Reasons to Avoid Supporting Tourist Aquariums
England has many tourist aquariums, which are advertised by councils as ‘family fun’. But they are not much fun for the creatures inside them. Orcas, dolphins and seals have way more space in the wild, and many die in transport to be use as ‘entertainment’ for children.
Dolphins can’t move their facial muscles, so are not ‘smiling’, they always look that way. And seahorses often die from shock, when people use flash photography.
In the wild, orcas (killer whales) stay with their mums for life. So imagine the trauma of being separated (at Seaworld resorts abroad, many have sunburn as the pools are too shallow to protect their skin). In Europe, one beached itself, some wondered if it was trying to commit suicide.
All marine creatures in the wild live in very deep waters. Freedom for Animals reports that 90% of all UK aquariums have creatures that exhibit signs of stress
Marine Creatures Should Not ‘Perform Tricks’
Making marine creatures is demeaning. And when tourists are not around, most live in small tanks, swimming in circles, bored out of their brains.
Here are excerpts from an essay by an investigator at Freedom for Animals
I noticed a giant albino gourami fish, swimming almost motionless in a small tank alone. People were walking past and laughing. His eyes locked with mine. In the wild he would travel long distances to enter marshland and forest lakes
During the same visit, I witnessed a green turtle pressing her flippers against the walls of the tank, desperately trying to escape. In nature, she would migrate thousands of miles in a lifetime, back to the same beach to lay precious eggs.
Yet all of these natural instincts and ancient journeys are denied to them in aquariums. Simply so humans can gawp at them, through glass.
Accidents are Common in Tourist Aquariums
Many keepers have been killed by stressed orcas in tourist aquariums, and accidents are common. One orca died, when a pool gate shut on his head, and fractured his skull.
A Beluga whale died of a broken jaw, after encounter another creature he would not have encountered in the wild. And a blind walrus died in San Diego, having ‘gone insane’ from decades of confinement.
Penguins Need Antarctica (not aquariums)
In 2024, The Canary (an independent newspaper) reported that Sea Life had been ‘slammed’ for keeping penguins in dungeon-like conditions, with no daylight or fresh air. In the wild, most penguin species dive up to 600 feet to hunt for food and swim 20 miles a day.
It was only due to a campaign by Freedom for Animals, that a planned ‘ice-skating penguins’ bonanza for entertaining children, was thankfully cancelled.
In 2011, 10 dependent penguin chicks were removed from their parents in Antarctica and shipped to San Diego, for a study by an ocean research institute. Friends of the Earth’s Bob Tait said the penguins were subjected to long flights, for profit-driven reasons.
Why Do Councils Promote Aquariums?
Most councils and tourist website promote aquariums. Surely they should educate themselves, and promote nature walks and local independent shops instead? It’s likely because ‘clone towns’ are so boring, they decide to promote takeaways and gawping at miserable captive creatures.
Reviews of tourist aquariums show that most people visit once, get upset and never go back. One family writes at being sad, seeing a social otter on its own (in nature, they hold hands while sleeping, to stop them floating away from each other).
Alternatives to Visiting Tourist Aquariums
- Take your child out in nature! Don’t disturb wildlife. But you could track otter prints, teach your child how he fishes in nature etc.
- Don’t distress children with films of orcas hunting baby seals, but there are plenty of great fun documentaries. Watch Billy and Molly, a love story between an otter and a man living on the Shetland Isles. It follows their friendship, as the man stumbles on the hungry otter, one rainy day. The relationship saves them both.
How is Government Improving Tourist Aquariums?
Not much, although Welsh councils have banned live goldfish (and other pets) being given as prizes on council-owned land. It’s a start.
2025 New Zoo Standards will ban children and adults from ‘touching creatures’ in tourist aquariums, which causes immense stress to marine mammals. It has however given aquariums two years to ‘adapt’. Why?
All of England’s major tourist aquariums are promoted by local councils, despite conservation projects protecting marine creatures abroad. Despite boasts of conservation, reviews are not good:
Many tanks were shockingly small, overcrowded and in visibly poor condition. Several fish appeared lifeless or were displaying signs of stress, some desperately trying to escape their enclosures, I found myself on the verge of tears. I deeply regret supporting this business.
For a business linked to nature and conservation of wildlife, the amount of plastic packaging and items on sale was quite shocking.
It was so sad. The lung fish barely had enough room to move. The octopus section had a few small tanks with a prawn at the front of each, obviously to lure them out for visitors to view. They were having none of it. We viewed dead prawns.
