Marine mammal park
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A marine mammal park (sometimes oceanarium) is a commercial theme park or aquarium where marine mammals such as dolphins, orcas, beluga whales and sea lions are kept within water tanks and displayed to the public in special shows. A marine mammal park is more elaborate than a dolphinarium, because it often features also other species of whales and contains additional entertainment attractions. It is thus seen as a combination of a public aquarium and an amusement park for the purpose of entertaining people. Marine mammal parks have even to be distinguished from marine parks, which include natural reserves and marine wildlife sanctuaries such as coral reefs particularly in Australia.
History
The first marine mammal park, then called oceanarium, was established in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1938. It was initially a large water tank used to exhibit marine mammals for filming underwater movies and only became later a public attraction. Today Marineland of Florida claims to be “the world’s first oceanarium”.The first park keeping orcas in captivity was Sea World at San Diego in the 1960s, soon followed by 1954 established Marineland of the Pacific on the Palos Verdes Peninsula,California, which closed down in 1986.
Especially between the 1970s and the 1990s, technical advances and the public increasing interest in aquatic environments prompted a shift to large marine mammal parks with whales, mostly orcas and dolphins, as attractions. Within this time Sea World USA evolved as the most prominent chain of marine mammal parks, with operations in Orlando, Florida, San Diego, California, San Antonio, Texas, and previously Cleveland, Ohio.
List of Parks
| Name | Location | Additional Information & External Link |
|---|---|---|
| SeaWorld | San Diego, California (USA) | [SeaWorld USA] |
| SeaWorld | Orlando, Florida (USA) | [SeaWorld USA] |
| SeaWorld | San Antonio, Texas (USA) | [SeaWorld USA] |
| Marineland of Florida | St. Augustine, Florida (USA) | [Marineland of Florida] |
| Marineland | Antibes (France) | [Marineland Antibes] |
| Sea World | Gold Coast, Queensland, (Australia) | [Sea World Australia] |
| SeaWorld | Cleveland, Ohio (USA) | sold in 2001 (whales and dolphins were moved to other sea world parks) |
| Marineland of the Pacific | Palos Verdes Peninsula, California (USA) | closed in 1986 |
Criticism and animal welfare
Many animal welfare groups such as WSPA consider keeping whales and dolphins in human captivity a form of animal abuse. The main argument is that whales and dolphins do not have enough freedom of movement within their artificial environment. The existence of marine mammal parks is thus very controversially discussed.Although sizable pools for whales and dolphins require an extraordinarily technical and financial expenditure and it seems therefore nearly impossible to create acceptable conditions for these mammals in artificial environments, marine mammal parks endeavour to improve the conditions of captivity and attempt to engage in public education as well as scientific studies. For that purpose many marine mammal parks joined together in the “Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums”, an international association dedicated to high standards of care of marine mammals. It was founded in 1987 and established offices near Washington, DC, in 1992.
Books
- Lou Jacobs, Wonders of an oceanarium: The story of marine life in captivity. Golden Gate Junior Books, 1965.
- Joanne F. Oppenheim, Oceanarium. Bantam Books, 1994. ISBN 055309520X
See also
External Links
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