Dear      :

Please add my voice to those opposed to the [name of facility] proposed dolphin exhibit. Concrete tanks cannot replicate the expanse of the ocean, nor can they fulfill the physical or psychological needs of these bright, social creatures.

Marine amusement park spectators see animals in captivity, where instinctive behaviors are lost in a made-for-profit world. Dolphins belong in the ocean, where they normally swim 100 miles a day. Swimming around a tank 500 times just to cover 50 miles is cruel punishment.

Perhaps that is why ocean-life gurus Jacques Cousteau and Richard O'Barry oppose the capture and confinement of marine mammals. England closed its exhibits. Brazil outlawed the use of marine mammals for entertainment. Israel banned dolphin importation for use in marine parks and South Carolina prohibited whale and dolphin exhibits. In response to public aversion, the Virginia Beach city council just nixed plans to construct a $55 million dolphin tank.

The abduction of marine animals is notoriously inhumane. Capture boats engulf dolphins, who swim in close-knit pods, in loud noise and churning waters. The terrified animals are netted and dragged onto boats where abductors search for females of breeding age. Many discarded dolphins die from drowning, shock, lung aspiration or pneumonia.

No matter how "state of the art" your facility may be, it simply cannot duplicate natural habitat. Wild dolphins live to 50; those in captivity rarely survive their teens. The National Marine Fisheries Service states that over half of all captured dolphins die in under two years. Survivors average 5.8 years in captivity. Socially bonded dolphins go insane when attempts to communicate through bouncing sonar waves create "boomerang" reverberations that literally bounce back at them. Many aquariums stock Pepto-Bismol to treat stress ulcers. Chlorinated tanks can cause dolphins to go blind and suffer skin disorders. Many succumb to pneumonia, ulcers or other stress-related illnesses.

Please consider diverting funds for this project toward local conservation efforts or other educational alternatives such as real-time videos of rehabilitation efforts broadcast into an "aquarium theater", on to the internet, or into classrooms.

Trapped marine mammals are sad caricatures of the real thing. Please do not subject more creatures to pain and suffering for the sole purpose of public amusement.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

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