![\"Belugas\"\/](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.animals24-7.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Picsart_26-09-29_15-12-45-467-e1790719985820.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 CHICAGO,\u00a0 Illinois\u2013\u2013<\/strong>Four of the 30 belugas evacuated from the defunct Marineland of Niagara in Niagara Falls,\u00a0 Ontario,\u00a0 Canada,\u00a0 during July and August 2026 have died at their new homes,\u00a0 along with a fifth beluga who was already at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.<\/p>\n The deaths have reinvigorated 56 years of furious debate over whale and dolphin captivity,\u00a0 and in particular,\u00a0 over the ethics and options of captive marine mammal release.<\/p>\n (See <\/em><\/strong>Marineland of Niagara belugas evacuated, but move to the Shedd goes badly<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a> Ric O\u2019Barry, Canadian activist Cara Sands, & Mark Berman at Marineland of Niagara\u00a0 See Marine mammal activist Mark \u201cThe Bermanator\u201d Berman, 63.<\/a><\/strong><\/em> Ric O\u2019Barry,\u00a0 now 86,\u00a0 at age 30 touched it all off on Earth Day 1970,\u00a0 leaving a lucrative career as a Miami Seaquarium and Hollywood dolphin trainer to try to free a dolphin named Charlie Brown from a laboratory in the Bahamas.<\/p>\n O\u2019Barry,\u00a0 then known as Richard Barry O\u2019Feldman,\u00a0 opened a gap in the sea pen that held Charlie Brown,\u00a0 but Charlie Brown refused to leave.<\/p>\n O\u2019Barry went on to release many formerly captive dolphins successfully,\u00a0 while acknowledging that not every captive dolphin can, \u00a0should,\u00a0 or wants to be released.<\/p>\n This position,\u00a0 though O\u2019Barry still tends to be regarded as Public Enemy #1 by the marine mammal captivity industry,\u00a0 has also cost him many friends among marine mammal captivity opponents.<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n O\u2019Barry\u2019s name is now invoked on either side of the discussion involving the former Marineland of Niagara belugas,\u00a0 three of whom died at the Shedd Aquarium,\u00a0 and one at the Oceanogr\u00e0fic Val\u00e8ncia aquarium in Spain.<\/p>\n \u201cAdvocates for animal well-being say a rushed transfer process may have contributed to their deaths,\u201d\u00a0 observed Finnegan Belleau for the Chicago Tribune<\/em> on September 23, \u00a02026.<\/p>\n But the rushed transfer process was necessitated by the circumstances.<\/p>\n \u201cMarineland\u2019s owners threatened to euthanize the belugas if long-term solutions weren\u2019t found,\u201d\u00a0 Belleau mentioned.<\/p>\n The Shedd Aquarium took in 10 whales, \u00a0Finnegan recounted.\u00a0 In addition to the Georgia Aquarium and Oceanogr\u00e0fic Val\u00e8ncia,\u00a0 former Marineland of Niagara belugas were sent to SeaWorld San Antonio and SeaWorld San Diego,\u00a0 which have not had deaths among the evacuated whales\u2013\u2013at least not yet.<\/p>\n <\/a> Belugas at the Shedd Aquarium.<\/strong><\/em> Preliminary necropsy findings on the first three of the four belugas deceased at the Shedd Aquarium reportedly found that Peekachu,\u00a0 23,\u00a0 a female former Marineland of Niagara resident who died on August 25,\u00a0 2026,\u00a0 suffered from \u201csignificant chronic gastrointestinal inflammation,\u201d\u00a0 and had \u201cBird feathers, \u00a0sticks and large porous rocks in her stomach,\u201d\u00a0 probably ingested at Marineland of Niagara,\u00a0 but not believed to be directly related to her death.<\/p>\n Rain,\u00a0 20,\u00a0 a female beluga who died on September 2,\u00a0 2026,\u00a0 also suffered from severe chronic gastrointestinal inflammation.\u00a0 She appeared to have ingested paint flecks at Marineland of Niagara,\u00a0 also not believed to be directly related to her death.<\/p>\n Beethoven,\u00a0 34,\u00a0 likewise died on September 2,\u00a0 2026.\u00a0 A male born on August 8, 1992 at SeaWorld San Antonio,\u00a0 Beethoven also lived at SeaWorld San Diego, \u00a0the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma, \u00a0and the Georgia Aquarium,\u00a0 before arriving at the Shedd on October 19, \u00a02014.<\/p>\n Beethoven was found to have died from \u201cage-associated health changes, \u00a0including changes affecting his cardiovascular system.<\/p>\n <\/a> Osirus.