e E ~ Quebec, July 22nd 2014 ......f Vancouver Board of Pa rks ..,N"" "'f and Recreation Administration ....oil N Office 2099 Beach Avenue iii' .:!... Vancouver, BC ....; V6G 1Z4 ... "'....... .....0 ..,J'; N co Dear Vancouver's elected officials, ;!. .... I have heard that intense and emotional discu ssions have been going on in Vancouver z :v... .. over the last months about the fate of the be lugas at the Vancouver AqLiarium. I also <: Q understand you are about to take a decision on this delicate issue. I have spent the last ~ N 5 30 years of my life studying belugas in the St. Lawrence Estuary, Quebec, trying to .... ~ ... 0 -o understand this sma ll isolated and endangered population, hoping what we learn will .. 0 ,,.. c. help to save them. Please al low me to share with you some of my thoughts and mixed ( .. 8 - v feelings. ~ Jl.. ~ ... < ~ First, having spent thousands of hours spying on wild belugas, I have to admit that it feels v ~ :::0 awkward to observe thetn in an aquarium. There is no question that taki ng an animal :> .,. 0 ... -o such as a beluga from the wild to place It in an artificial environment is a quite dramatic .... ,_0 .; intrusion into its life, and most probably into the lives of their relatives and companions .. -5 ~ ·::~ left behind. Belugas, as several other species of cetaceans and mammals, are highly .., ..!! 0 u social animals. Even the best care and sophisticated enrichment programs can be not z ..s 0 match to their comple>< social lives in the wild. -o.. - a; -<: ~ However, I have to admit that In my endeavour to "better understand to better protect" \.J ::. the St. Lawrence belugas, I rely, as most of my colleagues studying wild belugas and 0 other whales and do lphins, on precious information learned over the last decades from 0 research and observations on their captive counterparts. Some of this information helps us unveil fascinating aspects of their biology; some is also critical to our understanding and ability to protect these animals in the wild. ::: 1 recognize it ls difficult to put these two appreciations in balance to decide whether we as a society want to maintain our tradition of keeping animals in capt ivity. = It is clear to me however that if we do keep them in captivity, we t hen have a great and challenging responsibility to provide the best possible care to the animals, to develop effective and needed outreach programs and to cont ribute through high quality science programs to t he conserva tion of the species. _ _lA..___ l• cenlro d'lolorpr,lolton de• mammll&rtl morlna. one r•olbotlon du GREMM FOI #2017-214- Working copy, 1137 In 2007-2008, I was a visiting scientist at the Vancouver Aquarium. Not being a specialist in animal husbandry I was nevertheless able to appreciate the dedication of the animal care team. I was also impressed by the outreach programs of the education team, but even more so by the impact and fascination that the whales had on my three kids, even if they had had the chance to spend part of their summers on the water with me and wild belugas. It made me appreciate what it can do to kids that did not have the same opportunity! Finally, what I have learned from my observations of the belugas at the Aquarium during that year and from my ongoing collaboration with the Aquarium team have already been applied in our current conservation efforts to save the St. Lawrence belugas. Again I don't know how this adds up in the balance but I have no doubt the value of what we have learned and continue to learn to conservation is real. I hope you find these thoughts useful to your own reflection on the topic of the future of belugas at the Vancouver Aquarium. Sincerely, Robert Michaud President et directeur de Ia recherche Groupe de recherche et d'education sur les mammiferes marins, GREMM Coordonnateur du Reseau quebecois d'urgences pour les mammiferes marins T. 418 525 7779 c. 418 473 8974 [email protected] FOI #2017-214 - Working copy, 1138 Letter of Support for Vancouver Aquarium cetacean conservation, display, and research. This is a time when fishing kills about 600,000 marine mammals each year. Is this a time to prevent citizens from seeing these mammals so all people (even those who cannot go out to sea) can appreciate them and their environment? Canadian citizens kill several hundred belugas each year. Is this a time to prevent other citizens from seeing them and appreciating them up close? Activists claim that captive whales and dolphins are suffering. Professionals caring for captive cetaceans watch for those rare instances when they are suffering and can provide remedies. I have worked with captive cetaceans for 52 years. Care of captive cetaceans is light years ahead of where it was even 25 years ago. Twenty-five years ago nearly all captures from the wild