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URGENT: FIGHT THE BREEDING BAN!

Please join us in opposing the recently introduced legislation that will impede Mystic Aquarium’s mission to protect the ocean planet. Bill No. 5341 was raised in the General Assembly by a member of Environment subcommittee to enact a bill effective 1 October 2020 titled “Prohibiting The Sale And Breeding Of Certain Cetaceans.”

Mystic Aquarium is asking you to provide testimony opposing the Bill that can be submitted to the Committee. The deadline for submitting testimony is Thursday at 12:00PM EST.

To assist in these efforts, a draft letter template is available for your review (below). You may submit the draft as-is or personalize template with a paragraph and to customize it with your name and contact information. The more that you adapt this to your own voice and make it unique, the better.

Please ask others in your family, your friends and coworkers to join the effort by submitting written testimony as well.

The Raised Bill is viewable HERE.

IMATA members are the experts in the field of marine mammal care and research and the lawmakers need to hear from people like you who believe that IMATA members and our colleagues should be able to continue research to make strides in beluga research and conservation.

We have made it easy for you to submit a personal message - choose an option below:

OPTION 1: Write Your Own Comment	OPTION 2: Submit a Pre-Prepared Comment - RECOMMENDED
	–OR– If your mail system is having trouble including the comment, please try copying the text (below) and pasting it into an email addressed to whales@mysticaquarium.org. * If you're using Safari, an iPhone or iPad you will need to manually copy the Pre-Prepared Comment below and send to: whales@mysticaquarium.org Testimony to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Environment Regarding Raised Bill 5341: An Act Prohibiting the Sale and Breeding of Certain Cetaceans I am writing to urge you to reject Raised Bill 5341. Mystic Aquarium's research with beluga whales is particularly important to the conservation and preservation of marine ecosystems. As beluga whales in the wild are facing many threats, including dwindling populations, it is imperative that we find solutions that help them with pregnancy and gestation in the wild. Mystic Aquarium's research is rapidly advancing knowledge in these areas. Raised Bill 5341 would prohibit Mystic Aquarium from working with belugas and other cetaceans on breeding – including a prohibition on artificial insemination, as well as import or export of gametes for research purposes. The Bill would require cetaceans such as beluga whales at Mystic Aquarium to utilize artificial contraception or other birth control measures that would render the research protocols null and void. Furthermore, forced non-breeding of cetaceans imposes human intervention in ways that are generally discouraged by veterinary science for the sole purpose of furthering the non-scientific belief that breeding cetaceans in captivity does not promote the best animal welfare. Research conducted at Mystic Aquarium is intended to increase general knowledge on beluga whales and produce favorable outcomes for endangered beluga populations such as belugas in Cook Inlet, Alaska and the Saint Lawrence Estuary. Consistent with recommendations for research contained in the "Cook Inlet Beluga Recovery Plan," Mystic Aquarium's research includes the following investigations: health and the physiological response to environmental and anthropogenic stressors, development of non-invasive techniques to assess health in wild beluga populations, beluga hearing and the potential impacts of marine sound on the wild populations, development of photogrammetry to more accurately measure the size, body condition and reproductive status of wild beluga populations, dive physiology of belugas to better understand how anthropogenic stressors that interrupt diving are impacting health of wild populations, baseline understanding of the microbiome of belugas so that bacterial infections and other diseases adversely impacting beluga populations can be understood, evaluating beluga behavior and reproduction patterns in a controlled setting to better understand optimal conditions for reproduction in the wild, and testing deployment and viability of telemetry devices and cameras for deployment on wild populations. At its core, Mystic Aquarium is a science-based organization and is certified as a research institution by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Their research team (including staff scientists with faculty appointments at the University of Connecticut) has been awarded prestigious grants from the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, and other science funding agencies. Furthermore, Mystic Aquarium is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Attractions (AMMPA), the International Marine Animal Trainers’ Association (IMATA), and is certified by American Humane (AHA). The scientific research being conducted by Mystic Aquarium cannot be done in the wild. Adopting Raised Bill 5341 would not only be detrimental to the welfare of Mystic Aquarium's resident animals – it would negatively affect the conservation of whales living in our fragile oceans. I urge you to reject Raised Bill 5341. Thank you.

OPTION 1: Write Your Own Comment

OPTION 2: Submit a Pre-Prepared Comment - RECOMMENDED

–OR–

If your mail system is having trouble including the comment, please try copying the text (below) and pasting it into an email addressed to whales@mysticaquarium.org.

* If you're using Safari, an iPhone or iPad you will need to manually copy
the Pre-Prepared Comment below and send to: whales@mysticaquarium.org

Testimony to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Environment Regarding Raised Bill 5341: 
An Act Prohibiting the Sale and Breeding of Certain Cetaceans

I am writing to urge you to reject Raised Bill 5341.

Mystic Aquarium's research with beluga whales is particularly important to the conservation and preservation of marine ecosystems. As beluga whales in the wild are facing many threats, including dwindling populations, it is imperative that we find solutions that help them with pregnancy and gestation in the wild. Mystic Aquarium's research is rapidly advancing knowledge in these areas.

Raised Bill 5341 would prohibit Mystic Aquarium from working with belugas and other cetaceans on breeding – including a prohibition on artificial insemination, as well as import or export of gametes for research purposes.

The Bill would require cetaceans such as beluga whales at Mystic Aquarium to utilize artificial contraception or other birth control measures that would render the research protocols null and void. Furthermore, forced non-breeding of cetaceans imposes human intervention in ways that are generally discouraged by veterinary science for the sole purpose of furthering the non-scientific belief that breeding cetaceans in captivity does not promote the best animal welfare.

Research conducted at Mystic Aquarium is intended to increase general knowledge on beluga whales and produce favorable outcomes for endangered beluga populations such as belugas in Cook Inlet, Alaska and the Saint Lawrence Estuary.

Consistent with recommendations for research contained in the "Cook Inlet Beluga Recovery Plan," Mystic Aquarium's research includes the following investigations: health and the physiological response to environmental and anthropogenic stressors, development of non-invasive techniques to assess health in wild beluga populations, beluga hearing and the potential impacts of marine sound on the wild populations, development of photogrammetry to more accurately measure the size, body condition and reproductive status of wild beluga populations, dive physiology of belugas to better understand how anthropogenic stressors that interrupt diving are impacting health of wild populations, baseline understanding of the microbiome of belugas so that bacterial infections and other diseases adversely impacting beluga populations can be understood, evaluating beluga behavior and reproduction patterns in a controlled setting to better understand optimal conditions for reproduction in the wild, and testing deployment and viability of telemetry devices and cameras for deployment on wild populations.

At its core, Mystic Aquarium is a science-based organization and is certified as a research institution by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Their research team (including staff scientists with faculty appointments at the University of Connecticut) has been awarded prestigious grants from the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, and other science funding agencies.

Furthermore, Mystic Aquarium is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Attractions (AMMPA), the International Marine Animal Trainers’ Association (IMATA), and is certified by American Humane (AHA).

The scientific research being conducted by Mystic Aquarium cannot be done in the wild. Adopting Raised Bill 5341 would not only be detrimental to the welfare of Mystic Aquarium's resident animals – it would negatively affect the conservation of whales living in our fragile oceans.

I urge you to reject Raised Bill 5341.

Thank you.

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