a roughly $740,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as well as additional funding from some of the institutions involved. The research isn’t comparing zoo and aquarium marine mammals to those in the wild.
“My guess is that our dolphins are doing much better,” Miller said. “They don’t have to deal with things like red tide, they don’t have to deal with boat traffic, they don’t have to deal with predators, they have amazing food sources.”
Yet some remain skeptical. While Wesleyan University philosophy professor and coordinator of animal studies Lori Gruen acknowledged the important animal welfare work conducted at many zoos, she said dolphins, whales and “other long-living mammals who travel long distances” require more space than a zoo or aquarium can provide.