This is a VERY well written article. I heartily recommend folks forward it to their friends. A few remarks:
1. Author made almost no mention of how much animal care and capture regulations have improved since the 1980's. Most of her "shock" reports are from cases that took place prior to 1980. This gives the reader the false idea that marine mammals are being treated far worse today than is often the case.
2. Dead on reporting about how the National Marine Fisheries Service cannot police this industry. Nowhere am I aware of a federal agency as understaffed and underbudgeted as this one... in many cases it's deliberate, in fact it's a popular technique currently being used within Congress and the executive branch. You leave regulations in place, but you reduce the number of staff that can effectively monitor and police them. Very sneaky, and very effective.
3. The Texas State Aquarium. This place was a wonderful educational institution, and then a few years back they hired a new director who decided they'd make a lot more profit by getting a dolphin tank. They really WERE supposed to only have non-releasable dolphins from other aquariums, NOT steal wild ones. Absolutely disgusting... my love for this place has gone directly to the toilet as a result of this.
4. Dolphin Research Center on Grassy Key. The "DRC" I believe is unfairly targeted in this article. I have never been to a facility so emphatically dedicated to the animals as opposed to the people visitors. This place is wonderful to their animals, and to my knowledge ALL of their animals were either birthed there or sent from other aquariums that couldn't take care of them. The DRC's primary mission is rehabilitation and retirement life to their animals, and I strongly recommend people visit the place. It's ideologically and functionally different from SeaWorld-type places.
I can't believe they killed Shamu's mom in order to capture Shamu. Oh well it was the 1960's...
