Reasons to Avoid Supporting Tourist Aquariums
Tourist aquariums abound in England, touted as ‘family run’, and even promoted by local councils and tourist sites. But the reality is far different. Many creatures are caught from the wild, often using cyanide.
This causes stress for all transported creatures, and around a third die in transport anyway. Removing creatures from the wild, also disturbs ecosystems.
And creatures in aquariums (like zoos) have nowhere near the space they would have in the wild. They often are living in the wrong temperatures, have the wrong social make-up (male orcas – killer whales – for instance stay with their mothers for life in the wild).
Flash photography can startle (and even kill) seahorses. And dolphins are not ‘smiling’ in captivity. They have no facial muscles. So these incredibly intelligent (and often very bored) marine creatures are often very unhappy, while being gawped at by children, as ‘entertainment’.
Abroad, things are even worse. Floridian aquariums are home to creatures that often have as much space, akin to you living in a bath tub for the rest of your life. Orcas in the wild live in very deep waters.
So in hot sun, they often have their backs poking out of the water, and suffer sunburn. It’s been reported that sometimes marine creatures are covered with black zinc oxide, to disguise sunburned skin to tourists.
Some male orcas are even masturbated by keepers, in order to have them breed. What a terrible way to treat such majestic creatures. Often the breeding is from related creatures (so most babies die, when born out of forced incest).
There have even been photographs seen of people ‘play-surfing’ on their backs.
Freedom for Animals has more information on reasons to avoid aquariums. It reports that 90% of all UK aquariums have creatures that exhibit signs of stress.
Marine Creatures Should Not ‘Perform Tricks’
In Florida especially, parents take their children to watch marine creatures like dolphins ‘perform tricks for the paying public. Not only this demeaning, but outside of ‘performing hours’, these creatures are often swimming in circles in small tanks, bored out of their brains.
One orca was rescued from an aquarium, and they tried to return it to the wild. But it died soon after, as it just spent time trying to find children to ride on its back.
One orca in a European aquarium beached itself, some believe it was trying to commit suicide.
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, yet I thought he was one of the most beautiful sights I’d ever seen. His eyes locked with mine, and I knew I had to share his story.
In the wild he would inhabit large rivers and lakes in the Far East, travelling long distances to enter marshland and forest lakes, in the wet seasons. Despite being a ‘loner fish’, he would of course come into contact with others on journeys.
During the same visit, I witnessed a green turtle swimming back and forth, while 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
As well as keepers having been killed by stressed orcas and other marine creatures at major tourist aquariums, accidents are frequent too.
One orca died when a pool gate shut on his head and fractured his skill, a beluga whale died of a broken jaw after an encounter with another creature (which would not have happened in the wild).
And a blind walrus died in San Diego, after 18 years of confinement. Hundreds of marine creatures have died in major tourist aquariums worldwide.
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 around 20 miles a day. And any bred in captivity, can never be released in the wild.
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.
Overseen by SeaWorld California, Friends of the Earth Director Bob Tait said they strongly objected to removing penguins from their natural homes, and subjecting them to long flights and research, for profit-driven reasons.
Antarctica is a reserve for science and nature, not a place for taking creatures from their homes. Antarctica and Southern Ocean Coalition
What About Swimming with Dolphins?
Parents paying for their children (often autistic) to ‘swim with dolphins’ is now popular, to help them ‘heal’. This is a particularly stupid idea, as dolphins are efficient predators. You would not let your child swim with sharks, so why with wild dolphins?
Especially for autistic children. If startled, they may exhibit behaviour that could shock a dolphin pod into attack. A bit like children screaming, if they saw a wild dog.
Why Do Councils Promote Aquariums?
Why do co1uncils (and tourist information sites – often run by councils) promote tourist aquariums (and zoos?) Surely they should be promoting local independent shops, nature walks and the like.
Are these towns and cities so boring (chain stores etc) that there is nothing original left to do, then go gawp at miserable animals, buy a chain store takeaway, and drive back to the hotel?
One of England’s most popular tourist aquariums is in Birmingham. Which any marine creature will tell you, is not where they want to be, bang in the middle of landlocked West Midlands.
Reviews of the aquarium online are not good, mostly do to things beyond the creatures themselves (bad food, too many people etc). Though one family say they were saddened at the lack of space for the creatures, in particular one otter on his/her own.
In the USA, protests about the living conditions of orcas and other creatures have led at least one tourist aquarium to close.
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, participate in beach clean-ups to make habitats for sea creatures better.
- Watch films! Don’t distress children with films of orcas hunting baby seals, but there are plenty of great fun documentaries. We love Charlie Hamilton-Jones, whose filming of his favourite creatures (otters) are adorable.
- Sit down together and watch Billy and Molly, a love story between an otter and a man living on the Shetland Isles. Directed by Charlie, it follows their friendship, as the man stumbles on the hungry otter one rainy day. The relationship saves them both. This is how children learn about sea creatures.
How is Government Improving Tourist Aquariums?
It’s not doing much, but the 2025 the New Zoo Standards will at least ban children and adults from ‘touching’ creatures like fish and cephalopods (rays, octopus) in tourist aquariums, which causes immense stress.
This is however over 2 years, to give time for ‘aquariums to adapt’, surely they can implement such changes immediately?
The major tourist aquariums in England are in Plymouth, Brighton and Manchester. All boast of conservation projects on their websites (and all three are promoted by local councils). Yet there are plenty of conservation projects going on in the wild worldwide.
Reviews are also 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.
