Mexico: Tourism Fuels Inhumane Captivity Industry

By William Rossiter

Mexico is fun to visit, and their tourist industry is exploding for good reasons. But for no good reasons the captive exploitation of dolphins in Mexico is exploding at an even greater rate. How many captive dolphins are on display in Mexico? No one knows, not even the government. Are display regulations followed? No, and even sub-minimal regulations are not enforced. How many are captured and sold? Unknown. How many die during capture, in tanks or in transit? Unknown. What is known is overwhelming and tragic. But there is finally hope, thanks to an exhausting and courageous effort to compile Mexico's first-ever analysis, "Dolphinaria in Mexico, a Critical Report," an objective but heartbreaking review of many of Mexico's dolphinaria and swim-with-the-dolphin programs. Dr. Yolanda Alaniz, Lic. Hugo Castello, and Cecilia Vega began to survey Mexico's captive display industry over three years ago, at first independently. Their Report reveals the inhumane exploitation of cetaceans in one of the world's fastest growing yet unregulated marine mammal captivity industries.

The Report also launched a campaign against the industry by Mexican organizations, led by Alaniz's Conservación de Mamíferos Marinos de México, A.C., and supported by an international consortium of groups. It demands urgent action by the Mexican government to regulate dolphin captures and displays, and to enforce legislation to regulate the nearly uncontrolled trade in captive marine mammals.

CSI is proud to have played a leadership role to support and promote the Report, coalition, and campaign. Until October the work was done in secrecy to limit personal threats to the team. Besides direct grants and coordinating help from eight organizations, CSI's responsibility included making the report's text in English (with photos) and Spanish, along with an executive summary, available worldwide directly from our web site at http://csiwhalesalive.org/csimexico.html. Many organizations around the world now include the report's summary, with a link to CSI's full texts. For caring people the Report is hard to stomach, yet unless we become aware of what is happening in Mexico the captive cetacean industry will only grow larger and more inhumane. From now on, if anyone has any questions about the pros and cons of captive dolphin displays just direct them to this Report.

As a direct fundraiser to help the campaign, CSI offers the historic original Report as printed in Mexico, in Spanish, for a contribution of $10.00 or more. See for yourself what is startling Mexico's new Administration and Parliament. For those without Internet access CSI will be pleased to provide the texts on request, but why not get the real thing and help the campaign directly?

The report documents cruel, crude capture operations, followed by training that even includes starvation techniques. It exposes the high death rate, and the bribery and corruption involved in the captures, imports and exports, including international trade with Latin America, Russia and the European Union. Worldwide trade of dolphins from Mexico is increasing as fewer ex-USSR military dolphins are dumped on the market. It's big money, and exploiters in Chile are now eager to compete. Opposition in Chile is effective so far, fueled by the Report's examples of cruelty and death in Mexico.

How bad is it? Can you imagine dolphins by a 24-hour roadside beach bar, with a bungee jump over the pool? What about two belugas in a tank that is structurally part of a roller coaster? What about swim-with-the-dolphin tanks so crammed with thrashing people the dolphins can barely move?

"Los Definarios en México - Un Informe Critico" was produced with the support of: Animal Welfare Institute, Cetacean Society International, Conservación de Mamíferos Marinos de México, A.C., Earth Island Institute, Humane Society International, Mac Hawley, Swiss Working Group for the Protection of Marine Mammals, and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. Please help us all help these captives.