...(MLP) whereby more than 100,000 living exhibits of marine life will is slated to start operations in 2012, at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS). The aim of this MLP, as cited by RWS, is to ‘enrich public understanding of marine conservation’. It also wishes to serve as a public showcase for education and research of marine wildlife. The MLP houses 25 indo-pacific bottlenose dolphins as well. There will also be a whale shark exhibit at the MLP. However, before the opening of the MLP, there have already been issues and concerns being raised by the public and some animal welfare organizations, with regards to the captivity of these dolphins and the whale sharks. As animal captivity has been a controversial issue over the past years, an issue that undoubtedly concerns the public and animal welfare organizations (such as SPCA and ACRES) is that RWS seems to only be bringing these dolphins for amusement to the public, henceforth generating more profits when RWS’s dolphin shows become popular. The question is – is RWS doing anything about the public’s comments towards its actions? Is RWS really excessively importing these bottlenose dolphins for the money or for the greater good of its species? Another issue that the public has with RWS housing the whale shark exhibit is that whale sharks, which are being held in captivity, have low survival rates due to various reasons, such as limited captive space, stress from being unaccustomed to captive life and so on. Surprisingly, after SPCA, ACRES...
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...Bottlenose dolphins, the genus Tursiops, are the most common and well-known members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphin.[1] Recent molecular studies show the genus contains two species, the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus), instead of one. Research in 2011 revealed a third species, the Burrunan dolphin (Tursiops australis). They inhabit warm and temperate seas worldwide. Bottlenose dolphins live in groups typically of 10–30 members, called pods, but group size varies from single individuals up to more than 1,000. Their diets consist mainly of forage fish. Dolphins often work as a team to harvest fish schools, but they also hunt individually. Dolphins search for prey primarily using echolocation, which is similar to sonar. They emit clicking sounds and listen for the return echos to determine the location and shape of nearby items, including potential prey. Bottlenose dolphins also use sound for communication, including squeaks and whistles emitted from the blowhole and sounds emitted through body language, such as leaping from the water and slapping their tails on the water surface. There have been numerous investigations of bottlenose dolphin intelligence. Research on bottlenose dolphins has examined mimicry, use of artificial language, object categorization, and self-recognition. They can use tools (sponging) and transmit cultural knowledge across generations,[2] and their considerable...
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...Dolphins Belong to the Wild-- Captivity Harms Them The essay “Orca Encounters” discusses how much humans can help the orcas when they are separated from their family and arrive at our coasts. Should we send them back their pods, or just let them interact with humans? In the text, some experts believe it’s better to let the orcas stay, because the social interaction that the orcas are seeking can be made up by humans, so they may not be interested in returning back. Many other experts believe that the solitary orcas belong to their family, and it’s improper to keep them from returning. Also, the text mentions more scientists agree that “any reunion of wayward cetacean with its pod should happen quickly”(Groc 162). However, there isn’t an example of other cetaceans, and the text doesn’t give any detailed information about what scientists have studied to reach the agreement above. For instance, solitary dolphins are even more common to see than solitary orcas, and many of them have been captured because their kindness and cleverness make people keep them, even though many studies show captivity does harm to the dolphins. Fitness of the dolphins is influenced the most during captivity. As the environment has changed after being captured, dolphins’ emotions have also changed. “[The captivity of dolphins] causes desperation because their basic instincts are obstructed, obviating millions of years of ingrained behavior”(Rivera). Rivera states that mother dolphins take care of...
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...at your kids. Dancing, drill teams, music, martial arts, and other recreational uses of stimulus control. 4—Untraining: Using Reinforcement to Get Rid of Behavior You Don't Want Eight methods of getting rid of behavior you don't want, from messy roommates to barking dogs to bad tennis to harmful addictions, starting with Method 1: Shoot the Animal, which definitely works, and ending with Method 8: Change the Motivation, which is more humane and definitely works too. 5—Reinforcement in the Real World What it all means. Reading minds, coaching Olympic teams, how happiness can affect corporate profits, ways to deal with other governments, and other practical applications of reinforcement theory. 6—Clicker Training: A New Technology From the dolphin tanks to everyone's backyard:...
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...VOLUME EDITOR S. WALLER is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Montana State University Bozeman. Her areas of research are philosophy of neurology, philosophy of cognitive ethology (especially dolphins, wolves, and coyotes), and philosophy of mind, specifically the parts of the mind we disavow. SERIES EDITOR FRITZ ALLHOFF is an Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department at Western Michigan University, as well as a Senior Research Fellow at the Australian National University’s Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics. In addition to editing the Philosophy for Everyone series, Allhoff is the volume editor or co-editor for several titles, including Wine & Philosophy (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007), Whiskey & Philosophy (with Marcus P. Adams, Wiley, 2009), and Food & Philosophy (with Dave Monroe,Wiley-Blackwell, 2007). P H I L O S O P H Y F O R E V E RYO N E Series editor: Fritz Allhoff Not so much a subject matter, philosophy is a way of thinking.Thinking not just about the Big Questions, but about little ones too.This series invites everyone to ponder things they care about, big or small, significant, serious … or just curious. Running & Philosophy: A Marathon for the Mind Edited by Michael W. Austin Wine & Philosophy: A Symposium on Thinking and Drinking Edited by Fritz Allhoff Food & Philosophy: Eat,Think and Be Merry Edited by Fritz Allhoff and Dave Monroe Beer & Philosophy: The Unexamined Beer Isn’t Worth Drinking Edited by Steven D. Hales Whiskey & Philosophy:...
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