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millerandlevine.com : Should Marine Mammals be Kept in Captivity? This feature was particularly difficult to provide with a balanced set of web-based resources. Organizations taking sides on this issue employ such radically different approaches that evaluating them is like comparing apples and oranges. Some appeals are powerfully emotional. Others, which are more intellectual, can seem "dry" by comparison. Are the first type of approaches irrational? Are the second type heartless? What do YOU think? When investigating links below, remember that all "zoos" and "aquariums" are not alike. The best facilities bear no resemblance to the worst. For this reason, it may not be useful to discuss "captivity" without specifying what kind of facility is involved. Is the organization a member of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association or the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums? Keeping animals in captivity is an evolving combination of art, psychology, science, and public relations. Reputable zoos and aquariums are constantly working to improve both the physical and psychological health of the animals in their care. Use the pull-down menu at the right to jump to any of the "Issues" or "Technology & Society" Features in the Dragonfly Book: Feature Conflicts of Interest Ecology from Space Protecting Wolves Creatine & Sports Stem Cells GM Foods Privacy of Your DNA Antibiotics in Feed Finding New Species Protecting Water Smallpox Vaccination Designing Flowers Herbal Drugs? Sunscreen from Sea Zebra Mussels? Keeping Marine Mammals Remote Sensing of Behavior Artificial Skin AIDS Epidemic

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Web Resources on This Topic: (Read our note about outside links) Marine Mammals in Captivity (from the Humane Society of the United States) This page is part of a larger Humane Society web site that includes a more general consideration of the state of marine mammals in the world at large, and a specific, downloadable PDF document arguing that "The very nature of these animals makes them uniquely unsuited to confinement." A Humane Society paper discussing their views on zoos in general. Marine mammals & friends (and some enemies) (from the Internatonal Wildlife Coalition) Here’s a wide-ranging set of links to organizations with various connections to, and opinions on, the welfare of marine mammals. American Zoo and Aquarium Association This is the main page for the professional organization of the best Zoos and Aquariums in the country. Explore their site to get an idea of what reputable zoos and aquariums are up to and why they are doing it. One specific set of pages on their site explains their philosophy about keeping marine mammals. Congressional Research Service report for Congress: Marine Mammals in Captivity: Background and Management Issues in the United States This site contains precisely what the title implies: a third-party report on this issue to the US Congress Rescued, Rehabbed, and Released (from the American Zoo and Aquarium Association) This document offers information on one program for rescuing and rehabbing stranded marine mammals – an important activity of several aquaria that have facilities for holding and exhibiting marine mammals.

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(A web site developed by Ken Miller and Joe Levine to provide scientific and education support for teachers and students using our textbooks)