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Nico, a beluga whale who was originally captured from Russian waters, is the latest victim of the captive industry. After being captured from his natural habitat and fellow pod members, Nico was first held for years in an amusement park in Mexico City before relocation to the Georgia Aquarium. He was recently transferred to Sea World while the Georgia Aquarium’s beluga facility is being upgraded. His cause of death is yet to be determined.

Nico is the latest victim of the global captivity industry where the list of captive beluga deaths continues to increase, with causes of death including “cardiac arrest”, “acute renal failure” and “acute bacterial pneumonia” – all despite the so-called comforts of life in a tank!

Sadly, belugas and other captive cetaceans continue to be held in an assortment of captive facilities across the globe and live captures continue to take place to replenish ‘stock’. Many die well before their natural life expectancy. For instance, captive orcas generally live no more than 20 years or less, whereas in the wild they have a life span very much similar to ours.

WDCS is part of the European Alliance to End Dolphin Captivity (EAEDC) and we are aiming to collect 1 million petition signatures which we plan to deliver to the EU at Council, Parliamentary and Commission level in February 2010. So please sign our petition today.

Signatories (of any nationality or age) to this petition do not believe that whales and dolphins in captivity are subjected to a suitable environment as required by the Directive 1999/22/EC*, and therefore request an immediate ban on the construction of new dolphinaria and a prohibition of the trade in whales and dolphins in the EU Member States, EU Applicant Countries, Turkey, and Switzerland.

You sign our petition online or alternatively you can help us collect signatures for the petition by downloading a copy, asking your friends and family to sign it and returning it to us at the address provided. Thank you!

The capture of dolphins, their trade, and keeping in captivity cannot be justified from an animal welfare or species protection point of view. For further details of why WDCS campaigns against the keeping of whales and dolphins in captivity and also the capture and trade of these magnificent, intelligent and wide-ranging mammals please visit our Captivity pages.

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