National Aquarium Plans Tropical Dolphin Sanctuary

Baltimore, MD — The National Aquarium in Baltimore is seeking a place for its dolphins to retire.

Billed as a "dolphin sanctuary," the center would be the first of its kind in North America, according to a statement from the aquarium, which announced its plan Tuesday after five years of researching options for the dolphins in its care.

Aquarium officials say they are looking at Florida and the Caribbean for sites to build the sanctuary, so the dolphins would be in a tropical or subtropical location akin to their habitat in the wild, living outside in seawater with natural stimuli like aquatic plants and fish in a space that has more room than the current facility.

The dolphin sanctuary plan came about after a team of experts including scientists, researchers, staff and board members considered rebuilding the dolphins' existing tanks to mirror the mammals' natural surroundings or putting the dolphins at other accredited facilities. 

“We now know more about dolphins and their care, and we believe that the National Aquarium is uniquely positioned to use that knowledge to implement positive change,” National Aquarium CEO John Racanelli said in a statement. “This is the right time to move forward with the dolphin sanctuary.”

The goal is to open the new facility by 2020 and to move all of the aquarium's dolphins to the new location.

Staffed by mammal experts and a full-time veterinarian, the sanctuary would be defined by the "dolphin-first approach" to caring for the mammals and would also house conservation research.

Currently, the Baltimore aquarium is home to eight Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, ranging in age from 7-year-old Bayley to 44-year-old Nani.

The average life span of a dolphin is 40 to 50 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“As we look at the future of the dolphins in our care, we are working very hard to provide them the best possible place to live out their years,” National Aquarium Board Chair Tom Robinson said in a statement.

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Through the years, the dolphin program at the National Aquarium has evolved, and officials say the sanctuary is a natural next step.

Baltimore's dolphin exhibit opened in 1991 on Pier Four. 

In 2011, the aquarium adopted a policy that it would not breed dolphins. According to NBC, the aquarium lost two baby dolphins and $1.9 million in revenue that year.

The aquarium also does not take dolphins from the wild. The only dolphin at the Baltimore facility who came from the wild was Nani, who was captured in Texas in 1972 and came to Baltimore in 1990 when the marine park where she was living closed. The National Aquarium's other resident dolphins — females Jade, Spirit, Maya, Bayley and Chesapeake as well as males Beau and Foster — were born in captivity. 

In 2012, the aquarium discontinued its stunt-driven dolphin shows and rolled out "Dolphin Discovery," an educational program in which visitors dialogue with mammal experts while getting an up-close view to learn about dolphin behaviors.

In recent years, the aquarium has been receiving feedback from its audience, processing advances in scientific research and honing its own mission, all of which officials said pointed the nonprofit toward the construction of the dolphin sanctuary.

From its audience, aquarium officials learned that "the American public is increasingly uneasy with the notion of keeping dolphins and whales in captivity," Racanelli wrote in an op-ed published in The Baltimore Sun on Tuesday. 

Public outcry in the past year has led Sea World to revamp its orca program and Ringling Bros. to retire elephants from its circus.

According to Racanelli, research has shown that dolphins thrive in their natural habitats when they can form social groups, and moving the animals from man-made enclosures to a sanctuary mirroring the wild is "right for the dolphins."

In addition, Racanelli said that the National Aquarium has shifted from "an entertaining sea life attraction to a nonprofit conservation organization" with regards to its own mission.

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Come 2020, Baltimore's eight bottlenose dolphins could be swimming in their new home. While they would move from Maryland to someplace tropical or subtropical, the plan is to remain connected digitally to Baltimore; National Aquarium visitors would not see live dolphins but could observe them through an electronic medium.

The cost of creating the sanctuary has not yet been determined.

"It is too early to give a precise figure, as the cost will be very specific to the site chosen, reflecting both the price of the land as well as the design and construction expenses particular to that location," according to the aquarium.

People can make tax-deductible donations to the National Aquarium online for the dolphin sanctuary.

Photo Credit: George Grall, National Aquarium.