A New Home

A bottlenose dolphin leaps over a ball in its tank at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland.

NatGeoCreative.com

Dolphins use teamwork and their intelligence to solve problems. In a recent study, two dolphins figured out that they had to pull ropes at the same time to open a container filled with fish.

Brian Skerry/National Geographic Creative

OCTOBER 26, 2016

A New Home

The National Aquarium is creating the country’s first dolphin sanctuary.

BY AMY BARTH

Each year, more than a million people visit the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland. One of the main attractions is the dolphin exhibit. Visitors love to watch the eight Atlantic bottlenose dolphins swim and play.

But those dolphins won’t be in their tank for much longer. This summer, the aquarium announced that it will close its dolphin exhibit within the next four years. The dolphins will be moved to a protected area in the ocean—the first dolphin sanctuary that is part of the United States.

AQUARIUM PROS AND CONS

The decision to move the dolphins was made after years of protests. Some people say aquariums are important places to learn about dolphins. But many scientists and animal-rights groups think that keeping these creatures in captivity (the state of being held or trapped, as in a cage or a tank) does more harm than good. Dolphins are intelligent animals, and they can become bored swimming in the same tank every day. In the wild, dolphins can swim up to 100 miles each day. Scientists say without the freedom they have in the ocean, dolphins can suffer.

“Captivity compromises their way of life,” says Maddalena Bearzi. “They can become stressed out in tanks.” Bearzi is a biologist at the Ocean Conservation Society in California.

OUT TO SEA

The new sanctuary will give the dolphins much more space to swim than they have at the aquarium. The area will be in an enclosed part of the ocean where human caretakers can check on them. After spending their lives in tanks, the dolphins might have a difficult time surviving in the open sea.

The new sanctuary isn’t set to open until 2020. Officials at the aquarium are still choosing a site. It will likely be either off the coast of Florida or in the Caribbean Sea. No matter what the location, Bearzi thinks it’s a good move.

“All aquariums should go in that direction,” she says.

Many people feel animals such as dolphins should be free. Do you think this aquarium is good enough or do you think all dolphins should be free?