In Wild vs. In Prison by Ananya Thaliyakula

How would you feel if you were in captivity just because you had something more extraordinary than a normal person? How would you feel if people were staring and laughing at you at a zoo for their entertainment? Animal rights are very important, because animals are kind of like people. They come in different forms, shapes, and sizes just like normal people, and you wouldn’t want a normal person in captivity. Would you? So we should treat animals like they are humans. The article titled “Intelligent Creatures Shouldn’t Be Caged Like Prisoners in Tanks” by Jennifer O’Connor is about how intelligent creatures such as dolphins should not be in captivity. It is also about how Georgia Aquarium is paying $110 million to train just dolphins. It is clear that aquariums should not keep dolphins for visitors. They are too intelligent and humanlike to be display creatures, and they also lose their wildlife instincts if they are in captivity.

Dolphins are intelligent and human-like, so they should not be treated badly. According to “Intelligent Creatures Shouldn’t Be Caged Like Prisoners in Tanks” by Jennifer O’Connor, dolphins should not be in captivity because they are too smart. This article says that dolphins are too human like to be in cages and that they should be roaming out in the open. One piece of evidence from the article is, “Just like us, dolphins have distinct personalities and can think about the future. They are cultural beings, watching and learning from one another, such as using sponges ripped from the ocean floor to aid in foraging. These self-aware animals recognize themselves and have been seen closely examining themselves in mirrors” (O’Connor paragraph 5). This piece of evidence shows us that dolphins are just like human beings. They think about what is going to happen in the future, they forage for food just like human beings used to, they even look at themselves closely in a mirror just like human beings. According to the article, “Professor Lori Marino used MRI scans to map the brains of dolphin species and found that the cerebral cortex and the neocortex of bottlenose dolphins are so large that dolphins’ cognitive capacity is second only to humans. Thomas White, professor of ethics at Loyola Marymount University, agreed, saying, ‘The scientific research suggests that dolphins are ‘non-human persons’ who qualify for moral understanding as individuals’’’ (O’Connor paragraph 3). This piece of evidence proves that dolphins are ‘second only to humans’ meaning that their brains are so big (like human brains) that if a dolphin was on land, could speak, walk and be exactly like a human being no one would know the difference between dolphins and humans. This is one of the reasons why these creatures should not be in captivity. They are just like human beings and they do not deserve to be in cages.

Another reason why dolphins should not be in aquariums is because they tend to lose their wildlife instincts if they are in captivity. Dolphins are in major danger if they are in captivity because they do not get food until they listen to what the trainer is saying and their wildlife instincts can also get deprived. According to “6 Reasons Why Dolphins Shouldn’t Be in Captivity” by Marilee Menard, “They tend to fall into stress and depression when they no longer have the freedom to roam the ocean” (paragraph 6). This proves that dolphins should not be kept in aquariums because when they cannot roam around, the tiny space causes them to suffer in many ways. When dolphins are in the ocean they have a lot more room to do whatever they want, and go wherever they please, but when dolphins are in captivity they cannot do that because they have to stay in their tiny cages. One quote to support this piece of evidence is, “newly captured dolphins are deprived of food until they obey orders from the trainer” (Menard paragraph 5). This shows that dolphins do not belong in the aquariums because they need a lot of food and are deprived of it until they obey orders. This is bad for the dolphins in captivity because they often get less food and die faster, but dolphins out in the ocean can eat as much as they want and live the amount of life they are supposed to. These are the reasons why dolphins should not be captive; they can lose their natural instincts that they use in the wild.

It is clear that aquariums should not keep dolphins for visitors because they are too intelligent and humanlike to be display creatures, and they also lose their wildlife instincts if they are in captivity. Dolphins should not be in captivity because they are too humanlike to be held captive and if they are captured and put into an aquarium they are not able to be free and use their survival instincts, so they tend to lose them. If a dolphin is in captivity then it is often deprived of food, so when a newly captured dolphin comes to the aquarium the trainers may not give it food until it obeys the trainer’s orders and instructions. Dolphins are also too smart to be in a cage because they have a brain that is almost the same as a normal human. If a dolphin were on land and was walking, talking, dressing and acting like a human then no one would even notice that it was a dolphin. So, these precious and humanlike creatures should not be part of an aquarium; instead, they should be roaming free and out in the open sea where they belong.