"Dolphins can smile", the biggest lie in the aquarium

During the National Day holiday, the aquarium is probably the travel choice for many people. After all, in the promotional brochures, these marine creatures are very spiritual and friendly. For example, dolphins will smile when they see people, and beluga whales will interact with people intelligently...

But is this really the case?

Common lies told by oceanariums

1

Dolphins have a charming smile?

In the brochure, dolphins are called "smiling angels". There is a reason for this: dolphins always look like they are "smiling at you" with their mouths turned up.

In response to this, there are many beautiful legends about dolphins. For example: once a man was sailing on the sea and unfortunately encountered a storm, the boat was overturned. At this critical moment, it happened that the dolphins called their companions and rescued the group.

Image source: pixabay

This statement also has some scientific basis: dolphins' brains have many folds and grooves, and their brain memory capacity and information processing capabilities are even comparable to those of primates, which means that their IQ is extremely high, and adult dolphins can reach the level of six or seven-year-old children.

Looking at several pieces of information together, more and more people believe that dolphins are spiritual and they like humans very much, so they smile every time they see humans.

But in reality, this may just be wishful thinking.

Dolphins are a general term for aquatic mammals in the family Delphinidae of the order Artiodactylus. Due to the unique physiological structure of their faces, dolphins' mouths naturally have an upward curvature.

Not only dolphins, but also the Yangtze River Porpoise and the white dolphin, which are dubbed the "smiling angels", look like they are smiling because of their physiological structure.

In human facial expressions, this may be interpreted as happiness or kindness, but for dolphins, this means nothing. In all stages of life, aging, illness and death, whether they are happy or sad, dolphins will keep their mouths up.

2

Will beluga whales interact with humans in a friendly manner?

The beluga whale, which belongs to the family Narwhal, also has a charming smile. Compared with dolphins, beluga whales seem to be more friendly to humans.

There are many videos circulating online: beluga whales swim back and forth in front of tourists, or open their mouths to scare children to show affection. In some oceanariums, beluga whale performances are even the most important item that commands the ticket price. Beluga whales can not only perform various difficult acrobatic moves, but also interact cordially with the audience.

Image source: pixabay

But in fact, the "goodwill" implied by the above actions is mostly imagined by tourists.

Research shows that the tense body and open mouth of a beluga whale are actually an attack and warning signal when threatened. Imagine that a giant like that is locked in a small aquarium for people to watch every day. Some children even bang on the glass and yell at the beluga whale. Such behavior will obviously cause panic and anger in the beluga whale.

According to research, wild beluga whales will never jump out of the sea or head the ball on the surface of the sea. Those performances to please tourists are all trained. Therefore, if parents watch the beluga whale show with the purpose of educating their children, they will be greatly disappointed.

After all, nothing you see is natural.

3

Do polar bears bow to people?

If we talk about the most "human-like" animal in the aquarium, the polar bear that can walk, dance, and even bow to tourists must be at the top of the list.

Whenever seeing the polar bear performance in the aquarium, many people can't help but think of an episode in the childhood classic "Tom and Jerry", in which a bear escaped from the circus and would pull Tom Cat to dance when he heard music.

Image source: pixabay

In fact, whether it is the polar bears in the oceanarium or the bears in the cartoons, they make these actions because of "conditioned reflexes."

At the end of the 19th century, Russian physiologist Pavlov conducted a series of experiments: before feeding meat to dogs, a buzzer would be pressed. After a period of training, even if the dogs did not see the meat, as long as they heard the sound of the buzzer, they would subconsciously drool.

The same is true of polar bears' bowing behavior.

In the aquarium, most polar bears are placed in the center of the exhibition area, and tourists can buy food and throw it down from a height to feed them. Every time the polar bear reaches out to get food, tourists will throw new food, which will form the inertial thinking of the polar bears that they will get food as soon as they wave their hands.

But after the aquarium's deliberate promotion, in the eyes of tourists who are good at association, even if the polar bear does not understand the true meaning of waving, people will imagine it as greeting the tourists.

Oceanarium environment

Is it really suitable for animals?

