Help stop new aquarium Update March 2005: The Silvertown Aquarium - to be called Biota - has been granted outline planning permission. CAPS will continue to monitor the situation and oppose the building of the aquarium at all available opportunities. "There is a growing feeling that every world-class city needs a world-class aquarium", wrote one aquarium designer, and this may explain the planned aquarium as part of a £1.5 billion development at Silvertown Quays in East London.
The London Development Agency (LDA), the Mayor's economic arm, is the landowner and driving force behind the project, in conjunction with the Silvertown Quays consortium. The aquarium will be part of a development that includes homes, retail and leisure space. The aquarium project will be operated by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) who operate London Zoo and Whipsnade Wild Animal Park. It is clear to us that this aquarium would be just another captive-animal tourist attraction. According to ZSL Director General Dr Michael Dixon: "There can be no doubt that aquariums are now well established as huge public attractions. As well as managing this exciting visitor facility, ZSL will be developing a unique conservation and ecological mission for the aquarium". Why oppose the aquarium? Any new captive animal facility, where animals are confined for public entertainment, should be opposed on ethical grounds. Wild animals suffer greatly in captivity, both physically and psychologically. A captive environment can never provide all that a wild animal needs. Most animals in aquariums are taken from the wild, and there is a constant 'need' to replace them because many do not survive long. Not only does this cause stress to the individual animals, but many wild-caught animals also die during capture and transport, and pressures are put on wild populations. Even the aquarium industry admits that "involvement in conservation has perhaps been more of a challenge for public aquariums."
One particular problem with keeping sharks in aquariums relates to the 'swim-glide index' which refers to the characteristic of some sharks to swim a certain distance and then glide for a much longer distance. So, if the aquarium tanks are too small (and compared to their natural home they always are) and do not allow for this glide the shark's "chances for long-term survival", in the words of one aquarium scientist, "are greatly reduced". Injuries can also be sustained by knocking against the glass. Some sharks have a habit of eating the smaller fish that share the tank, and according to one aquarium "even if they are not successful in catching their prey, there is a greater stress on the other inhabitants." As with all zoos, little can be learned about the amazing lives of animals or their intricate relationships with other species while they are confined to an unnatural environment. The ZSL claim that the Silvertown Aquarium would be the "first in the world" to be based on conservation and that all of the wild-caught animals would be from 'sustainable' sources. CAPS have no reason to see why this aquarium would be any different from all of the others, and we reject the claim that captivity can aid conservation. It is important that as many people as possible declare their opposition to the aquarium. WHAT YOU CAN DO
Photographs © Captive Animals Protection Society |
