VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Aquarium's chief executive says a senator's call to stop keeping whales and dolphins in marine parks would rob Canadians of vital research and education aimed at protecting animals in the wild.
John Nightingale says Liberal Sen. Wilfred Moore's plan to introduce a bill to end the practice is misguided and wrong.
Moore told a news conference Thursday that keeping animals cooped up for entertainment is unjustifiably cruel and disturbing.
The aquarium is currently undergoing a $100-million expansion to include larger whale and dolphin tanks but it has faced shifting tides of political and public opinion in recent years.
Two Vancouver Aquarium-owned cetaceans have died this year, including a dolphin named Hana, who suffered a gastrointestinal disease, and Nanuq, a beluga who died after other whales broke his jaw in Orlando SeaWorld.
But Nightingale says both deaths were natural and that studying animals in aquariums is essential for public awareness and scientific research.
