Georgia Aquarium says it will no longer bring dolphins or beluga whales into human care from the wild “except in rescue situations.”
Any beluga whales brought to the Aquarium in downtown Atlanta from other facilities will have been born in human care, are on breeding loan or are animals that other facilities no longer care to house, Georgia Aquarium said in a prepared statement released Wednesday.
Aquarium officials said the decision was reached after a denial was received from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to an application to import beluga whales form the Sea of Okhotsk, despite a validated peer-review population abundance study indicating populations are stable and would not be negatively affected by a limited number of whales being acquired by Georgia Aquarium, reports Atlanta Business Chronicle broadcast partner WXIA-TV.
PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman released a statement following Georgia Aquarium’s announcement.
Most aquariums have long stopped stealing dolphins and whales from their ocean homes, and only the Georgia Aquarium was still trying, unsuccessfully, to import wild-caught belugas just a few years ago. The National Aquarium has recognized that the needs of these intelligent, sensitive, far-ranging animals simply can't be met in captivity.
Now, PETA is calling on the Georgia Aquarium to move beyond basic decency, follow the National Aquarium's lead, and make a real difference for these animals by sending them to coastal sanctuaries. The animals at the Georgia Aquarium and the belugas who were captured for it and left to languish in small tanks in Russia all deserve freedom now.
