Texas Fauna Project

Bottlenose Dolphin

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There is a long-running controversy about the ethics of keeping wild animals in captivity. However, the issues are complicated. Heidi Whitehead, the executive director of the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network, discusses the role that marine parks can play in providing the veterinary treatments, medications, and social structure for dolphins that have stranded and been found to be non-releasable. She also mentions the support that the parks provide to small non-profit stranding and rescue organizations, such as her own.