Guest Comments by the PETA (People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals) Asia Team

HONG KONG – Ocean Park, a marine theme park on Hong Kong Island, has been condemned by many animal-protection groups for its plans to capture beluga whales from the wild.

The park masquerades as a conservation concern despite its abuse of captive wildlife. Since 2008, three rare fish there have died. Following a public outcry, management temporarily closed one section of the park's aquarium.

Animals held captive at Ocean Park are denied everything natural and important to them. Every aspect of their lives is controlled and managed.

Captivity tears families apart. In the wild, orcas spend their entire lives with mothers and siblings. Members of an orca pod communicate in a dialect specific to that pod. Those snatched away never forget that dialect or the family members left behind.

Marine mammal conservation is achieved through the abolition of whaling, ocean clean-ups, the end of drift-net fishing and the prohibition of live captures – not through warehousing magnificent animals and forcing them to swim endless circles in chlorinated water for human entertainment.

Ocean Park needs to be told that compassionate people are joining a strong movement to free marine animals. In Brazil, it's illegal to use marine mammals for entertainment. Israel has prohibited importing dolphins. In England, consumer boycotts have forced marine-mammal exhibits to close.

Marine mammals are intelligent, sensitive and social beings who suffer in captivity. The chlorine and copper-sulphate used to keep tanks clean has caused dolphins' skin to peel and may cause them to go blind. Many marine mammals suffer from peptic ulcers due to the frustration of living in captivity.

Dolphins orient themselves by sonar. In tanks, sounds bounce back at them from everywhere. In the oceans, orcas and dolphins may swim up to 100 miles a day, but in captivity, many have less than 60 feet.

The aquarium industry claims to exist purely for education and conservation purposes. We question what is learned by watching dolphins swim endless circles in concrete, chlorinated tanks.

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