China Cetacean Alliance

09/05/2025

A 2021 commendation from Longqiao Group regarding their ”Wuxi Company Orca Team,“ alongside existing reports, sheds light on the distressing lives of two orcas. Reportedly captured in late 2017, these animals have now endured over seven years of hidden confinement, their true condition largely concealed.

However, the commendation letter inadvertently reveals critical aspects of their unnatural existence:

Unnatural and Insufficient Diet: The letter mentions staff handling what appears to be squid as bait (referencing Image 3). This starkly contrasts with the natural diet of wild, fish-eating orcas from Russian waters, which primarily consists of high-fat, high-protein cold-water fish like salmon and cod. Squid is merely an occasional snack. If these orcas belong to the mammal-eating ecotype, as is probable, they are forced onto a completely unsuitable fish diet, likely leading to chronic nutritional deficiencies. The denial of their natural prey and hunting opportunities fundamentally disregards their basic needs.
Artificial, Lifeless Water: The letter also indicates staff handling ”seawater components“ – salts used to create artificial seawater (referencing Image 4). Captive cetaceans are deprived of genuine ocean water. This artificial mixture lacks the essential biological elements present in natural seawater (such as microbes and phytoplankton) and lacks the correct gaseous balance. Despite life support systems, observations, including those at major parks like Chimelong (suggesting a widespread issue), reveal that captive pool water quality is often substandard, frequently causing skin and eye infections.
Deprived of Their Natural World:

These intelligent creatures were violently removed from the vastness of the ocean and confined to artificial, lifeless water.They are natural hunters, for fish or mammals, and yet in captivity are forced to become scavengers, fed dead fish that must be stuffed with supplements to meet their nutritional needs. Their lives consist of an unending cycle of performances or behind-the-scenes confinement. Calves born in captivity are never afforded the chance to experience anything natural in their lives.

Don’t buy a ticket.

22/02/2025

A performer at Kunming Sunac Ocean Park, known for its ”mermaid“ shows, was recently bitten on the head by a beluga whale while swimming alongside it. The whale even pulled off the performer’s wig. A similar incident occurred in Yunnan‘s Shilin, where a freediver posing for underwater photos was also grabbed by a whale. The same performer has previously shared footage of being struck by a dolphin’s tail while swimming with them.
From the posts, it’s clear the latter performer is beginning to recognize the risks of swimming with captive whales and dolphins. However, she seems to view these incidents as personal risks—something that could be avoided with better skills—rather than questioning the marine park industry itself.
The reality is, these risks exist because ocean theme parks continue to capture, breed, and confine whales and dolphins for profit. These animals wouldn’t be trapped in concrete tanks if not for this industry. And if not for the need to create new attractions, human performers—no matter how skilled—wouldn’t be placed in such dangerous situations either.
Captivity isn’t just cruel to the animals; it’s unsafe for humans too. Say no to ocean theme parks. Say no to animal exploitation.

12/02/2025

Chimelong’s latest PR stunt with Katniss raises some serious red flags. Do journalists ever question the contradictions in these claims? 
”Learning about marine conservation through close contact with captive whales and dolphins“—That’s like saying riding an elephant teaches you how to protect rainforests. These whales have been stripped of their natural behaviors, unable to swim freely, hunt, or form real social bonds. True conservation means protecting wild populations, not turning them into entertainment props.
Katniss, the “eldest princess” of five calves—Chimelong has been breeding orcas intensively, but let’s be real: the parent whales were wild-caught, and inbreeding is unavoidable. Their “sustainable breeding” is just about making more display animals, not conservation.
 ”Understanding orca behavior“ through a choreographed show—Captivity reduces these incredible animals to commercial assets. You are not seeing real orca behavior, because in a concrete tank, they no longer have real lives.






 

10/02/2025

As many marine parks ramp up dolphin and whale performances for Lunar New Year promotions, a report on January 24 revealed that Chongqing Hanhai Ocean Park has introduced three Pacific white-sided dolphins to its exhibits. The report provided detailed information about their age (5, 6, and 9 years old) and gender (all female) and described how they underwent health checks upon arrival, with staff even giving them massages to “ease travel fatigue.”
Yet, while the article went to great lengths to highlight the park’s “care” for these dolphins, it conveniently omitted one crucial detail—their origin. These dolphins didn’t just appear in Chongqing out of nowhere. Typically, if they were transferred from another facility within China, the source would be mentioned. The silence on their origins strongly suggests they were imported from Japan, possibly from Taiji, infamous for its brutal dolphin hunts. In recent years, some marine parks have learned that purchasing wild-caught dolphins from Japan sparks public outrage, so they now choose to obscure the truth.
As families reunite for the CNY holiday, these dolphins will never see their ocean home again. Worse yet, the truth of their capture is deliberately hidden—because public awareness and empathy threaten the profits of those who exploit them.






