home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- <text id=90TT2510>
- <title>
- Sep. 24, 1990: American Notes:Boston
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1990
- Sep. 24, 1990 Under The Gun
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- NATION, Page 57
- American Notes
- BOSTON
- Flipper Fans Stop a Swap
- </hdr>
- <body>
- <p> At first glance, the proposed swap seemed merely a mutual
- convenience. The New England Aquarium in Boston would give the
- Naval Ocean Systems Center in San Diego an overly rambunctious
- 450-lb. male dolphin named Rainbow and in return get a
- mild-mannered female that is hard of hearing and is thus
- disqualified for experiments in hearing capability and acoustic
- response to underwater sounds. When animal lovers heard about
- it, however, they mounted a fierce protest. First, a coalition
- picketed the aquarium then last week Citizens to End Animal
- Suffering and Exploitation filed a federal lawsuit to block the
- trade.
- </p>
- <p> Protesters argue that dolphins should not be used by the
- military in the first place and claim that many are abused when
- the Navy teaches them to fight and to kill people with
- snout-mounted .45-cal. guns. Said Richard O'Barry, dolphin
- trainer for the 1960s television series Flipper and now an
- opponent of all captivity for the endearing mammals: "We
- capture them, we use them, we abuse them, then we dump them."
- Although dolphin expert Joseph Geraci of the University of
- Guelph in Ontario reported finding no signs that the San Diego
- center mistreats the creatures, the aquarium, which has made
- similar transfers before, put the plan on hold. Said executive
- director John Prescott: "We want to satisfy any anxiety raised
- by this decision."
- </p>
-
- </body>
- </article>
- </text>
-
-