Let me first state the conclusion. The environment of the aquarium is actually not suitable for all animals to survive. One important reason is that it is too small.

If dolphins can really use facial expressions to express their thoughts, it is definitely not a smile. Most of the dolphins in the aquarium are short-beaked dolphins. According to data, in the wild, their range of activities is usually more than 100 square kilometers, but the average size of the main hall in the dolphinarium is only 444 square meters, which is 200,000 times smaller.

Image source: pixabay

Pet owners can understand their boredom: if you don't take your dog out for a day, your home will be torn up. Even cats that don't like to go out for exercise can't always be locked in cages. However, the dolphins' dissatisfaction is misunderstood as happiness.

The huge wild beluga whales are also very cramped. They can dive to a depth of 1,000 meters in the vast ocean. In order to facilitate tourists' visits, the aquarium of the oceanarium is not set too high. Even if the beluga whales swim dozens of times back and forth, it cannot meet their exercise needs in the wild.

In addition to the small space, the fundamental reason why the aquarium is not suitable for animals to survive is that it cannot provide animals with a living environment that completely restores the wild. Animals can only be forced to change their original living habits.

Arctic wolves are the new favorites of many aquariums. Who doesn’t like their snow-white appearance? But what people often overlook is that their thick hair evolved in the ice and snow.

my country has a diverse climate, including subtropical monsoon climate, temperate monsoon climate, tropical climate, and temperate continental climate. Only the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has a high-cold climate. It can be said that most areas are not suitable for the survival of Arctic animals.

Even if the aquarium is fully air-conditioned, it is difficult to meet their original living standards. Think about it, every time you visit, do animals such as Arctic wolves lie on the ground listlessly and gasp for breath? This is actually because it is too hot.

Arctic wolf. Image source: pixabay

But their sufferings don't stop there. To make profits, aquariums often train animals to perform. For example, sea lions are the star characters in animal performances. Passing the ball and clapping and cheering are their specialties.

Unfortunately, this kind of training is against nature and can easily cause physical damage to animals.

The evolution of every creature is closely related to the environment in which they depend for survival. The tail fins and pectoral fins of animals such as sea lions are designed to facilitate their movement in the ocean. Forcing them to stand on their tail fins and support their bodies with their pectoral fins is tantamount to asking people to walk with their arms and eat with their feet.

The oceanarium is not friendly to animals, nor to people.

Some people compare oceanariums and zoos, thinking that they are just rescuing and protecting these animals. But the cruel truth is that only 5% to 10% of dolphinariums and aquariums actually participate in species protection, and most dolphinariums spend less than 1% of their profits on protecting animals.

Animals in captivity often suffer from physical and mental health problems, and may even develop stereotyped behaviors such as walking in circles or pacing back and forth.

In fact, this kind of animal confinement, which is entirely for profit, harms not only animals but also humans.

In 2010, a usually gentle killer whale suddenly bit a trainer's arm during a performance at SeaWorld Orlando, USA, dragged her into the water and tore her to death. Studies have shown that wild cetaceans are friendly and rarely attack people to death, but in aquariums, cases of killer whales attacking people are not uncommon.

This is all due to the oppression that the aquarium brings to the animals.

Image source: pixabay

However, over the years, more and more organizations and individuals have realized this, and while calling for the closure of animal performances, some zoos are trying to release these creatures. I hope that one day, these elves in the ocean can once again feel the joy of "the sea is wide and the fish leap".

References

[1] It's Time for a Conversation—Breaking the communication barrier between dolphins and humans

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2015/05/dolphin-intelligence-human-communication/

[2] Orca social organization https://orcalab.org/orcas/orca-social-organization/

[3] Biology of the Beluga Whalehttp://www.naturenorth.com/fall/Beluga/Beluga_Biology.html

[4] World Animal Protection Association, Behind the Smile: A Study of the Global Dolphin Entertainment Industry

[5] The Paper, “The truth behind 3,603 captive dolphins: exploited commodities with huge profits”

Planning and production

Author: Li Mi, popular science creator

Reviewer: Huang Chengming, Researcher at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Planning｜Yang Yaping

Editor: Yang Yaping