\u00a0 (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Osiris,\u00a0 another former Marineland of Niagara beluga,\u00a0 named for the ancient Egyptian god of the dead,\u00a0 died at the Shedd Aquarium on September 21,\u00a0 2026,\u00a0 after a month of \u201congoing clinical concerns,\u201d \u00a0a Shedd spokesperson told Belleau of the Chicago Tribune<\/em>.<\/p>\n The Shedd also mentioned ongoing concern about the condition of two more former Marineland of Niagara belugas,\u00a0 Secord,\u00a0 22,\u00a0 and Caspian,\u00a0 27.<\/p>\n \u201cShedd\u2019s eight female whales from Marineland were captured in Russian waters,\u201d\u00a0 Finnegan reported,\u00a0 \u201cwhile the two males were born at [Marineland of Niagara].\u201d<\/p>\n The four recent deaths of belugas transferred from Marineland of Niagara were not unprecedented.\u00a0 Finnegan recalled that three of five belugas transferred from Marineland of Niagara to the Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut died in 2021,\u00a0 soon after that move,\u00a0 also allegedly due to preexisting conditions.<\/p>\n (See <\/em><\/strong>Marineland of Canada & Mystic Aquarium in hot water over beluga deaths<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a> Jason Bruck,\u00a0 professor of biology,\u00a0 whale researcher.\u00a0 (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Debate emerging from the most recent deaths of former Marineland of Niagara belugas,\u00a0 smoldering in online forums for weeks,\u00a0 erupted into public view with publication in the online magazine The Conversation<\/em> of an essay headlined \u201cFinding homes for whales and dolphins when parks like Marineland Canada close isn\u2019t easy \u2013 a biologist explains why sea sanctuaries aren\u2019t the answer.\u201d<\/p>\n The author,\u00a0 Jason Bruck,\u00a0 is an associate professor of biology at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches,\u00a0 Texas,\u00a0 who also holds uncompensated positions as director of research and education for Marineland Florida (not affiliated with Marineland Canada), \u00a0scientist member of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks & Aquariums\u2019 animal welfare committee,\u00a0 and as a founding board member of the Marine Mammal Research Network.<\/p>\n Additionally,\u00a0 offered Bruck of his background,\u00a0 \u201cI grew up in an animal hospital with a veterinarian father who was the wildlife rehabilitator for our county,\u201d\u00a0 in upstate New York.<\/p>\n <\/a> One of the last two dolphins at the Melka Excelsior Hotel in Bali heads to temporary sanctuary prior to release in 2022.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em>(Ric O\u2019Barry\u2019s Dolphin Project)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Opened Bruck,\u00a0 \u201cThe word \u2018sanctuary\u2019 carries an emotional appeal, \u00a0but a sanctuary is still a form of captivity. \u00a0It is not release, \u00a0which would be illegal for almost all animals currently under human care.<\/p>\n \u201cIn cetacean sanctuaries,\u201d\u00a0 Bruck explained,\u00a0 \u201canimals remain behind nets and depend on people for food and veterinary care. \u00a0Managers must control the animals\u2019 social groups, \u00a0monitor their health and respond to environmental hazards.<\/p>\n \u2018Animal welfare,\u201d\u00a0 Bruck defined, \u00a0\u201cdepends on many factors: \u00a0the animal\u2019s health, \u00a0social relationships, \u00a0nutrition, \u00a0the ability to make choices about how the animal spends time,\u00a0 cognitive stimulation, \u00a0and if the animal has appropriate environmental predictability.<\/p>\n \u201cThe animals need enough change to keep them engaged, \u00a0but not so much as to overwhelm them and cause harmful stress,\u201d\u00a0 Bruck wrote. \u00a0\u201cCaregivers cannot assume that what is natural to animals born or housed under human care is the same as what is natural to a wild animal.<\/p>\n <\/a> Peekachu. (Shedd Aquarium photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n \u201cWhether a zoo-born cetacean benefits from a sanctuary is a hypothesis to test, \u00a0not a fact to assume,\u201d\u00a0 Bruck asserted.<\/p>\n Bruck further pointed out that there are no successful cetacean sanctuaries currently operating,\u00a0 though there are at least two start-ups in the Mediterranean that have yet to receive whales or dolphins.<\/p>\n (See Whale Sanctuary may finally get two whales; dolphin sanctuaries left waiting<\/a>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAfter 10 years,\u201d\u00a0 Bruck mentioned,\u00a0 \u201cThe Whale Sanctuary Project in Nova Scotia, \u00a0Canada, \u00a0is still trying to raise funding and hasn\u2019t built its [planned] 100-acre sea pen.