stopped in North America. Births sustained the populations. Only a few rescued, non-releasable, cetaceans such as the dolphins and porpoises at Vancouver were added. When sick, suffering mammals come ashore, most citizens appreciate that professionals can come to help. Cetaceans in the wild suffer from natural predators, parasites, and disease, and from many human causes. Hungry animals come ashore stuffed with plastic garbage. Killer whales from the region that includes Vancouver have the highest tissue pollutant loads detected. Such pollution affects many marine mammals. We know these things because professionals have worked with both captive and wild marine mammals to help conserve them. Scientists must have access to captive as well as wild animals if we want to conserve them. Let me give just one example. Many activists fantasize that captive cetaceans cannot echolocate. In fact, echolocation was discovered from captive animals: The great majority of knowledge on cognition, echolocation, hearing, and sound production required trained cooperating cetaceans. We have much to learn from captive marine mammals that can help in ocean conservation. Activists milk emotions while bombarding us with a delusion that all captive cetaceans are suffering all the time. Responsible citizens should look beyond the false claims and support Vancouver Aquarium. "'-)Glt!fVJ (ZJSl~ vJQl\_ I' Sam Ridgway DVM, PhD u ,,/1 [email protected] "' '\__j FOI #2017-214 - Working copy, 1139 July 23, 2014 Dear Vancouver Parks Board Commissioners, As an anthropologist who has lived and worked in the high Arctic for the past 14 years, I would like to offer you some viewpoints on why many people in the Arctic support the Vancouver Aquarium to have beluga whales in its care, and help you to see that the importance of these whales is not only a Vancouver issue, but one that is ultimately critical to maintaining health wild populations across the Arctic. I am sure that you are very aware of the reasons that the belugas are at the Aquarium, but perhaps you are unaware of how vital these whales are to the future of the Arctic. Releasing the Aquarium's belugas does nothing to protect and preserve those in the wild- in fact, they have a stronger role in preserving their species by remaining at the Aquarium. The research that the Vancouver Aquarium is doing on whale vocalization is likely to prove critical to monitoring and preserving wild populations of both beluga and narwhal that are currently under stress from climate change, shipping, resource development and seismic testing in Arctic waters. People living in the small communities in the High Arctic depend on healthy marine mammal populations, and the research being conducted at the Aquarium will undoubtedly be one of the few tools that we will have to protect the wild populations and ensure a healthy ecosystem. I cannot begin to tell you how Inuit fear the loss of the precious animals through factors that are beyond their control, and how grateful we are as Northerners that institutions like the Vancouver Aquarium are as passionate as we are to ensure the survival of these species. As an instructor ofthe Environmental Technology program in Pond Inlet, Nunavut, I was privileged to bring 13 young Inuit men and two Elders to Vancouver to work with the Aquarium on Arctic issues. For this group, who are so keenly aware of the issues facing the Arctic, it was clear that the belugas were an 11 entry point" for educating and creating awareness of the Arctic among visitors to the Aquarium. Love and respect for the belugas were the common ground, and the students and Elders were duly impressed by the obvious care, love and concern that the staff and volunteers had for the animals. To say that Inuit, who rely on healthy populations of whales for their subsistence, were impressed by the Vancouver Aquarium speaks volumes as Inuit generally frown upon any animals, including pets, in human care. One of the most meaningful interactions came when my students noticed the look of amazement and wonder on the kid's faces as they watched the whales, and it occurred to the Inuit that this was truly how 11SOuthern" people formed their ideas about animals and the importance of conservation. Without a doubt, the whales at the Vancouver Aquarium are prompting the next generation of scientists, researchers and conservationists to become passionate about preserving these special animals. I understand that this is an issue that will be presented to you in a way designed to get an emotional reaction, but please let the facts speak for themselves. Well-meaning, but uniformed people should never be allowed to emotionally manipulate you into making a decision that will most likely result in harm to the whales that are currently at the Vancouver Aquarium.