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Don’t expect to see any new beluga whales or dolphins at the Vancouver Aquarium.
On Monday, the Vancouver Park Board voted six to one to approve bylaw amendments that will prohibit the Vancouver Aquarium from importing, holding and displaying whales and dolphins, effective immediately.
Board approves Parks Control by-law amendments 2 prohibit importation & display of live cetaceans in Vancouver parks https://t.co/FgEELP5aya pic.twitter.com/dSFgjDjOd7
— Vancouver Park Board (@ParkBoard) May 16, 2017
The push to ban cetacean captivity at Vancouver Aquarium was sparked by the tragic November 2016 deaths of two beluga whales, 29-year-old Aurora, and her 21-year-old daughter Qila. They died slowly from a toxin. Three other belugas died within three years of being born at the Aquarium since 2005.
“Whales and dolphins have no place in entertainment, and we are delighted that Vancouver has made the right choice for these cetaceans,” said Dr. Toni Frohoff, cetacean scientist at In Defense of Animals. “We thank our supporters and animal activists around the world, who rallied support for this ban and as we exposed Vancouver Aquarium as one of the 10 Worst Tanks for exhibiting suffering cetaceans in its dying pools. The science is clear and the world is speaking up to stop exploiting these intelligent and sensitive animals, by closing down archaic captive animal facilities for good.”
Specifically, the Board voted on Monday in favour of the following provisions:
- That no person shall bring a cetacean into a park.
- That no person shall keep a cetacean in a park, except that this prohibition does not apply to cetaceans already in a park on [date of enactment].
- That no person shall produce or present in a park a show, performance, or other form of entertainment, which includes one or more cetaceans.
You can read the full By-law Amendment here.
The cetaceans currently in captivity at the Aquarium will be allowed to stay. These include Helen, a Pacific white-sided dolphin; Daisy, a harbor porpoise; and Chester, a false killer whale. However, the Aquarium will not be allowed to make them perform for audiences.
Although there are currently no captive beluga whales in Vancouver, the Aquarium recently announced its intention to bring five belugas on loan in the United States back to B.C. upon completion of the new Arctic pools in 2019. Now the bylaws have passed, these belugas will be prevented from returning to Vancouver for display at the Aquarium.
The vote follows a heated debate between the Vancouver Aquarium and the Vancouver Park Board over the issue of animal captivity.
During the debate, the Vancouver Aquarium vehemently opposed the proposals by the Vancouver Park Board, arguing that the amendments put at risk the future of marine mammal rescue operations.
“Marine mammals who can no longer survive in the wild deserve a second chance at life,” read a statement from the Vancouver Aquarium on their "Rally for Rescue" event on Facebook. “But a proposed bylaw from the Vancouver Park Board would ban all cetaceans – whales, dolphins, and porpoises – from Vancouver parks and by extension, the Vancouver Aquarium. This decision puts the future of marine mammal rescue at risk and jeopardizes the fate of those animals in need of a new place to call home.”
However, in the weeks leading up to the vote, the Park Board argued that they supported the Aquarium’s rescue operations and that the amendments would only have a minimal impact on the Aquarium’s ability to rescue animals.
Ultimately, the debate over animal captivity is far from over. Immediately following the vote, the Vancouver Aquarium threatened to file a lawsuit against the Vancouver Park Board.
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