Are aquariums always a bad thing ?

The new aquarium in Georgia is by all accounts a roaring success .

Unless you happen to be a whale shark, and then the Georgia Aquarium is cruel and unusual punishment that is only eased by death.

I had the opportunity to get a behind the scenes tour several months before it opened. It was very neat to stand on top of the tank and watch the whale sharks swim right beneath my feet, but it was a sad moment too, as I knew that they would be unable to keep these magnificent creatures alive for very long.

Showing schoolchildren a whale shark does absolutely NOTHING to protect those that are still in the wild.

I hope none of you eat seafood.

The capture/collection of marine organisms for seafood is significantly more destructive than the collection of organisms for public (and private) aquariums. There is so much by-catch that basically dies.

Also, don't assume that captive breeding programs and even aquaculture are better than wild capture. In both cases they animals have to be fed and most are fed on things harvested from the ocean and may actually cause more impact on wild stocks than wild harvest.

Collection for the marine aquarium hobby on the Great Barrier Reef is heavily regulated and regular studies are done on the impact. All the studies show that the impact is negligible and there is a far greater impact from land based agriculture (run-off, etc.) than from direct collection. Additionally, far more coral is destroyed in a single small cyclone than in a years worth of collecting.