<\/p>\n \u201cSimilar startup troubles have plagued the National Aquarium in Baltimore, which also pledged to place its animals in a sanctuary about 10 years ago but has not yet done so,\u201d\u00a0 Bruck recalled.<\/p>\n <\/a> Rain. (Shedd Aquarium photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n \u201cSea Life Trust Beluga Whale Sanctuary has made multiple attempts to place two belugas named Little White and Little Grey from a Chinese aquarium into a sanctuary they built in Iceland,\u201d\u00a0 Bruck continued. \u00a0\u201cHowever, \u00a0a 2025 review reported that both belugas spent 92.6% of their time in a conventional indoor pool rather than their sanctuary.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile in the sanctuary they exhibited stress behaviors and had feeding difficulties, \u00a0with one animal even developing ulcers. \u00a0It remains unclear whether the whales will ever inhabit, \u00a0much less thrive, \u00a0in their sanctuary.<\/p>\n \u201cThese examples do not prove sanctuaries cannot work,\u201d\u00a0 Bruck conceded.\u00a0 \u201cThey demonstrate that these types of enclosures are hard to develop, \u00a0fund, \u00a0and manage. \u00a0They also show that animals don\u2019t adapt to these environments readily.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a> Charles Vinick & Lori Marino of the Whale Sanctuary Project.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em>(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Responded Whale Sanctuary Project president Lori Marino,\u00a0 \u201cI am a neuroscientist who has studied cetaceans for over thirty years.<\/p>\n \u201cBruck\u2019s essay does not include any new information or opinions,\u201d\u00a0 Marino charged.\u00a0 \u201cDespite his admonitions about sanctuaries, \u00a0this piece serves to divert attention away from the real issue, \u00a0which is that whales and dolphins from an entertainment park in Canada are dying at an alarming rate.<\/p>\n \u201cThey didn\u2019t go to a sanctuary. \u00a0They went into more concrete tanks after living a life confined to a barren environment where their health was neglected. \u00a0Some of them, \u00a0about half of the thirty beluga whales, \u00a0were taken out of the wild to be kept at Marineland.\u201d<\/p>\n Countered Bruck,\u00a0 \u201cYour colleague and fellow Whale Sanctuary Project board member, \u00a0Dr. Naomi Rose, \u00a0suggested during an Animal Justice webinar that many of the Marineland Canada belugas might have [had] to be euthanized on site because their health could be so compromised.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the event, \u00a0the American Zoo Association facilities [that actually evacuated the belguas] were able to move every animal out of Canada alive,\u201d\u00a0 whereas,\u00a0 \u201cHad these animals been transferred to the Whale Sanctuary Project, \u00a0some might not have even left Marineland of Niagara.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Marino hinted that Bruck might be in effect a \u201chired gun\u201d for the captivity industry.<\/p>\n Bruck responded that \u201cMy salary is publicly available as a professor at Stephen F. Austin University,\u201d\u00a0 that he is not paid for any of his marine mammal work,\u00a0 and that \u201cMy pay is substantially less than the compensation reported for you and Charles [Vinick] through the years of the Whale Sanctuary Project.<\/p>\n \u201cI also note,\u201d\u00a0 Bruck added, \u00a0\u201cthat although your reported salaries have decreased as the Whale Sanctuary Project has faced criticism regarding organizational expenses, \u00a0compensation remains a significant component of the organization\u2019s expenditures relative to the progress made toward developing a functioning sanctuary.<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n \u201cFor full disclosure,\u201d\u00a0 Bruck continued,\u00a0 \u201cI occasionally receive grant funding through our partners at Dolphin Quest. \u00a0That funding, \u00a0however, \u00a0goes toward the cost and development of our PHASM drone, \u00a0which is designed to collect health data from vulnerable wild cetacean populations,\u201d\u00a0 specifically in Galveston Bay, Texas.