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Senator Kerry. But they are not living — I mean, but they have 

 adapted. They are different from the animals that came out of the 

 ocean. Their responses are going to be different. Their living mech- 

 anism is different, their endurance is different, their survival in- 

 stinct and capacity has probably changed significantly. You are not 

 really studying the original any more. 



Dr. McBain. I do not know that there is anything that would 

 suggest that that is the case. These animals appear to socially be- 

 have in a way that would lead you to believe that there is a great 

 deal of similarity between what we see and what occurs in the 

 wild. I think that if you raise animals in isolation, if you have 

 "Free Willy" in your mind, obviously that animal- 



Senator Kerry. I do not have "Free Willy," but- 



Dr. McBain. Killer whales are a gregarious animal, they are a 

 social animal. That is the other reason that we have the population 

 size that we do, is to try to maintain social units or social groups 

 within the Sea World parks. 



These animals, in the case of — I am a veterinarian, and I basi- 

 cally visit the animals a number of times a day. We have every- 

 thing from an animal that is nearly 30 years old to a youngster 

 that has just turned 2, and so we have a whole range of age 

 groups. The older animal has been there for the birth of two of 

 those animals. 



We have what I consider to be reflections of very normal social 

 behavior. Granted, these animals cannot swim 100 miles in a 

 straight line, but they get adequate exercise, they have adequate 

 activity, they have social involvement with each other, as well as, 

 obviously, the interaction with humans which is a major departure 

 from the wild. 



Senator Kerry. Where do you think we are on the learning 

 curve, and what do you think it is specifically that you would say 

 we have learned that underscores the importance of what you are 

 doing? 



Dr. McBain. I am not sure that you can point at one thing. In 

 Sea World right now, we have — and this is — again, I am just 

 speaking of the institution that I have the most familiarity with. 

 We have 50 — well, 48 right now — collaborative research projects 

 going on. These are not projects that are designed by us, these are 

 projects that are designed by other people, the National Marine 

 Fisheries among them, that utilize this animal resource that is 

 available to them. 



We have had experiences where there are seizuring sea lions 

 beaching on the coast of California. There is a need to gain infor- 

 mation about normal, what is normal for this species, so that there 

 is something to compare with. This came from Sea WorM, another 

 oceanarium. 



Mr. Prescott. Senator, you asked a question about research, 

 and I would like to also ask Dr. Mike Hutchins to join me. As we 

 look at research in these institutions, there are a number of kinds 

 of research. 



We have learned how to develop formulas for feeding animals 

 that have led to very great successes in the stranding and rescue 

 programs. It is a transfer of the animal care work that we have 

 done that is benefiting directly the rarest dolphin in the world, the 



