Scientists call for "human rights" for dolphins

Posted:

22 February 2012

by James Daniels

Marine workers, philosophers and animal welfare groups have banded together to call for human rights to be bestowed upon dolphins, whales and other water-dwelling mammals of the family ‘cetaceans’.

The reasoning behind the call for human rights comes from considerable evidence that has been accumulated on the intelligence of dolphins and whales, indicating that they possess certain mental abilities and levels of self-awareness that were previously considered to be unique to humans.

The group arguing in favour of granting human rights to the animals have drawn up a prospective Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans. The declaration would define dolphins and whales as “non-human persons”, which would make it keep them in captivity, and would classify the killing of one as an act of murder.

Research into dolphin behaviour suggests that dolphins are far more advanced than had previously been realised. Dolphin brains have a complexity that approaches that of a human’s, and as such, they can recognise themselves in ways that no other animal can.

There are examples of dolphins in captivity tricking their human keepers to earn more fish, and working with human fisherman in the wild to help them catch more fish. There has even been evidence that dolphins and whales in different parts of the world have their own individual cultures and identities. This sort of evidence has convinced researchers that a creature that rival a human in intelligence should be entitled to the same rights.

However, those in favour of the rights are realistic. Tom White, director of the Centre for Ethics and Business at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, admits that this still just a first step. “If we are lucky, it could take ten years,” he says.