<\/p>\n The PHASM drone,\u00a0 Bruck explained,\u00a0 is designed to capture whales\u2019 breath when they blow,\u00a0 from which \u201cwe will be able to perform a lot of aspects of health assessment that once involved wild animal restraint, \u00a0millions of dollars, \u00a0and dozens of boats\/people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time animals from pools are put to expansive sea pen environments,\u201d\u00a0 Bruck alleged,\u00a0 \u201cthere have been issues,\u201d\u00a0 a point O\u2019Barry among others may dispute,\u00a0 while conceding that there are frequent issues with many longtime captive whales and dolphins.<\/p>\n \u201cEven when I see animals given the choice between open ocean\/complete freedom and an outdoor pool environment,\u00a0 they choose the pool,\u201d\u00a0 Bruck said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s safe. \u00a0It\u2019s where their people are.<\/p>\n <\/a> Ric & Helene O\u2019Barry<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n \u201cIt takes years of training and vast amounts of fish to get them to trust trainers enough to follow them out into those open ocean environments,\u201d\u00a0 Bruck claimed,\u00a0 \u201cand even still they want to get back to their pools as fast as they can.\u201d<\/p>\n Here is the crux of the longtime disagreement between O\u2019Barry and practically all others who have attempted dolphin,\u00a0 beluga,\u00a0 or orca releases:\u00a0 O\u2019Barry maintains that a successful release requires breaking the animal\/human bond,\u00a0 that the animal to be released should never even see a trainer,\u00a0 if possible,\u00a0 during preparation for release,\u00a0 so that the animal no longer depends on a human for food,\u00a0 mental stimulation,\u00a0 and companionship,\u00a0 and instead learns (or re-learns) to think and act as a wild animal.<\/p>\n The O\u2019Barry approach is exactly the approach used by most wildlife rehabilitators with most species.\u00a0 The notion that training with human contact is required to release captive wildlife seems to exist almost entirely with whales and dolphins\u2013\u2013who are among the few wild-caught animals for whom there exists an entire training industry.<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Accused Bruck,\u00a0 replying further to Marino,\u00a0 \u201cYou might have saved yourself and a lot of animals in countries like Canada, \u00a0Mexico, and France a lot of problems. \u00a0Instead you convinced the world that sanctuaries were not only a viable alternative, \u00a0but that they were the only alternative.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd now when these places close because of laws you help get passed, \u00a0your sanctuary model is a bust, leaving stranded animals in all of the places these laws are passed.\u201d<\/p>\n Interjected Colorado College professor of neuroscience Bob Jacobs,\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cSo, let\u2019s say the cetaceans currently in captivity stay in captivity, and we take care of them the best we can for the rest of their lives. \u00a0After they are gone, should we continue to hold cetaceans in captivity?\u201d<\/p>\n Answered Bruck,\u00a0 \u201cThe devil, \u00a0of course, \u00a0will be in the details of how these things are measured and assessed, \u00a0but as a theoretical answer, \u00a0if we can meet two conditions then the answer is yes.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n The two conditions Bruck said,\u00a0 are \u201cThat we are able to provide animals under human care with lives that are as good as or better than those they experience in the wild, \u00a0though not necessarily the same. \u00a0This includes not doing things to animals that are currently under human care that threaten their welfare,\u201d\u00a0 for instance \u201csterilization, \u00a0unhealthy sex segregation or denying animals calf rearing.\u201d<\/p>\n This,\u00a0 Bruck did not acknowledge,\u00a0 amounted to an argument for breeding whales and dolphins in captivity.<\/p>\n The second condition,\u00a0 Bruck said,\u00a0 is \u201cThat the animals under human care are able to contribute meaningfully to research, \u00a0conservation, \u00a0and education,\u201d\u00a0 which is the primary set of rationalizations for marine mammal captivity issued by the marine mammal entertainment industry ever since marine mammals first were captured for exhibit.<\/p>\n Among the first exhibitors to use that pretext,\u00a0 and perhaps the first to exhibit beluga whales,\u00a0 was P.T. Barnum in 1861-1862,\u00a0 whose captive belugas all soon died,\u00a0 contributing little more to \u201cresearch,\u00a0 conservation, \u00a0and education\u201d than their skeletons.