The ban on whales and dolphins at the Vancouver Aquarium will not be overturned or delayed, vowed the chairman of the park board, but the three cetaceans currently on display in Stanley Park may be allowed to stay.
Speaking to reporters in response to a Vancouver Aquarium press conference earlier in the day, Michael Wiebe said the cetacean ban is “compassionate.”
“Vancouver is being a leader on this,” he said.
“We have a decision and it will be going forward,” he added. “We have voted as a board that any cetacean will not be allowed to return to Stanley Park. It doesn’t mean it can’t stay at the rescue centre, that it can’t be released, that it can’t be moved to a different facility, but it cannot be brought to Stanley Park.”
The marine rescue centre rehabilitates and releases more than 150 of seals and other marine animals every year. Last year, 174 harbour seals, a Northern Sea fur seal, Guadalupe fur seal, and California sea lion as well as a green sea turtle were all treated at the centre and subsequently released.
“Very few cetaceans are brought in there,” said Wiebe.
In more than 50 years and 1,500 animals, six cetaceans have been treated at the marine rescue centre. Because the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans determined those animals would not survive in the wild, three of them remain at the aquarium: a false killer whale, pacific white-sided dolphin, and a harbour porpoise.
Wiebe said allowing those three cetaceans to remain at the aquarium by “grandfathering” them into the new bylaw “is an option that is available.” Staff will present recommendations to the board on May 15.
“The decision is we keep them as is and grandfather them in, or it could be that they get moved on to other centres,” Wiebe said of the three cetaceans now at the aquarium, including Chester, the false killer whale that was stranded in the summer of 2014 on a beach near Tofino as a calf younger than six weeks old and never developed the skills to survive in his natural habitat.
However, regardless of a ban, the whale named for Chesterman Beach may not live out the rest of his days at the aquarium.
“Chester is an interesting one because Chester is going to grow. Chester is going to be a lot larger,” said Wiebe. “The Vancouver Aquarium has spoken and has said that they will be looking at other facility because Chester will be too large.”
In response to comments from aquarium representatives that commissioners had formed opinions before hearing from the public and marine scientists opposed to a ban, Wiebe said the park board decision was taken after considerable consultation and reflection.
“This isn’t us listening to five or six really loud activists. This is us making a very educated decision. This was not an easy decision we made and it took a lot of work by our board to make sur we had the right education,” he said. “When we hear that we were not educated in making this decision, that is not true.”
He said the park board received approximately 10,000 pieces of correspondence, electronic and otherwise. Commissioners also met with scientists and aquarium researchers and also heard from more than 60 speakers at public meetings earlier this year.
Wiebe said messages from the public were considered and do have influence. The Vancouver Aquarium certainly hopes this is true, given they announced a campaign to encouraged residents around the Lower Mainland to contact the Vancouver park board and voice their opposition to the cetacean ban.
“You do reflect on how many [letters] you get because you do want to understand where the passion is and where the people are coming from,” said Wiebe. “That one is hard because you know a lot of the people are not from Vancouver and we are trying to represent Vancouverites, but you do have to recognize how passionate people are.”
The park board does not govern the aquarium or its operations directly but does hold jurisdiction over the land it leases in the city park. The bylaw applies to public parkland and, in this specific case, the park board’s authority unilaterally affects the operation of the aquarium.
The relationship between the elected municipal body and the science centre with a multi-million dollar budget has become strained. Commissioner Stuart Mackinnon characterized the aquarium’s attitude towards the park board as “arrogant.” Representatives for the aquarium said commissioners entered the discussion over cetacean captivity with their votes already cast.
“This is a partnership that has been broken a little bit,” said Wiebe. “It is a partnership that we need to revisit and make sure we can work better in the future.
In the earlier press conference, the CEO of the aquarium said the park board had not disclosed any information about the upcoming bylaw.
The incoming chairman of the aquarium’s board of directors said their attempts to educate the politicians were not as effective as they’d have liked.
“We have tried to work proactively with the park board commissioners to share accurate information and expert research,” said Randy Pratt. “We have tried to address their concerns and identify a collaborative approach.”
In his afternoon presser, the park board chairman said the general manager had “reached out multiple times” but had not been able to connect with the aquarium.
“Everyone around the table respects the work of the Vancouver Aquarium and wants to continue to see them be a world leader because they are inside of one of our parks and we have a contract with them until 2029 and we want to make sure that we make that work.
“We could have brought back the bylaw sooner,” he continued, noting the aquarium’s recent self-declared intent to phase out cetaceans by 2029.
“We have given them the time to make sure that they understand how it’s going to work and make sure we can make it the easiest way to move forward […] We have been respectful and we will continue to try to be respectful. We want to work with them in the future and we have put out an open invitation. We are still waiting for the information from them.”
The park board will discuss the cetacean ban May 15.
Twitter: @MHStewart
