61 



In addition, there has not been one injury in either of our facili- 

 ties directly related to an aggressive act. There have been minor 

 injuries, as with any interaction with large animals. Those inci- 

 dents involved such nnnor occurrences as superficial scratches. Out 

 of 76,000 participants in our two programs in the last 7 years, 

 there have been only 5 injuries. That relates to an injury rate of 

 0.0006. 



That is a very safe program and we take that responsibility of 

 keeping our program safe very seriously. Every interaction between 

 a dolphin and a member of the public is very closely supervised by 

 an experienced marine mammal behaviorist. 



Senator Kerry. Well, you are doing better than roller blading 

 and mountain biking, so that is pretty good. [Laughter.] 



Dr. Stone. Absolutely. Crossing the street. 



Senator Kerry. I regret that I have just received notice there is 

 an amendment on the floor on a bill that I am chairman of the sub- 

 committee on and I have to go to the floor momentarily. 



Let me just let — Dr. Grandy, I want you to respond if you C£in. 

 You suggested that all forms of human contact with marine mam- 

 mals and humans ought to be prohibited. 



Dr. Grandy. Yes. 



Senator Kerry. Because of the health risk and physical risk. 



Dr. Grandy. That is right. 



Senator Kerry. And do you want to just comment? 



Dr. Grandy. No, sir. I thought your comment was instructive. 

 You mentioned mountain bike riding and other things, and the dif- 

 ference here is that we are putting these dolphins through health 

 hazards and stress levels, and we believe increased stress levels. 

 We are risking their health both directly through the water that 

 they are kept in. We are also risking them — if they do have a nega- 

 tive interaction, it becomes the animal that takes the 



Senator Kerry. Well, but the indication is that that has not hap- 

 pened. No. 1. And that in all of these incidents I think the evidence 

 was to the contrary, that there is strong evidence that they respond 

 better, that they seek this out, that they have, indeed, had a 

 healthier response, appetite better, interest, activity. 



Dr. Grandy. They have had — what she said was that those 

 things have occurred in situations where dolphins were recovering 

 from injuries themselves, and that they were being brought back 

 to health. 



Senator Kerry. Well, how many dolphins have been injured in 

 the 76,000 interactive incidents? 



Dr. Stone. Thank you for asking that question. Absolutely not 

 one. There has not been one dolphin injured, nor has there been 

 one indication of any health hazard to dolphins participating in 

 these programs. The professional medical literature is notably lack- 

 ing in reference to cases of disease transmission from casual con- 

 tact between humans and dolphins. And as I said, in keeping with 

 this fact, there has not been one case of disease transmission from 

 casual contact in any of these 76,000 interactions. Dolphins and 

 people are very far apart on the evolutionary chain of things. 



Senator Kerry. Is this one incident that has created a little stir 

 an aberration, or is that something that just happened to have fi- 



