COMMENTARY: Dolphins do not belong in the desert

For the second time in less than five years, a U.S. marine park in the desert is facing a string of dolphin deaths.

First, it was Dolphinaris Arizona, which shuttered in 2019 after half of its eight dolphins died. Now, Siegfried and Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage in Las Vegas is grappling with its third dolphin death in less than six months — K2, who was only 11 years old.

The concept behind dolphins at a casino in Las Vegas was, from the outset, a massive error in human judgment. Dolphins are fully aquatic mammals found throughout the world’s temperate and tropical seas. The desert environment is as foreign to them as the surface of the moon.

Unfortunately, common sense has never been a strength of the marine theme park industry. No matter what its marketing claims, the industry is driven to pull in paying customers in high tourist traffic areas, not to provide suitable conditions for the marine mammals it holds.

Bottlenose dolphins typically live 20 to 30 years; some can even live to 65. The Mirage has displayed dolphins for just more than 30 years. Frankly, most of its dolphins should still be alive. Yet 16 of the Mirage’s total 23 dolphins (70 percent) have died, many well before achieving 20 years of age. These include Bella, Maverick and K2, the three most recent mortalities. These dismal numbers raise the question of whether the Mirage is providing adequate care for these dolphins.

Dolphinaris Arizona was built near Scottsdale with no shade and tanks only 10 feet deep. This is insufficient to protect dolphins from UV radiation or the desert air. I, along with my colleagues, warned the developers they were making a mistake. Within three years of its construction, the facility was closed, leaving a shallow hole as a testament to wasted lives and money.

The Mirage’s dolphin habitat has persisted longer, but 16 dead dolphins over three decades indicate its longevity is not due to better overall conditions. Three prime-of-life dolphins dead in three months suggests strongly that something is newly and terribly wrong there. The Mirage’s management has announced the habitat will be closed until a thorough review of the situation has been conducted. While this is appropriate, it is missing the mark. The Mirage’s new owners, Hard Rock International, should take this opportunity to close this folly immediately and permanently.

The 16 dolphins who have lived and died in Nevada’s dry desert air, far from the salty tang of their natural habitat, deserve a better memorial than a renewed effort to make more money from more dolphins. The habitat’s seven surviving individuals deserve a better future than turning more flips under Las Vegas’ blazing sun.

Perhaps Hard Rock can partner with Baltimore’s National Aquarium, which has been working on establishing a seaside sanctuary for its seven dolphins. Perhaps it can pursue a sanctuary of its own. Even if the company merely sends the dolphins to another U.S. facility, that would be a better choice than leaving them to languish in the desert.

Hard Rock should do the right thing. Don’t make wild animals suffer for human entertainment — close the secret garden. Dolphins do not belong in the desert.

Dr. Naomi Rose is the marine mammal scientist for the Animal Welfare Institute in Washington, D.C.