CAPTIVITY KILLS (again): WHITEWINGS IS DEAD

COALITION SAYS "NO NEW DOLPHINS!"

The Coalition For No Whales in Captivity mourns the death of another dolphin in Vancouver.

Whitewings, a female Pacific white-sided dolphin, died of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest last night while Vancouver Aquarium staff removed debris from her stomach, a procedure that captive dolphins are regularly subjected to when living inside concrete tanks. The aquarium's claim, that dolphins commonly ingest rocks and shells in the wild as they do in captivity, is simply preposterous.

In a 1993 public referendum Vancouverites voted to close the Stanley Park Zoo, sending a clear message to the Vancouver Park Board that the public is opposed to keeping wildlife in captivity.

Ignoring the intent of a park board bylaw, and the public outcry against the importation of more captive dolphins, the aquarium imported a dolphin from a Japanese dolphinarium in July 2001. The aquarium claimed they needed another dolphin to keep Whitewings company, although they must have known that Whitewings, because of her age, did not have much longer to live.

6 months after the Japanese dolphin's arrival, Whitewings is now dead and we can be sure that the aquarium will once again use the "companionship" argument in their attempt to justify bringing more captive dolphins to Vancouver.

It is time to stop the cruelty. We urge the Park Board to stop the aquarium's plan to bring more dolphins to die in Stanley Park.

NO NEW DOLPHINS!

For more information:

Nikki Rotmeyer, Spokesperson 
Coalition For No Whales In Captivity 

Tel: (604) 986-8281 
Cel: (604) 837-6504

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Coalition For No Whales In Captivity 
Box 461-1755 Robson Street 
Vancouver, B.C. 
V6G 3B7 Canada 

Tel: (604) 736-9514 
E-mail: <cfnwic@whaleprotection.org> 
Website:  www.whaleprotection.org

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