So, why no dolphins, you wonder?
By Sharyl Crossley, Aquarist
Artwork by Kyle Weis, Aquarist


 
“Isn’t this Dolphin Island Sea Lab?” and “Where are your dolphins?” are two questions that seem to come up on a regular basis. With so many visitors wondering why the Estuarium has failed to jump on the marine mammal bandwagon, a brief explanation seemed in order.

No Space
The first reason involves the federal laws that control the possession of marine mammals by a facility. The fact that the Estuarium is an educational facility is in our favor in this respect, but in order to legally exhibit marine mammals all public aquariums must meet the guidelines established by the Animal Welfare Act. This legislation sets minimum standards for the housing, husbandry, transportation, nutrition, water quality, veterinary care, and sanitation of marine mammal enclosures Our largest tank falls WAY short of the surface area and the width required for two bottlenose dolphins (a pair is required due to the highly social nature of this species).

No Money
Next is the ever-present burden of finances. Aquarium habitats are the most expensive type of exhibits to construct and maintain. The foundations and external walls must be incredibly strong and water tight to keep the water where it’s suppose to be, decorations must be realistic and resilient, and filtration must be excellent and run non-stop. In addition, employing a highly skilled and trained husbandry staff, the cost of exhibit animals, food, water, electricity, back-up electricity, repairs, replacement parts, and insurance over the lifetime of the facility are significant expenses as well.

But we’ve got plenty of other fascinating creatures to see…
Finally, the diversity of life found in the Mobile Bay estuary is a strong argument for not exhibiting warm-blooded species at our facility. Perhaps with the money that was spent to build the Estuarium, a very nice, very spacious dolphin enclosure could have been constructed and maintained. However, the great diversity found between the Mobile Delta and the Northern Gulf of Mexico seems to make the choice between exhibiting a single species or exhibiting several an easy one. With more than 150 species currently exhibited, the Estuarium’s living collection represents only a fraction of the variety of animals found in our area. Yet as they walk through our doors, young and old visitors are given the opportunity to observe the stoic alligators, the shape-shifting octopus, the cryptic sargassum fish, and so many others for the very first time. Hopefully each will leave with a much greater understanding and appreciation of this unique ecosystem.