Vancouver Aquarium announces the pregnancy of its dolphin 'Hana'

Update - 8th June 2006:

Hana the dolphin gives birth to a stillborn calf
Hana the dolphin was in labour for more than 10 hours and gave birth to a stillborn calf. She is an 11-year-old Pacific white-sided dolphin who came from Japan last year after being caught in a fishing net. When she came to the Vancouver aquarium she was already pregnant, but staff did not know about her pregnancy until a few months after she arrived.
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It has recently been reported in Canadian newspapers that the dolphin called 'Hana', one of two dolphins which they acquired from Japan 6 months ago, is pregnant. Hana and her companion became entangled in fishing nets in Japan and were taken to Enoshima Aquarium in Japan for medical treatment. The dolphins were then again unsettled and taken on the long journey to Vancouver Aquarium in Canada. In fact, it turns out that Hana was pregnant even before she left Japan. The fact that Enoshima Aquarium was willing to subject Hana to this journey while pregnant and that Vancouver Aquarium failed to notice her pregnancy until six months later shows gross inefficiency and too much emphasis on profit rather than the animal's well-being. Three orca and two beluga whale calves have died previously at Vancouver Aquarium and the future seems bleak for this calf even if it does survive.

See the letter we wrote to Canadian newspapers here.

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