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Letter From Michael B. Demetrios, President, Marine World Africa USA 



August 10, 1993. 



The Honorable JoHN F. Kerry, 



U.S. Senate, 



Washington DC 20501-2102 



Dear Senator Kerry: On behalf of Marine World Africa USA, I would like to 

 commend you and your colleagues for scheduling the recent hearing on public dis- 

 play and reauthorization of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. We strongly sup- 

 port the reauthorization of this very important legislation. 



Marine World Africa USA is a member of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks 

 and Aquariums (Alliance) and the American Association of Zoological Parks and 

 Aauariums (AAZPA), and we heartily endorse the testimony and related documents 

 suDmitted bv the Alliance and the AAZPA for the hearing record. 



We have become aware of the report recently distributed by the Humane Society 

 of the United States (HSUS) on cetaceans maintained in zoological parks and are 

 troubled by the misleading and incorrect information that makes up the foundation 

 of the report and its underlying media campaign. 



The HSUS report and related materials contain errors of omission and commis- 

 sion in virtually every paragraph. The two main issues of the HSUS "investiga- 

 tion" — mortality rates, and breeding records for marine mammals maintained in zo- 

 ological parks — were derived from multy data and biased and sloppy methods which 

 result in incorrect conclusions and undermine confidence in HSUS' credibility and 

 intentions. To illustrate, I raise five specific points: 



1. The HSUS report inappropriatelv makes universal statements about longevity 

 for all killer whales based on one particular "best case" example. The report com- 

 pares killer whales maintained in zoological parks with a speciiic community of wild 

 killer whales in British Columbia whose numbers, for some undetermined, reason, 

 are growing at an unusually rapid rate. Furthermore, the report ignores other wild 

 popmations that are currently being studied and whose numbers are static. 



2. The HSUS report used incorrect mortality numbers for this wild population and 

 makes invalid mortality comparisons between wild killer whales and those living in 

 oceanariums. HSUS includes neonatal mortality in figures for populations main- 

 tained in oceanariums, but not for this wild population and as a result, the HSUS 

 report overlooks approximately 100 deaths in wild populations over a 20 year pe- 

 riod. Had the report used proper methodology, mortality rates for wild populations 

 and for those maintained in zoological parks would have been roughly the same: 

 about 2 percent per year. Also, the average age at death for the wild population 

 would have been approximately the same as for whales living in marine parKs. 



3. Most so-called "longevity" statistics are meaningless for drawing conclusions 

 about the well-being and life expectancy of wild killer whales versus those main- 

 tained in oceanariums. All the scientists who have studies the NMFS Marine Mam- 

 mal Inventory, including Steuer and De Master and Drevenak, have emphasized the 

 inappropriateness of using longevity data gathered from it except under very ex- 

 plicit conditions and state that average age at death numbers are irrelevant until 

 all the animals in the study group are dead. As an example, in Steuers study of 

 the NMFS inventory for a period from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, dolphins at 

 Marine World Africa USA were given a 'longevity" of 6.93 years. Yet none of the 

 dolphins in the study group had died; in fact, that are all still alive today. Steuer 

 was just looking at the average length of time that new dolphins had been at the 

 park, not their average lifespan or their life expectancy. 



4. Longevity statistics for wild populations cited in the HSUS report are mislead- 

 ing. Contrary to the implications In the report, 85 percent of wild females do not 

 reach the "average age" of 50 that HSUS claims for wUd female killer whales and 

 99 percent do not reach the "maximum age" of 80 cited by HSUS. Furthermore, ani- 

 mals in the wild are faced with an hour-by-hour, day-by-day, season-by-season 

 struggle for survival. Life in oceanariums is different from in the wild, but it is not 

 worse, and in many ways it is better. 



5. Breeding statistics cited in the report are also misleading. North American 

 oceanariums have very successful breeding programs with nearly half of the orcas 

 currently in North American facilities being bom in captivity. As an illustration, 

 consider that ten healthy killer whale calves were born in North American 

 oceanariums in the last eight years, and a calf has even been bom to a captive-bom 

 female. 



The HSUS report was clearly biased and undermines all that the term "science" 

 should stand for. It completely ignores the tremendous progress made and knowl- 

 edge gained by marine life parks. Furthermore, the campaign in which HSUS is en- 

 gagecTto Tree the whales" is short-sighted in that it has the potential to divert fund 



