This is a news release about the Georgia Aquarium’s application to bring 18 captured belugas from Russia into the United States and put them on display at various aquariums. It was written by the Kimmela Center’s Executive Director, Dr. Lori Marino, and Thomas I. White, who holds the Conrad N. Hilton Chair in Business Ethics at Loyola Marymount University.
Last Friday, October 12th, at the public hearing held by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Silver Spring, MD, Kimmela Executive Director Lori Marino joined other researchers, legal experts, advocates and conservationists to present her objections to the Georgia Aquarium’s application to import wild-caught beluga whales for public display.
During the three-hour meeting, various individuals from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Georgia Aquarium, and Atlanta-based teachers affiliated with the aquarium testified to the educational benefits of marine mammal public displays and claimed that the welfare of … Continue reading Report on the NOAA Beluga Import Public Hearing