Deaths of dolphins, sea lion spark protests in Miami
Series of fatalities at Seaquarium occurred in unusually short period
MIAMI – Five bottlenose dolphins and an infant California sea lion died at Miami Seaquarium from March 2019 to April 2020 – an unusual number of deaths at a marine park that has been a frequent target of protests over the housing of Lolita the killer whale in the smallest orca tank in the nation.
Two dolphins and the sea lion died from trauma to the head and neck, while a third dolphin drowned after getting caught in a net that divides two pools. A fourth dolphin died from an unexplained gas embolism. Another was reported as having developmental abnormalities, according to federal records obtained by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. There are currently 20 bottlenose dolphins at the Seaquarium.
“These deaths occurred in just a little over a year, so it’s a very short span for so many animals. And the trauma-related deaths are clearly caused by the conditions of confinement at Seaquarium,” said Jared Goodman, PETA Foundation’s vice president and deputy general counsel.
“Before another animal there dies horribly in a small tank, PETA is calling on the Miami Seaquarium to set in motion plans to send Lolita and the other remaining dolphins to seaside sanctuaries,” he said.
PETA obtained records of the animals’ deaths from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which manages the National Inventory of Marine Mammals, a database of animals that are kept in captivity.
The number of deaths alarmed a NOAA Fisheries Services scientist, who in May 2020 sent an email to the U.S. Department of Agriculture about the pattern of trauma-related fatalities among animals at Miami Seaquarium, the records show. The USDA is responsible for enforcing animal welfare laws and has the authority to cite marine animal exhibitors if there’s evidence of animal cruelty. The NOAA scientist also noted that two trauma-related deaths at the Seaquarium happened in 2015 and 2012.
A Miami Seaquarium representative said the marine park won’t share specific information about the deaths, but that “the health and safety of the animals is top of mind for us.”
Email exchanges between Miami Seaquarium veterinarian Magdalena Rodriguez and NOAA staff describe some of the recent deaths.
A female California sea lion was just 17 months old and didn’t even have a name yet when it died in November 2019 from “acute subdural hemorrhage,” described as “acute cervical/head trauma.” The animal was housed with her mother, according to one of the emails Rodriguez sent NOAA to report the death.
Four months later, in March 2020, a 25-year-old bottlenose dolphin called Indigo died from multiple muscle injuries and hemorrhaging. “Most likely from a conspecific overnight since there had been a change in social structure,”
Rodriguez’s email to NOAA reads, implying another dolphin could have caused the death.
The following month, an 18-year-old dolphin named Abaco died by drowning after getting entangled in a net that separates two pools.
“He had recently been moved from a pool with a single fenceline to one with middle pools,” Rodriguez wrote in one of her emails to NOAA, according to the records published by PETA.
In April 2019, Echo, a 24-year-old bottlenose dolphin, died from acute neck trauma in an incident in a pool with other dolphins, according to the records.
Animal-rights activists have long protested at the Seaquarium.