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VIDEO. Should we keep dolphins captive for science?
In 2021, France voted to end cetacean captivity. However, in certain cases, such as scientific studies, the practice would continue to be authorized. Brut organized a meeting with Muriel Arnal, founder of the One Voice association and Martin Böye, scientific director of Planète Sauvage park, to discuss their different points of view. – (Raw.)
In 2021, France voted to end cetacean captivity. However, in certain cases, such as scientific studies, the practice would continue to be authorized. Brut organized a meeting with Muriel Arnal, founder of the One Voice association and Martin Böye, scientific director of Planète Sauvage park, to discuss their different points of view.
“This law was unfortunately smoke and mirrors, and people applauded, thought it was over, but it’s not over” laments Muriel Arnal, founder of the One Voice association. For her, scientific studies carried out on captive animals could very well be carried out in a natural environment. For his part, Martin Böye, scientific director of Planète Sauvage park, recalls that research work has been carried out there since at least 2009, i.e. before the arrival of the dolphins. “So we don’t do research because the law asked us to do so.”
“Marineland is going to close completely, so the dolphins are going to go to absolutely terrible places, either China or Dubai”
Within the Planète Sauvage park, two types of studies are carried out: on communication between dolphins, and on the way in which they perceive their environment. “And all this with the idea of being able to apply this on the ground, at sea, to improve their living conditions” specifies Martin Böye. “The studies that are carried out here will be useful in providing information on captive dolphins, and not on free dolphins” retorts Muriel Arnal, adding that the living conditions are not the same: captive cetaceans “do not know the currents, nor the tides, nor the wild marine life”. For Martin Böye, the captive environment makes it possible to study elements that would be much more complicated to study at sea, such as filming a birth, and therefore “better understand what they need in nature”.
“There are two places with dolphins in France: Marineland in Antibes, which also has orcas, and Planète Sauvage. Marineland is going to close completely, so the dolphins are going to go to absolutely terrible places. There are no more places in Europe, so the destination is either China or Dubai. China has no animal protection laws, Dubai, we don’t talk about it… There, tourists can enter the water with them and force them into direct contact” would like to remind Muriel Arnal. “Why are they going to Dubai? Because parks in France are being forced to close. And there, we put the animals in danger” answers Martin Böye. For Muriel Arnal, the solution would consist of creating a “ideal sanctuary”, which would bring together the best living conditions for cetaceans and a necessary framework for scientific research.