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Before I leave captive display questions and move on to the 

 important issues affecting marine mammals in the wild, I would 

 like to give just one example of the variety of complex problems 

 that must be dealt with in deciding this jurisdictional issue. 

 The problem to be examined is responsibility for the care and 

 maintenance of abandoned maine mammals held in captivity for 

 public display. The following brief, but illustrative, example 

 is an incident that occurred just over a year ago in which 13 

 harbor seals and California sea lions held at the Cape Cod 

 Aquarium were essentially abandoned. A few months before the 

 incident, the Cape Cod Aquarium was issued a public display 

 permit after several months of addressing significant concerns 

 raised by NMFS . Many of these concerns arose from a succession 

 of complaints and allegations by the public of substandard care 

 and other problems at the Cape Cod Aquarium. Prior to the 

 abandonment of these captive marine mammals, the Cape Cod 

 Aquarium was repeatedly found by APHIS to be in compliance with 

 applicable care and maintenance standards under the Animal 

 Welfare Act. Following the abandonment of these marine mammals 

 and closing of this public display facility to the public, APHIS 

 explained that they no longer had jurisdiction over these marine 

 mammals under the Animal Welfare Act because the animals had been 

 removed from public exhibit; leaving only MMPA protection under 

 our jurisdiction. Consistent with a pre-existing verbal 

 agreement between the Cape Cod Aquarium and the New England 

 Aquarium to care for these animals in an emergency, under the 



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