“Marine parks” opening across China are displaying a disgraceful demand for sea life to fill their tanks. As the rest of the world turns away from confining large animals in unnatural habitats for entertainment, China reverses that trend. 872 cetaceans are already captive in China’s parks with hundreds more expected to arrive within the next two years. This is a worst case scenario for any animals within their reach. What do we do next? Investigators are still uncovering shocking details so it is time to support organizations working towards halting the illegal hunt of whales and dolphins and establishing a reasonable animal welfare standard.
Drone footage (below) of 11 orcas and 90 beluga whales in cramped pens off Russia’s Pacific coast near Nakhodka, was broadcasted on RT News (formerly Russia Today). Multiple news sources suspect these animals are being held as they await sale to China’s 61 existing parks or the dozens more under construction. The Novaya Gazeta, an independent Russian newspaper, reported some of these cetaceans have been there since July.
SEVENSEAS Media hosts one of the largest (if not the largest) marine conservation-tailored jobs boards in the industry. Each week I sift through over a hundred emails with job openings and announcements and on Monday I received a notification with multiple career opportunities at “marine parks” in China (see map below). At first glance I was excited to imagine the country opening and staffing dozens of ocean sanctuaries but it only took a minute to realize the parks were not coastal. Some in fact were hundreds of miles from the ocean. These were amusement parks.
In 2018, no self-respecting marine biologist would ever agree to work at or support a park practicing and promoting the illegal capture of whales and dolphins. Today, organizations are working tirelessly to fix mistakes from the past and build more natural ocean sanctuaries to rehouse captive cetaceans.
These Chinese parks, zoos, and aquariums pose serious problems, including increasing the number of live cetacean shows when the rest of the world is looking to reverse that destructive trend. According to Reuters there is already an estimated 872 cetaceans in 61 Chinese parks with 36 more parks slated to open in the next two years (see infographic below). Illegal trade of beluga whales and orcas has already been a documented issue between China and Russia. All the while, sale of cetaceans for entertainment purposes has been illegal since the worldwide moratorium on whale hunting in 1982. The unfortunate loophole that allows capture of animals for scientific or educational motives is what fuels this trade.
Officials say a single orca can be sold in China for the equivalent of six million US dollars. Anytime something living or dead fetches that kind of a price, there is sure to be crime and corruption along the way- especially outside the eyes of a governing body. The need for transparency is paramount so animals can be tracked, regulations can be put in place, and the government can establish a basic animal welfare standard. There are currently no governing laws in China that prohibit the mistreatment of animals so these belugas, orcas, and other giants from the ocean are in tanks, pens, and transport vehicles at the mercy of their captors or purchasers.
What can you do right now from your computer so far away? It might not not seem like much but you can do plenty. Share this story and stories like it. Talk about these issues. When you see an opportunity to organize or demonstrate, seize it. Just a few weeks ago in October, the Chinese State Council announced lifting a 1993 ban on the trade of tiger bones and rhinoceros horn, making exceptions for “medical research.” This would have opened a legal loophole for millions of people to consume products of species already teetering on the brink of extinction. There was such fierce protest from conservation groups, governments, and individuals across the globe that on Monday, November 12th, China announced it would postpone lifting the ban. Success.
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This piece was edited and posted onto SEVENSEAS Media by Giacomo Abrusci