Report on Orca Welfare at Loro Parque: Past and Present
A white paper by Lori Marino PhD and Heather Rally DVM, published by the Whale Sanctuary Project, January 2024
There is growing empirical evidence that living in concrete tanks in performance parks is stressful and harmful for orcas. Loro Parque Zoo appears to be an extreme example of that issue – with a track record of early deaths, mishandling of breeding and calf development, self-harming stereotypies and hyperaggression.
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How Does Captivity Affect Cetacean and Elephant Brains?
Article in Reviews in the Neurosciences, September 2021
This review paper discusses the potential impact of impoverished, captive environments (zoos, marine parks and aquariums) on the brains of cetaceans and elephants.
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Big Brains in Artificial Captive Environments
Presentation by Dr. Lori Marino and colleagues at the International Neuroethics Society 2020
Why cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), elephants and other large mammals suffer poor welfare and stress-related illness when living in cages and concrete tanks in zoos and marine parks. And the neuroethical issues associated with keeping animals on display for entertainment.
Watch the video
View the poster
Read the abstract
Chronic Stress in Captive Orcas
Article by Dr. Lori Marino et al. in Journal of Veterinary Behavior, June 2019
The scientific evidence on poor welfare in captive orcas is brought together and addressed with a well-known mammalian model of chronic stress and its effects on the brain and immune system.
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Also: Download the poster from the 2019 World Marine Mammal Science Conference entitled “The Harmful Effects of Captivity and Chronic Stress on the Well-being of Orcas”:
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Turning the Tide for Captive Whales
Article by Dr. Lori Marino in Nature’s Newsletter, July 2018
“The scientific evidence of poor welfare, short lifespans, and psychological and physical ailments continues to pile up, all pointing to the same conclusion: that the nature of orcas and other cetaceans is entirely incompatible with life in the tanks.”
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Dolphin-Human Interaction Programs
Policies, Problems, Alternatives – ASI
Policy paper on the impacts of dolphin swim programs in captivity and in the wild and recommendations for future regulations.
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Toward a New Paradigm of Non-Captive Research on Cetacean Cognition
Marino and Frohoff – PLoS ONE 2011
A review of the negative effects of marine park living for dolphins and whales. And a proposal for a new way to study cognition in free-ranging dolphins and whales, including devising ways to conduct behavioral tests with lone sociable whales and dolphins.
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