<\/p>\n Bruck tried to separate his arguments from the dismal history of marine mammal exhibition.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s important,\u201d\u00a0 Bruck wrote,\u00a0 \u201cto recognize how seriously welfare came to be taken in managed care as welfare science developed in the late 1990s and 2000s. \u00a0The ulcers that used to kill captive dolphins in the 1980s are now exceedingly rare. \u00a0Sterilization and cleaning practices improved, and standards around contamination are taken very seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n But would this have happened without the pressure on the marine mammal exhibition industry developed by O\u2019Barry,\u00a0 the 1993 film Free Willy!,<\/em>\u00a0 the 2013 documentary Blackfish<\/em>,\u00a0 et al?<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n \u201cWhat is the effect of the entertainment?\u201d\u00a0 asked Bruck.\u00a0 \u201cIf it offends our sensibilities but ultimately gets an East Texan to call his congressperson when the Marine Mammal Protection Act is under attack because he was impressed by a show he saw at SeaWorld, \u00a0then I\u2019m okay with that.\u201d<\/p>\n Bruck further argued that many marine mammals seem to enjoy performing for crowds.\u00a0 The orcas Keiko and Lolita seemed to be among them,\u00a0 by most accounts,\u00a0 and were among the captive whales whom O\u2019Barry deemed poor candidates for release because of their extent of habituation.<\/p>\n \u201cGrowing up,\u201d\u00a0 Bruck said,\u00a0 \u201cwe had hundreds of different non-releasable animals on our property because my father was a wildlife rehabilitator.\u00a0 I learned early on that many animals, \u00a0particularly mammals, \u00a0genuinely enjoy training and human interaction. \u00a0Raccoons,\u00a0 skunks,\u00a0 flying squirrels, you name it. \u00a0These animals were not domesticated,\u00a0 but they willingly participated in training, sometimes even when there was no food reward. \u00a0I\u2019m not sure an audience clapping fundamentally changes that experience.<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n \u201cObviously, \u00a0I would not support behaviors that are coerced,\u201d\u00a0 Bruck added.\u00a0 \u201cThat can include trying to force an animal into an environment the animal doesn\u2019t want to be in, which can include a large sea pen.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the key is understanding the individual animal,\u201d\u00a0 Bruck continued.\u00a0 \u201cIf the \u2018entertainment\u2019 an animal participates in is something that animal prefers and voluntarily engages with, \u00a0I have a very different view of it than I would have something coerced. Ultimately, it is in a facility\u2019s best interest to understand and accommodate those preferences anyway. \u00a0You can\u2019t really make a 500-pound animal do something it genuinely does not want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Overlooked in Bruck\u2019s argument,\u00a0 however,\u00a0 was the question of capturing an animal who does not want to be captured,\u00a0 whose options then are between either performing or not performing,\u00a0 not between captivity and freedom.<\/p>\n Under those circumstances,\u00a0 which are the circumstances of every captive marine mammal,\u00a0 the animal\u2019s choices are comparable to the choice of a Louisiana State Penitentiary inmate to participate or not participate in the annual Angola Prison Rodeo.<\/p>\n There is no option for the prisoner to go free.<\/p>\n <\/a> SeaWorld profits took a dive with the February 2013 debut of the documentary Blackfish.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Bruck mentioned that,\u00a0 \u201cThe Japanese public, \u00a0by going to dolphin shows and appreciating the animals as more than big fish, \u00a0is now having more of an effect in pushing conservative politicians away from supporting and subsidizing the dolphin drives [at Taiji] more than anything Ric O\u2019Barry ever did over there.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the SeaWorld\/Blackfish effect, \u00a0where people learn to love these animals because of marine parks and then become activists against them after watching Blackfish,\u201d\u00a0 Bruck said,\u00a0 \u201cwithout realizing that SeaWorld was often the reason they cared about the animals in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n This could also be said of O\u2019Barry himself,\u00a0 who credits his years as a diver and trainer at the Miami Seaquarium with developing his concern for marine mammals and his opposition to captivity.