Bottlenose dolphins and other cetaceans in captivity face fundamental welfare challenges from their large space requirements, complex social needs, and intelligence that make captive welfare extremely difficult to achieve.
The fundamental welfare challenge for captive cetaceans is that their biological and behavioral needs cannot be adequately met in any current or foreseeable captive environment. Wild dolphins traverse vast ranges in complex three-dimensional environments, navigating with echolocation and living in dynamic social groups. Captive pools cannot provide adequate space, environmental complexity, or appropriate social grouping regardless of how well-intentioned the facility. The accumulating evidence of welfare compromise including stereotypies, immune dysfunction, and premature mortality supports the conclusion that cetacean captivity is inherently incompatible with adequate welfare for most species.