 

05/02/2025

Recently, a visitor at Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park spotted an orca with a bleeding tail fluke during a performance. The whale was seen slapping the water with its tail at the direction from a trainer as part of the show.
During our investigation at the park last year, we noticed an orca with a semi-circular wound on its tail fluke—possibly caused by cookie-cutter sharks before its capture. Comparing photos, it’s highly likely this is the same individual.
It is possible the demands of the performance have reopened this old wound. These animals have lost their freedom, been stripped of their natural lives, and turned into profit-driven commodities, performing repetitive and even harmful tricks.
Some argue that captivity isn’t so bad—after all, they’re fed and „cared for.“ But beyond the visible wounds, captivity shatters wild populations and distorts reality with misleading narratives like “orcas love their trainers, love performing, and welcome visitors.” The real harm isn’t just physical—it’s the calculated deception that keeps this industry alive.






 

04/02/2025

At the start of 2025, Wenzhou Polar Ocean World unveiled its acquisition of two new beluga whales. According to online information, these whales were ”imported.“ However, there is no corresponding record in customs import/export data, making it unclear whether Russia has resumed exporting belugas to China or if these whales were transferred from another facility. There is also no indication that Russia has resumed captures in the Sea of Okhotsk, and the capture infrastructure in the Russian Far East was dismantled some years ago.
The last time Wenzhou Polar Ocean World ”introduced“ whales or dolphins was in October 2019, when they imported four bottlenose dolphins from Japan. The keywords - Japan, bottlenose dolphins - strongly indicate they were wild-captured survivors from the infamous Taiji dolphin hunts.
When you buy a ticket to a marine park holding captive whales and dolphins in China or Japan, and their trading partners, your money directly supports the industry’s reliance on wild captures from Japan (and possibly Russia). Your money actively contributes to the capture and imprisonment of these animals.






 

19/01/2025

04/11/2024

On the afternoon of September 11, a social media user reported that the whale shark at Chengdu’s Haohai Lifang Aquarium appeared to be in critical condition, lying motionless in its tank. That evening, at approximately 9:30 p.m., the aquarium released a statement claiming the whale shark wasn’t dead but had been sedated and released into the South China Sea.
Although there has been some research into using “anesthesia techniques” to minimize fish stress during transport, little is known about their effectiveness on animals as large as whale sharks. Whale sharks, like other sharks, rely on gills to breathe; without a steady flow of oxygenated water passing through these gills, they risk suffocation. In addition, sedating any animal *before* release poses a number of risks to an individual, especially one who cannot be monitored until the sedation wears off.
On September 16, a visitor noted that the whale shark was no longer in the tank. An aquarium employee reportedly had no information, while a nearby shop worker claimed that the whale shark had indeed died and hadn’t been seen since September 11. On September 18, a representative from the Chengdu Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs confirmed to Jiupai News that the whale shark had died on September 11 at around 5 p.m. The aquarium notified authorities immediately, and a team was sent to collect samples to determine the cause of death. The results are expected within three weeks. When asked to clarify the earlier statement about releasing the whale shark, the aquarium declined to comment.
As of this report, the official findings on the cause of death have not yet been disclosed.






 

29/10/2024

In May, two more bottlenose dolphins gave birth at Haichang Ocean Park, but this was only announced in early September—likely because the facility wanted to make sure the calves’ health had stabilized and felt confident of their survival. Now, Haichang is promoting the new dolphins to attract visitors, even though the calves are still nursing.
The press release talks about the dolphins “learning to orient themselves,” and with the promotional video, it’s clear why this skill is critical for “newborn dolphins whose eyes aren’t even open.” (This is false—newly born dolphins open their eyes immediately.) In such confined tanks, a newborn dolphin, still a bit clumsy, could collide with tank walls..
For dolphins and whales born in captivity, survival depends on quickly learning to swim in tight circles to avoid injury in these small enclosures. In addition, dolphins need long stretches of straight-line swimming when nursing, to ensure enough milk enters the calf’s mouth as it swims close to the mother’s teats. In a small tank, nursing “bouts” are very short, as mother and calf must keep turning, which prevents the calf from forming a good bond with the teat. The survival odds of these calves are relatively low, so the facility needs to make its profits off them while it can.






