Dolphin deaths in transit rare: Experts

Procedure is safe but unnatural environment on trip may be stressful
Ng Kai Ling And Melissa Pang Straits Times 24 Nov 12;

IT IS rare for dolphins to die while they are being transported as all necessary precautions would have been taken to ensure their health and safety, two marine mammal experts said yesterday.

But, they added, the unnatural environment that the animals are exposed to during the journey can be very stressful.

On Thursday, a male bottlenose dolphin being transported to Resorts World Sentosa's (RWS) Marine Life Park died suddenly less than an hour before its plane landed.

Wen Wen, estimated to be 10 years old, had been on a three-hour flight from Subic Bay in the Philippines. A necropsy - an autopsy for animals - has been performed and further tests will be done here and in the United States to find out how it died.

A Marine Life Park spokesman said yesterday that the other 10 dolphins that travelled with Wen Wen are under quarantine and being monitored closely. He also said RWS and park officials were deeply saddened by the death.

National University of Singapore's Tropical Marine Science Institute biologist Elizabeth Taylor said it was "very rare" for dolphins to die in transit.

"It is usually a very safe procedure," said Dr Taylor, who heads the Marine Mammal Research Laboratory. She said the utmost precautions are usually taken to make sure the dolphins are safe.

She added that at 10 years old, Wen Wen was considered a young dolphin and in its prime.

The transportation of dolphins involves placing them in specially made stretchers and submerging them in a deep container filled with water, she said.

The dolphin's flippers are fitted into slots at the sides of the stretchers to ensure they are not tossed around in transit.

This suspended position is just one of several stress factors for the sea mammals, said American dolphin expert Ric O'Barry, speaking from Almeria in Spain, where he helps in dolphin rescue efforts.

"In their natural world, dolphins do not know gravity. It's alien to them and causes stress," said Mr O'Barry, who has helped transport dolphins in his 50 years of experience working with them.

More stress comes from the noise and vibration from cargo planes, which they are usually transported on. Their primary sense is their sense of sound, and the environment is very different from what they are used to in the ocean, he said.

Mr O'Barry said none of the dolphins he has helped to transport has ever died, but they were mostly short journeys done in cases of emergency.

Dr Taylor said it was hard to tell if the other dolphins would be affected by Wen Wen's death. "They do recognise other individuals, so they will know if one is no longer there, but we can't know for sure how they will feel."

The first batch of 14 dolphins to the park arrived without harm on Monday.

Of the 27 dolphins that RWS bought for its oceanarium, two others besides Wen Wen have died, in 2010 of a bacterial infection while in a holding pen in Langkawi, Malaysia.

Wen Wen's death has renewed calls among animal activists for RWS to return the remaining 24 dolphins to their natural habitat in the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, where they were captured from.

The activists argue that these dolphins will not survive in captivity. They also claim the dolphins were caught unethically.

The Marine Life Park opened on Thursday, the last attraction at the $7 billion integrated resort to be ready. Its 8ha oceanarium is the world's largest aquarium and was part of the proposal which won Genting International the bid to build the Sentosa integrated resort in 2006.

RWS bought the dolphins from a Canadian dolphin trader in 2008 and 2009.

In 2009, RWS scrapped plans to have whale sharks, saying it might not be able to care for them. The park's staff include four veterinarians with a combined experience of successfully transporting more than 500 marine mammals, a spokesman said.

The dolphin exhibit - which will not feature live shows and will have opportunities for visitors to interact with the mammals - will be open to the public next year.

Subic dolphin dies on flight to Singapore
Inquirer 24 Nov 12;

MANILA, Philippines—Wen Wen, one of 25 dolphins transferred from Subic in the Philippines to a Singapore oceanarium despite protests from activists, died during its flight to the city-state on Thursday, the resort said.

The male dolphin, aged about 10, died suddenly less than an hour before the flight from the Philippines landed, a Marine Life Park spokesperson said in a statement.

The spokesperson of the park—which opened to the public for the first time earlier

Thursday and is part of the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) casino—said Wen Wen appeared fine when medically examined before the flight.

“We are deeply saddened… he will be sorely missed,” the spokesperson said.

He confirmed that the other 24 bottle-nose dolphins had arrived and were acclimatizing to their new home.

“No effort or resources will be spared in ensuring the health and well-being of our dolphins and all marine animals at Marine Life Park,” the statement said.

Wen Wen is the third dolphin to die out of 27 which RWS acquired from the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific between 2008 and 2009.

Wildlife activists in the Philippines, however, are mad that the firm was able to ferry out the dolphins despite an ongoing court case and said Resorts World Sentosa and the government could expect a new round of lawsuits against them.

Trixie Concepcion of the Earth Island Institute decried the exportation of the dolphins from Subic to Singapore as “blatant disregard of Philippine laws and courts.”

She pointed out that a Quezon City court was still hearing their appeal seeking the extension of a temporary environment protection order (Tepo).

“And yet they flew the dolphins out of the country, it is a disrespect of our processes… the status quo should have been observed,” she said in an interview on Friday.

Concepcion pointed out that Wen-wen’s death only supports their argument that wild animals should not be transported.

“That is very stressful to the wild animals. And they die in the end,” she said.

Even though the dolphin died outside the country, Concepcion said they will file criminal charges under the Animal Welfare Act.

The animal welfare advocate said they will also pursue contempt charges against the government and Resorts World Sentosa.

“We are also contemplating a case before the Ombudsman against the government for obstruction of justice,” she said.

The activists had filed a lawsuit last month to stop the firm from taking the dolphins out of Subic, were they were kept and trained. They said the dolphins’ capture violated an international treaty on the trade in endangered animals and plants.

The Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 101 is hearing a case that the Philippine Animal Welfare Society and other groups filed against the Resorts World Sentosa and other government agencies seeking to stop the export of the dolphins.

The dolphins originally came from the Solomon Islands and were cared for in Subic before they were brought to Singapore.

Last month, the court issued a Tepo stopping the export of the dolphins but this order was only valid for 72 hours. The court did not extend the Tepo but is hearing the advocates’ appeal for its extension.

The first batch of 11 dolphins was reportedly transported on Nov. 19. The animal welfare advocates filed an urgent motion the following day. With a report from Agence France-Presse