Pink dolphin’s condition raised in wildlife report on Underwater World Singapore
Animal welfare groups questioned the care being given to animals at Underwater World Singapore, as they released on Monday a report showing a pink dolphin with head and mouth injuries.
In the report, Wildlife Watcher (Singapore) and the Singapore branch of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society cited “substandard conditions”, including corroded pool beams, where marine mammals were being housed.
Wildlife Watcher said a member of the public had alerted them to a pink dolphin named Han who was found to have "a visible infection on top of her head and another distinct wound on the left side of her bottom jaw".
According to statements released by Underwater World Singapore to local media, the dolphin suffers from non-contagious skin cancer. The spokesperson for Haw Par Corp, which owns and runs Underwater World, also reportedly said the company was minimising Han's appearance in public at the pool though not its interaction with the other dolphins.
The report also highlighted the fact that in two shows its investigators had purchased tickets to watch, dolphins and fur seals were "made to display and perform unnatural acts for entertainment, (which do) not represent any conservation efforts".
Loud music was also deemed to be a stress-causing factor to the dolphins and otters, with pre-show music measured at 90 decibels -- about the level of a hair dryer -- and during the show, the dolphins and otters performed to music measuring up to 101 decibels -- about the level of a tractor.
Additionally, the otter enclosures left much to be desired, with the report noting that one otter was left by itself in an enclosure and the enclosures housing them "barely reaching the minimum standard" required.
See more pictures from their investigations in this slideshow, with images used courtesy of and with permission from Wildlife Watchers Singapore and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society:
The Agri-food and Veterinary Authority though, according to a report by The Straits Times,said that after receiving a copy of the report from Whale Watcher earlier this month, it had inspected the facility and "found the dolphins to be in satisfactory condition".
The report called on Underwater World to "cease all animal shows with immediate effect and start rehabilitation-and-release programme(s) for all dolphins housed in Dolphin Lagoon, back into the wild", as well as to improve its housing conditions for the otters kept captive there.
