Fifth in a series of posts about our work in the first quarter of 2024.
Last year, 2023, the Whale Sanctuary Project, National Aquarium, and Sea Life Trust delivered accreditation guidelines for cetacean sanctuaries to the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS), which was looking to publish what would be the first ever set of best practices for cetacean (whale and dolphin) sanctuaries.
Standards for sanctuaries that care for land animals – including elephants, great apes and big cats – have already been in place for many years. And now, with public opinion pressing for an end to keeping whales and dolphins in captivity for the purposes of entertainment, it is clear that the world is in the early days of coastal sanctuaries being established for their retirement.
Here at the Whale Sanctuary Project, and with so many whales and dolphins in captivity around the world, we have always approached the establishing of the sanctuary in Nova Scotia from the viewpoint of it being a potential blueprint for many more to come.
An early design for the National Aquarium's dolphin sanctuary in a tropical or sub-tropical location, mirroring the habitat in which wild dolphins thrive.
So, for the past few years, the Whale Sanctuary Project has worked with two other organizations that participated in formulating new guidelines for the GFAS: the National Aquarium, located in Baltimore, which is creating a sanctuary in the Caribbean for its six dolphins; and Sea Life Trust, which had completed Phase One of a sanctuary on the coast of Iceland for two beluga whales from an entertainment park in China that had been purchased by Merlin Entertainments.
The end product of this pioneering collaboration was a set of standards that were adopted and published by the GFAS. They require that to be awarded GFAS accreditation, an organization must meet rigorous and peer-reviewed animal care standards that are confirmed by a site visit. And they must adhere to ethical and operational principles so that the general public, along with donors and grantors, can recognize them as true sanctuaries.
A sanctuary is, by definition, a place where the wellbeing of the residents is always the priority. And so, while the guidelines are quite detailed, we identified four fundamental tenets for accreditation. They are based on four simple and basic questions regarding any facility that advertises itself as a sanctuary:
- Does it engage in performances, demonstrations or displays?
- Are visitors allowed access to the animals for commercial purposes like rides, petting pools and up-close photos with the animals?
- Does it allow breeding?
- And overall, does it have any priorities other than the well-being of the animals?
If the answer to any of those questions is “Yes,” then it’s not an authentic sanctuary.
This year, we have been in contact with several groups and organizations that are seeking to create cetacean sanctuaries. And, together with the National Aquarium and Sea Life Trust, we look forward to sharing knowledge and experience toward establishing authentic sanctuaries with the common goal of bringing an end altogether to the exploitation of whales and dolphins.
Next: What It Takes and How You Can Help