<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Offered Bob Jacobs,\u00a0 \u201cThe concept of a sanctuary for cetaceans only really exists because the captivity industry, \u00a0as historically defined, \u00a0is struggling in much of the western hemisphere. \u00a0Several countries,\u201d\u00a0 including France and Mexico, \u201care banning using marine mammals for entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile,\u00a0 though,\u00a0 \u201cCaptive facilities for cetaceans have been growing rapidly in China,\u201d\u00a0 Jacobs reminded,\u00a0 \u201cwith the majority of the animals being captured in the wild.\u00a0 Most of these facilities are not accredited; \u00a0most of these facilities offer cetacean shows for entertainment, \u00a0and estimates suggest that only a very small percentage offer any kind of enrichment,\u201d\u00a0 other than training to perform.<\/p>\n Countered Bruck,\u00a0 \u201cWhen I was a child growing up in upstate New York, \u00a0we were not near the ocean. \u00a0Marineland of Niagara was the probably the first time I ever got to see a whale or dolphin. There is no way I would have grown up appreciating these animals or become a cetacean biologist had it not been for facilities like this.<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n \u201cAs adults,\u201d\u00a0 Bruck said,\u00a0 \u201cwe dismiss animal presentations because we may not need them to appreciate the animals. \u00a0But do not underestimate how important it is for children to see these animals, \u00a0even if they don\u2019t live near the ocean. \u00a0Seeing videos on the internet is not enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Counter-argument:\u00a0 millions of children care about giant land-dwelling dinosaurs.,\u00a0 extinct for more than 66 million years.\u00a0 No human children have ever seen one.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a professor, \u00a0anecdotally,\u201d\u00a0 Bruck finished,\u00a0 \u201cI am seeing a massive drop off in interest in these animals and the ocean, \u00a0as a possible function of the backlash against zoos and aquariums as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n More likely,\u00a0 this could be a function of a lack of job opportunities in marine mammalogy and oceanography as result of steep cuts in the U.S federal budget for environmental science of all sorts.<\/p>\nSanctuary proponents square off against captivity defenders,\u00a0 as both sides invoke the name & teachings of Ric O\u2019Barry<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
(Ric O\u2019Barry Facebook page)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\nRic O\u2019Barry<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\u201cRushed transfer process\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
(Shedd Aquarium Facebook photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\nWhat killed the Shedd belugas?<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nGod of the dead<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nJason Bruck<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\u201c\u2018Sanctuary\u2019 is still a form of captivity\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\u201cA hypothesis to test\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nFailed attempts<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nLori Marino<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nHired gun?<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nPHASM drone<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nTraining,\u00a0 says O\u2019Barry,\u00a0 is the problem<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nBruck blames sanctuary schemes<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nBruck argues for captivity<\/h2>\n
<\/a>P.T. Barnum<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\u201cWhat is the effect of entertainment?\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nDolphin exhibition & prison rodeo<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\u201cThe SeaWorld\/Blackfish effect\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\u201cCaptivity industry is struggling\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\u201cImportant for children\u201d says Bruck<\/h2>\n