Dolphinarium

Since the 1970s, increasing concern for animal welfare led to stricter regulation, which in several countries ultimately resulted in the closure of some dolphinariums.

Though cetaceans have been held in captivity in both North America and Europe by 1860—Boston Aquarial Gardens in 1859 and pairs of beluga whales in Barnum's American Museum in New York City museum—[3][4] dolphins were first kept for paid entertainment in the Marine Studios dolphinarium founded in 1938 in St. Augustine, Florida.

[citation needed] New legislation, most notably the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act in the United States, combined with a more critical view on animal welfare, forced many dolphinariums around the world to close.

Hundreds if not thousands of bottlenose dolphins live in captivity across the world, though exact numbers are hard to determine.

Endangered dolphin species are included in CITES' Appendix I, in which case trade is permitted only in exceptional circumstances.

Species considered not to be threatened with extinction are included in Appendix II, in which case trade "must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival".

Most cetacean species traded for display in captivity to the public or for use in swimming with dolphins and other interaction programs are listed on Appendix II.

[10] In recent years, the Solomon Islands have also allowed the collection and export of dolphins for public display facilities.

[15] This does not, however, reflect a global state of affairs: for example, bottlenose dolphins in captive facilities in Jamaica suffer from extremely high mortality rates.

[16] Some scientists suggest that the "unusually high" intelligence of dolphins[17] means that they should be recognized as "non-human persons".

[17] According to animal rights organizations that monitor the subject, the following jurisdictions have full or partial bans on keeping dolphins in captivity: Bolivia, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, India, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey,[19] and the American states California, New York, and South Carolina.

[20][21] Other countries have laws so restrictive that is virtually impossible to keep cetaceans in captivity: Brazil, Luxembourg, Nicaragua, Norway, and the United Kingdom.