Whales and Dolphins

Whales and dolphins 'should have legal
rights'
Campaign for intelligent marine mammals to have right to life, which would
protect them from hunters and captivity
Ian Sample
@iansample
Monday 20 February 2012
Campaigners who believe that dolphins and whales should be granted rights
on account of their intelligence are to push for the animals to be protected
under international law.
A group of scientists and ethicists argues there is sufficient evidence of the

marine mammals' intelligence, self-awareness and complex behavior to
enshrine their rights in legislation.
Under the declaration of rights for cetaceans, a term that includes dolphins,
whales and porpoises, the animals would be protected as "non-human
persons" and have a legally enforceable right to life.
If incorporated into law, the declaration would bring legal force to bear on
whale hunters, and marine parks, aquariums and other entertainment venues
would be barred from keeping dolphins, whales or porpoises in captivity.
"We're saying the science has shown that individuality, consciousness and
self-awareness are no longer unique human properties. That poses all kinds of
challenges," said Tom White, director of the Centre for Ethics and Business at
Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
"Dolphins are non-human persons. A person needs to be an individual. And if

individuals count, then the deliberate killing of individuals of this sort is
ethically the equivalent of deliberately killing a human being. The captivity of
beings of this sort, particularly in conditions that would not allow for a decent
life, is ethically unacceptable, and commercial whaling is ethically
unacceptable," White said.
The group spoke at the annual meeting in Vancouver of the American

Association for the Advancement of Science, to raise support for the
declaration among scientists and the visiting public. The 10-point declaration
sets out a framework to protect cetaceans' "life, liberty and wellbeing",
including rights to freedom of movement and residence in their natural
environment, and protection against "disruption of their cultures".
"The next step is taking the science and advocating for law in different places,
from a regional point of view, from a national point of view, and eventually
from a multinational and international view," said Chris Butler-Stroud of the
Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.
Decades of research on cetaceans, and dolphins in particular, has revealed that

their brains, while markedly different from humans, are large, complex and
capable of sophisticated behavior. Observations of dolphins have shown that
they can recognize themselves, use tools and understand symbols and abstract
concepts.
In 2001, Lori Marino of Emory University in Atlanta, who is promoting the

declaration, tested whether dolphins recognized themselves by drawing temporary
marks on different parts of their bodies and watching them check the mark by
swimming up to an immersed mirror. "When we did that with two dolphins
they passed with flying colors," she said.
Orcas off Patagonia displayed a seemingly extraordinary act when an aged

member of the group suffered jaw damage and could no longer eat properly.
The whale's companions kept the animal alive by feeding it. "The animal, we
would say, was past its sell-by date, an older creature. They must have
conceptualized that if it wasn't fed, something would have happened to it, and
they were able to work out what was needed to keep it alive," said Butler-
Stroud.
At the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Mississippi, a dolphin named

Kelly outwitted its human keepers and passed on some of its tricks to its
offspring. Dolphins at the centre were rewarded with fish if they collected litter
from their tanks and carried it in their mouths to the staff but Kelly found a
weakness in the scheme. When people dropped paper into her tank, she hid it
under a rock on the bottom. When a keeper next approached, she swam down
and tore a small piece off, and returned to the surface to claim her reward. She
worked out that a small piece of paper earned the same reward as a big piece,
and so maximized her meals.
Then one day, Kelly managed to grab a gull that flew into the tank. When she
delivered it to her keepers, she got an especially large fish reward. The next
time Kelly was fed she hid the fish at the bottom of the pool, and later brought
it to the surface to lure more gulls into the pool. The strategy proved so
successful that she taught her offspring, who went on to teach others.
Though much of the declaration is intended to bring pressure on whaling

nations and venues that keep cetaceans in captivity, the document has major
implications for conservation programmes and environmental assessments
that impinge on communities of dolphins, whales and other cetaceans.
As an early step, the special rights for cetaceans are being considered by the
UN as part of its convention on migratory species, which aims to protect
migrating species over their entire ranges.
Enshrining the rights in law could be some time, though. "If we are lucky it
could take 10 years," said White. "We are at the stage of climate scientists 20
years ago. This is the first step."

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Whales and dolphins 'should have legal

Monday 20 February 2012

A group of scientists and ethicists argues there is sufficient evidence of the

"Dolphins are non-human persons. A person needs to be an individual. And if

The group spoke at the annual meeting in Vancouver of the American

Decades of research on cetaceans, and dolphins in particular, has revealed that

In 2001, Lori Marino of Emory University in Atlanta, who is promoting the

Orcas off Patagonia displayed a seemingly extraordinary act when an aged

At the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Mississippi, a dolphin named

Though much of the declaration is intended to bring pressure on whaling

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