Should dolphins and whales have the right to life, liberty and wellbeing?

Should cetaceans [marine mammals] have the right to life, liberty and wellbeing


  • Total voters
    23

earth_as_one

Time Out
Jan 5, 2006
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By Community Team
Dolphins and whales deserve legal protection as non-human "persons" under the law, said scientists meeting in Vancouver over the weekend.

A Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans would mean that Lily, a bottlenose dolphin currently in an exhibit at the Georgia Aquarium, would be set free. (David Goldman/Associated Press)Researchers working in various fields such as animal behaviour, ethics and conservation told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, held over the weekend, they want support for the Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans.

They said dolphins and whales are intelligent, self-aware creatures that should enjoy the same ethical considerations as humans.

That would mean the end of whaling, and of dolphin and whale exhibits in aquariums and zoos. The creatures would also no longer be used in entertainment.

Lori Marino of Emory University in Atlanta said dolphins can understand numbers and abstract concepts, have a concept of "self" and can recognize themselves in a mirror. She also said dolphins and whales have what we would consider cultural practices, such as mourning the dead.

The researchers urged the adoption of the Declaratino of Rights for Cetaceans, drafted in Helsinki in 2010, which states in part, "We affirm that all cetaceans [marine mammals including dolphins, whales and porpoises] as persons have the right to life, liberty and wellbeing."

Should dolphins and whales have rights as non-human persons? Let us know what you think.

Should dolphins and whales have 'human' rights? - Your Community
 

Walter

Hall of Fame Member
Jan 28, 2007
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They can have those rights as long as they don't get caught by man or are eaten by Orcas.
 

Goober

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Jan 23, 2009
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Moving

dumpthemonarchy

House Member
Jan 18, 2005
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Giving dolphins rights is a too much. But unlike sharks, piramhas, bears, wolves, octopus, dolphins don't try to eat people when they have a chance. People swim with dolphins many times and they have fun. Who swims with sharks? Aligators? No one.

Dolphins should enjoy more consideration, but rights have to be acknowledged and understood.
 

Tonington

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 27, 2006
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So, who is going to interpret the cetaceans wishes? Rights are legal entities, whose word would the court consider? :lol:
 

L Gilbert

Winterized
Nov 30, 2006
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"Should dolphins and whales have the right to life, liberty and wellbeing?"

Yup. The same as any other living being.

FYI-The largest Dolphin of all is Orcinus Orca aka The Killer Whale or more accurately the Killer of Whales.

These beasts do kill humans and gang rape is common in packs of Cetaceans.
So? Humans kill everything if it suits our purpose, even if all that purpose is, is greed.
 

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
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So, who is going to interpret the cetaceans wishes? Rights are legal entities, whose word would the court consider? :lol:

We don't need to kill Porposes or Orcas. Their relationship with each other we should leave to them.
Both of these creatures are intelligent enough that they don't deserve to be slaughtered by man if they
get caught in out fishing nets as happens in Japan fairly regularly.
 

L Gilbert

Winterized
Nov 30, 2006
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There's really no point to killing unless it is for food or something to do with survival. But we indirectly cause the deaths of entire species simply by crowding them out or in some way destroying their habitat. And intelligence is irrelevant.
 

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
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There's really no point to killing unless it is for food or something to do with survival. But we indirectly cause the deaths of entire species simply by crowding them out or in some way destroying their habitat. And intelligence is irrelevant.

I don't believe intelligence is irrelivant. One day, I think, we will learn to communicate with Orcas and porposes and we'll be much richer for it. At this point I'm assuming that man is the more intelligent of these three but who can be sure.
 

L Gilbert

Winterized
Nov 30, 2006
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I don't believe intelligence is irrelivant. One day, I think, we will learn to communicate with Orcas and porposes and we'll be much richer for it. At this point I'm assuming that man is the more intelligent of these three but who can be sure.
Not in that sense. But intelligence is irrelevant considering trees are just as important as dogs, ravens are just as important as bees, marine life is as important as humans, etc. to the survival of life on the planet.
 

Machjo

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 19, 2004
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I voted unsure. If you mean legal rights, I'm very unsure, though I would certainly support laws against outright cruelty. Morally though, I avoid zoos, aquariums and such to not encourage it with my money.
 

Colpy

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Nov 5, 2005
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Intelligence is NOT the rule by which the value of a life should be judged.


In fact, that is a very dangerous road to start down
 

darkbeaver

the universe is electric
Jan 26, 2006
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Crows are smarter than those damn fish, but we won't see these bespecticeld scientific grant sucking parasites endorse crow rights anytime soon because they aren't cute like the fish. Why don't they get a muzzle on these mad scientists?
 

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
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Intelligence is NOT the rule by which the value of a life should be judged.


In fact, that is a very dangerous road to start down

Except by showing intelligence, what other way would they attract our notice. In the OP whales and
porposes were mentioned as beings that warranted special consideration. In the vast order of things,
it is dificult to remove any species without disturbing a whole raft of other species that are at either
end of the food chain.
 

dumpthemonarchy

House Member
Jan 18, 2005
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That was a scary video, but the big fish didn't chomp her up like an asparagus spear as it easily could have. Living in a bathtub drives a few of the orcas nuts I'm sure. It would be like living in a house all the time. Won't be too many people riding that pile of blubber soon.