Honey and the penguins, the beginning of new distress

At “Inubosaki Marine Park” in Chiba prefecture Choshi city which closed due to deterioration and business collapse in January 2018, a bottlenose dolphin “Honey”, humboldt penguins, and fish were left behind, and voices of concerns over their future were incessant. Despite strong interest from overseas, the Marine Park has refused contacts with us or the media and has withheld information.

Management resumes with a new owner!? Honey and the penguins may get sold to China!?

According to an article on the 2019/7/5 issue of the weekly magazine “FRIDAY”, the chief director has been replaced by a Chinese woman; moreover, details were posted that are astonishing, or rather they matched our worst expectations.

The new owner intends to sell Honey and the penguins to China.
The marine park is scheduled to reopen with the previous owner.

The question remains as to how the aquarium will open without the dolphin and the penguins, but it would be the beginning of new distress for Honey if she is actually to be sold to China. After the stress of long transportation, she may be put back into a small pool and used for dolphin shows, exhibitions, and even breeding. In China, the aquarium business is expanding (currently 78 exist and 26 under construction) and dolphins are traded at high prices. We can not expect welfare environment in aquariums in China with strong entertainment factors. In the first place, dolphins are not suitable animals for rearing in aquariums.

Currently, almost 2,900 dolphins in the world are said to be in a state of confinement. About 500-600 dolphins are believed to be in captivity in Japan, meaning 20% of the world’s captive dolphins are Japanese dolphins. China and Japan together may occupy nearly half the number in the world.

Disgust for dolphin shows and breeding, prohibition of capture or rearing of cetaceans

Overseas, there is a growing opposition to dolphin and killer whale shows, and there is a trend to prohibit capture and rearing.

In Canada on June 10, 2019, the Parliament passed a bill banning the capture and breeding of cetaceans like dolphins.
In Russia, liberation of killer whales and beluga (white dolphins) trapped in the “whale jail” has begun. 11 killer whales and 87 belugas captured in the far east were trapped for sale in a small, poor corf, the “whale jail”. Most have health issues such as skin problems and hypothermia, so they are to be released after rehabilitation. Russia is to strengthen its control over the capture of cetaceans from now on.
In response to the dolphin show at the opening ceremony of the World Cup of Sailing held at New Enoshima Aquarium in Kanagawa Prefecture in September 2018, World Sailing criticized it saying they were “disappointed”, and athletes also tweeted on SNS that they were “puzzled”, resulting in the Japan Sailing Federation apologizing.

Going against the world, “Shikoku Aquarium” opens in March 2020

Japan always goes against the world in the areas of environmental protection and animal welfare. A large aquarium with a big burden on dolphins is under construction in Kagawa Prefecture in Shikoku, for the purpose of entertainment and dating spots with dolphin tanks with sunset in the back and exhibits of dolphins at night with sounds and images, to be opened in March 2020.

As you can see in the Inubosaki Marine Park example as well, aquariums are not a sustainable business. The life of an aquarium is said to be about 30 years. The Kasai Seafront Aquarium, opened in 1989, which became an issue due to the continuous deaths of bluefin tuna, is also experiencing pipe leakage and aging of filtration equipment, and it can not cope without building reconstruction. In that case, a big burden on animals and fish is expected, such as transfers and temporary tanks.

From displays to protection and welfare, and to sanctuaries

Having lived a long time in tanks without sea currents, and used to receiving food from humans, the dolphins cannot be easily returned to the wild. While some individuals can return to the sea after rehabilitation, others have difficulties. In Canada, Baltimore, Greece, etc., “sanctuaries” are underway to keep human-raised dolphins for life in the sea near their natural habitat. Two belugas from China were transported to a sanctuary in Iceland.
Animal issues that occur in human society are human issues. It is already time to turn to reparation and protection for animals that should otherwise be wild. Rather than buying dolphins at high costs, that money should be used to protect dolphins who are suffering in poor environments, and to build sanctuaries for peaceful rest of their lives. The “Honey problem” is a symbol for all dolphin problems of capture, rearing, and breeding.