?fare USDA, APHIS, Animal Care ANIMAL WELFARE COMPLAINT Complaint No. Date Entered Received By 14?Aug~l5 Gerkin Referred To Reply Due Dr Gaj lS?Sep?lS Facility or Person Complaint Filed Against Name Customer/License/Registration No. Sea World of Florida Address 7007 Sea World Drive City State Zip 7 Phone No Orlando FL 32821 (407) 363?2351 Complainant Name Organization Jared S. Goodman PETA Foundation Address 153616th St. NW City State Zip Phone No./Email address Washington DC 20036 jaredg@petaf.org How was complaint received? Details of Complaint: SEE ATTACHED Results: I will answer this complaint based upon my recent inspection of SeaWorld which took place July 21?23, 20l5 and follow?ups. I will address the complainant?s concerns as they appear on her complaint: lA Dolphin Skin Conditions: Many of the cetaceans do have pox virus. This is not a zoonotic disease and does not possess a health risk to humans. SeaWorld is doing some clinical trials to reduce this by raising the water temperature in one of the back pools by 4?6 degrees. The results look promising. This raise in temperature seems to help in fading the lesions. If this study is successful it might be extended to all cetacean pools. I did not observe any ulcerations, lesions, papules, or other clinically significant skin abnormalities (with the exception of Pox Virus) in any of the dolphins. IB Contact with Dolphins: As I explained in the last complaint, SeaWorld has changed how they do the dolphin encounters at Key West. For an additional charge, small numbers of people line up and are divided into small groups each with a trainer in the immediate area. There is no longer any public feeding anywhere in the Key West exhibit. Only the trainers feed. The public does have the opportunity to touch the dolphins under direct supervision in this paying area. There is still a small circumference of the pool where the public can come up to the pool for free. Since there is no feeding of any kind in this particular area, I observed the dolphins to be less interested in this area than in the other areas where they know that they will get fish. This free public area is still always monitored by at least one employee who has direct visual contact with the public at all times. I repeatedly asked if any member of the public was injured in any way during the interactions that occur throughout SeaWorld. Their answer was always ?no?not to their knowledge?, but allegedly there were articles that were published that indicated that there were. There are no skin conditions which pose a health risk to humans (or the animals) in Key West. There are wash stations in the area for the public to wash their hands. I have heard announcements that hand washing is recommended, but it is not an absolute SeaWorld requirement and it is not enforced by them. There is no AWA regulation or standard that states that the public must wash their hands after touching animals (but I always encourage it). 1C Incompatibility of Dolphins: Throughout the 25 years that I have inspected SeaWorld I have observed a fair share of rake marks on the dolphins. These rakes were most often clinically insignificant and rarely (if ever) require any type of treatment or intervention. The numbers of rake marks tend to increase during breeding season. SeaWorld is not unique in having rake marks among dolphins, as many other facilities experience this also. All marine mammals were being held in pools which exceed all of our space requirements. On all of the necropsies that I looked at in the past, there was either no mention of rake marks or the pathologist indicated that the rake marks observed were not clinically significant. As the complainant states the rake marks heal fairly quickly. 1D Dolphins Overcrowded in Shallow Water Exhibit: At the time of the inspection there were 2.6 dolphins in the Dolphin Nursery exhibit. The complainant observed 4 females and 4 calves (but did not list the sexes of the calves). This pool is oval with an island in the center that has been in operation for at least 25 years. It is one of the original pools left at SeaWorld and is smaller than the majority of other dolphin exhibits. The MHD is 30?, the SA is 3,945 sq. ft., the Volume is 29,587 cu ft., and the depth is This pool meets the 6 foot depth requirements the 24 foot MHD requirements for atlantic bottlenose dolphins. Even with 8 dolphins in that pool, the volume requirement would be 2712.96 cu ft. (for the 2) 4578 cu ft. for the next 6 for a total of 7291.08 cu ft. of water. The cu ft. of required volume of water is only about 25 of the total cu ft. available and is well within compliance for volume of water. The SA required for 8 dolphins is 95.38 sq. ft. 8 for a total of 763.04 sq. ft. which is only about 20% of the total surface area available and is also well with compliance for SA. SeaWorld calculated that they could actually hold as many as 35 dolphins in this pool but has never even come anywhere close to that number. According to our current standards for space of group I cetaceans, this pool meets and exceeds the minimum space required. These 8 dolphins are not overcrowded. I did not observe any aggression or abnormal behaviors during my inspection. The dolphins in this pool do not spend their entire lives there anyway and are eventually transferred to the Key West exhibit or other exhibits. While the exhibit is smaller than the others it is nonetheless compliant for all space requirements. 2A Orcas with Dental Trauma: As the complaint alleges the orcas do have long standing dental issues and wearing of their teeth. These problems have been observed by me for many years. SeaWorld constantly monitors this and does treat flush their teeth as the veterinarians clinically determine. Some of these orcas have had their teeth drilled in the past as the complainant alleges. They now try to get away from cutting the teeth and drilling into the pulp cavity. SeaWorld consults with both a human dentist and a board certified veterinary dentist who suggested that cutting drilling to expose the pulp cavity should be avoided. When the animal fractures or grinds down a tooth and the pulp cavity gets exposed, the animals then produce an ?epithelial cap? over the defect which then protects the pulp cavity from infections and debris. This ?epithelial cap? is now thought to be more beneficial than interference by drilling and exposing the pulp cavity to treat these dental issues. The last resort for a fractured tooth is extraction. All dental work is performed under local anesthesia. Interestingly, I have been told that studies have suggested that no nerve tissue can be found in the pulp cavity. SeaWorld is actively increasing the amount of enrichment aid trainer interactions in an effort to prevent dental issues. I did observe several enrichment toys in the pools on my last inspection. 2B Orca Rake Marks: Yes like the dolphins, the orcas (to a lesser extent) have rake marks, but these rake marks are also not clinically significant. They appear as light old rakes that have healed up completely. These rakes were also most often clinically insignificant and rarely (if ever) require any type of treatment. All orca pools exceed our space requirements. I have not observed any aggressive activity in Shamu Stadium during the inspection 2C Injured Orca: I was informed that Trua spends most of his time housed with Tillicum. The complainant might have observed him :lone because Tillicum was doing a show, they were shifting animals, training, vet care, etc. Trua has not had any injuries in several years. The veterinarian did not know of any stereotypic behaviors and I did not observe any either during the inspection. Some of the orcas have various notches on their fins. Some of the orcas were born that way, others have had them for many years, some were acquired in that condition, and still in others it may have been due to ischemia in the general area which can occur in orcas which creates these notches. In all cases these occurrences have not been clinically significant and rarely (if ever) require any veterinary care. 3 Walrus: The Wild Artic exhibit exceeds our space requirements. The exhibit alone can hold a minimum of 14 walrus (not including the off exhibit pools) depending on the sex mix. There have never been close to that. They have 2. I looked at the video. On my inspections I have observed similar behaviors when the walrus swim up to the glass as the complainant alleges, but I do not consider this as necessarily a stereotypic behavior or non?cempliant. In addition to the exhibit area they have access to the off exhibit pools also. The exhibit is not just a plain pool of water, but is a complex themed design which probably provides some additional enrichment for these animals. A walrus that is floating is also not necessarily a non?compliance. The veterinarian indicated that both walrus were normal. When I observed these animals they appeared to be normal as well. Application packet provided? Yes No El INSPECTOR DATE R. Brandes, D.V.M. 21?Aug?15 REVIEWED BY DATE Gregory S. Gaj, SACS 21?Aug?15