 

11/09/2024

“For nine years, the beluga whales have been crying out in distress…”

This quote, from a viral post on Weibo, paints a disturbing picture of animal suffering at the Beijing Zoo. Aside from the giant pandas, many animals there exhibit severe stereotypical behaviors, a telltale sign of distress and neglect.

The belugas in question were bought from Russia by the Beijing Aquarium in April 2010. At the time of capture, they were just 2 to 4 years old and arrived in Beijing at around 3 to 5 years old. The female, Amy, tragically died in 2022. Before her death, Amy frequently “screamed”—an unnatural sound produced not by her internal vocal apparatus, as normal underwater vocalizations are produced by cetaceans, but by manipulating airflow through her blowhole—and regularly collided with the tank walls, leaving her body covered in injuries.

Regrettably, these animals have been confined in concrete tanks, all within the bounds of what’s considered "legal and compliant."

The aquarium explained the cries as a "sign of happiness, like cheering," claiming belugas make such sounds in the wild. However, several clarifications need to be made:

This "scream" isn’t produced as normal, natural underwater vocalizations are (with internal vocal organs that are unique to cetaceans), but rather by controlling airflow through their blowhole. The aquarium’s explanation not only misinterprets how cetaceans naturally vocalize (thus dismissing and underplaying the unique and fascinating way cetaceans communicate underwater), but also misleads the public about this sound in particular. In reality, this screaming behavior is a stereotypy, rooted in the captive environment's inability to meet the animals' physiological and psychological needs, leading to repetitive behaviors to relieve their stress and frustration.

From a physiological perspective, while belugas in the wild can make such sounds, they rarely do so (if at all - the more common in-air vocalization through the blowhole in the wild is a brief snort, known as a “raspberry” in English, and is typically heard during rigorous socializing or other high-energy behavior near the surface, just as a snort would be in a human).

In captivity, animals lack the stimuli and activities they would have in the wild and are often conditioned to make in-air noises through their blowholes as part of performances (which aquariums call the "Voice of the Ocean"). The belugas may realize this behavior garners human attention, earns them food rewards during shows, or draws the trainers to interact with them. Over time, this behavior has evolved into the pronounced stereotypical behavior observed in the belugas at Beijing Zoo, likely because it sometimes elicits a response from humans.

Belugas produce beautiful, eerie, complex underwater vocalizations in the wild. This sophisticated communication system is reduced to a caricature in captivity, where they are made to vocalize in air for the amusement of audiences. This stereotyped screaming is a frustrated outgrowth of these unnatural in-air tricks. Far from showing happiness, it is more a sign of despair.

29/08/2024

21/08/2024

In 2022, the Spanish aquarium Aquopolis Costa Dorada decided to shift its business focus toward ”family-friendly“ entertainment projects. It therefore sold its nine dolphins to Ocean Paradise in Hainan. Among these nine dolphins was a female dolphin born in captivity, who was younger than two years old at the time.
After acquiring these dolphins, Hainan Ocean Paradise has relentlessly commercialized the animals, turning them into entertainers and tools for profit.
Last month, news came out in the old tone and usual rhetoric: ”A dolphin mother who hadn’t conceived in 11 years miraculously became pregnant and successfully gave birth to a healthy baby dolphin at 2:45 a.m. on July 6 in Lingshui, Hainan. This success is not only a victory for scientific conservation techniques but also a testament to the countless efforts and dedication of the conservation staff.“
Nothing about a captive bottlenose dolphin birth is related to conservation. This species is not endangered, captive-born progeny of this species will never be released back to the wild by the industry, and the genetic background of many captive-born dolphins makes them unsuitable for release anyway.
The aquarium industry often claims that its responsibilities are ”public education,“ ”ecological protection,“ and ”environmental conservation,“ but these are merely veils for exploiting animals for profit. The truth is, breeding that is not aimed at habitat protection and rewilding is only meant to increase exhibits for the aquarium and has nothing to do with conservation. and Hainan‘s hype of ”debuting as a group“ back then, and now breeding to create a conservation narrative, is just a change in marketing strategy—the goal is still profit.