The Cetacean Sanctuary: A Sea of Unknowns
Housing cetaceans in netted sea pens is not new and is common for many accredited managed-care facilities. Hence, the distinction between sanctuary and sea pen is more about the philosophies of those who run these sanctuary facilities, the effects of these philosophies on the animals’ welfare, and h...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/2/335 |
| _version_ | 1797344766007967744 |
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| author | Jason N. Bruck |
| author_facet | Jason N. Bruck |
| author_sort | Jason N. Bruck |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Housing cetaceans in netted sea pens is not new and is common for many accredited managed-care facilities. Hence, the distinction between sanctuary and sea pen is more about the philosophies of those who run these sanctuary facilities, the effects of these philosophies on the animals’ welfare, and how proponents of these sanctuaries fund the care of these animals. Here, I consider what plans exist for cetacean sanctuaries and discuss the caveats and challenges associated with this form of activist-managed captivity. One goal for stakeholders should be to disregard the emotional connotations of the word “sanctuary” and explore these proposals objectively with the best interest of the animals in mind. Another focus should be related to gauging the public’s understanding of proposed welfare benefits to determine if long-term supporters of donation-based sanctuary models will likely see their expectations met as NGOs and their government partners consider moving forward with cetacean sanctuary experiments. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:07:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a9452fd68666451685e2e23ab0505e78 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:07:30Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-a9452fd68666451685e2e23ab0505e782024-01-26T14:35:11ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152024-01-0114233510.3390/ani14020335The Cetacean Sanctuary: A Sea of UnknownsJason N. Bruck0Department of Biology, Stephen F. Austin University, SFA Station, Nacogdoches, TX 75962, USAHousing cetaceans in netted sea pens is not new and is common for many accredited managed-care facilities. Hence, the distinction between sanctuary and sea pen is more about the philosophies of those who run these sanctuary facilities, the effects of these philosophies on the animals’ welfare, and how proponents of these sanctuaries fund the care of these animals. Here, I consider what plans exist for cetacean sanctuaries and discuss the caveats and challenges associated with this form of activist-managed captivity. One goal for stakeholders should be to disregard the emotional connotations of the word “sanctuary” and explore these proposals objectively with the best interest of the animals in mind. Another focus should be related to gauging the public’s understanding of proposed welfare benefits to determine if long-term supporters of donation-based sanctuary models will likely see their expectations met as NGOs and their government partners consider moving forward with cetacean sanctuary experiments.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/2/335cetaceansanctuarywhalewelfaresea pennaturalistic enclosures |
| spellingShingle | Jason N. Bruck The Cetacean Sanctuary: A Sea of Unknowns Animals cetacean sanctuary whale welfare sea pen naturalistic enclosures |
| title | The Cetacean Sanctuary: A Sea of Unknowns |
| title_full | The Cetacean Sanctuary: A Sea of Unknowns |
| title_fullStr | The Cetacean Sanctuary: A Sea of Unknowns |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Cetacean Sanctuary: A Sea of Unknowns |
| title_short | The Cetacean Sanctuary: A Sea of Unknowns |
| title_sort | cetacean sanctuary a sea of unknowns |
| topic | cetacean sanctuary whale welfare sea pen naturalistic enclosures |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/2/335 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jasonnbruck thecetaceansanctuaryaseaofunknowns AT jasonnbruck cetaceansanctuaryaseaofunknowns |