Benefits of Vancouver Aquarium's cetacean research 'debatable': report

Research on captive whales called into question The Vancouver Aquarium is under new pressure thanks to a new report questioning the benefits to studying whales in captivity.

Two animal rights groups have released a report questioning how significantly the Vancouver Aquarium's whale and dolphin research contributes to conservation efforts.

Aquarium staff and others frequently cite that contribution as justification for keeping cetaceans in captivity, but after evaluating some of the facility's many peer-reviewed studies, the Vancouver Humane Society and Toronto-based Zoocheck suggest the merits are "debatable."

"It's not substantial enough to put these highly complex animals through this life in captivity that cannot meet their biological and behavioural needs," said Julie Woodyer, campaign director for Zoocheck.

Their report examined 13 peer-reviewed scientific papers published over the last 30 years, on topics including dolphin metabolism and food intake, beluga metabolism, the effects of mercury toxicity, whale vocalization and the impacts of foreign noises on whales' hearing.

According to the animal rights groups, the majority of studies supported by the Vancouver Aquarium are done in the field with wild cetaceans, and some of the research conducted on captive whales doesn't "necessarily have any relation to conservation or protection of cetaceans in the wild."

The groups did credit the work of biologist Christine Erbe and her team, who studied hearing threshold in belugas, as having a clearer impact on conservation.

"Given the important role of anthropogenic noise in the welfare of wild cetaceans, her work appears to have important applications. With that said, it is not entirely clear how much of the applied research on noise and hearing in wild cetaceans was made possible by the captive research," the report reads.

Ultimately, the report, which also reviewed research conducted at MarineLand in Niagara Falls, found the output of research papers "seems relatively low" and the impacts "do not appear to be substantive."

The Vancouver Aquarium declined to comment on the report Tuesday, saying staff had not yet had a chance to review the document, but pointed to an independent review of its research efforts that was conducted on behalf of the Board of Parks and Recreation in 2014, in the midst of a heated captivity debate in the city.

That report, which was prepared by an independent scientist who has no affiliation with the aquarium, seems to be at odds with some of the Vancouver Humane Society and Zoocheck's findings. It lists 12 peer-reviewed scientific papers on wild cetaceans and another 20 – a clear majority – conducted on cetaceans in the aquarium’s care.

Of those 20, 15 "provide benefit to freeranging cetacean management and conservation," while the other five were focused on captive care or husbandry with no direct application to wild animals.

Last month, following the death of the aquarium's beluga whale, Qila, staff also issued a two-page document making a case for the importance of its work.

There are numerous man-made factors threatening wild cetaceans, according to the aquarium, including climate change, habitat loss, pollution, noise from commercial fishing and shipping vessels, and hunting.

The aquarium pointed to the decline of belugas in the St. Lawrence Estuary, from 10,000 down to 900, which it blamed in part on underwater noise.

"Studying beluga whales in the wild is challenging, and the beluga whales at Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre have participated in invaluable research on beluga communication," its statement reads.

"The aim of this ongoing research, made possible by the baseline data gathered at Vancouver Aquarium, is to understand how noise pollution may be impacting mother-calf separation and to aid in the recovery and conservation of this endangered population."

To read the Vancouver Humane Society and Zoocheck’s full report, “A Crumbling Case for Cetacean Captivity?” click here.

To learn more about the Vancouver Aquarium’s research, visit its website.

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Nafeesa Karim