Save The Whales To Save The Whales

June 11, 1989

If this were a perfect world, there might be a place for the romantic vision of wild things forever free, unhindered to browse the savannas, soar on the thermals and drift with the ocean`s currents. But this is not a perfect world, not for elephants, not for condors and not-as events would have it-for whales.

That is why there are such extraordinary, noble efforts by some humans to undo what others have wrought, why they labor to preserve and protect dwindling species in the wild and in captivity. It is why-however much they are reviled by animal activists-there are zoos and aquariums, to prolong hope for the endangered and to display the abundant to heighten the awareness of wildlife in general.

These issues are in sharp focus now at the Shedd Aquarium, because of plans to put on display there next year six small whales. They will be harbored in the Oceanarium, a marine mammal pavilion that also will host seals, sea otters, dolphins and penguins in a dramatic evocation of the Pacific Northwest coastline.

Now under construction for a fall, 1990, opening, the Oceanarium is eagerly awaited. But if whale advocates have their way, there will be no whales of any kind on exhibit, specifically not the three white belugas and three Pacific blacks the aquarium is trying to acquire. To advance their cause, the advocates have picketed the museum to coerce it to abandon the whale display. Counterparts in Canada have persuaded their government to deny Hudson`s Bay Eskimos the permits to sell the belugas to the aquarium.

This will inconvenience the aquarium; it may disappoint countless patrons because other belugas may not be found and acclimated to captivity in time for the exhibit`s opening. But aquarium officials are determined to have the Pacific blacks on schedule and locate other belugas, a show of perseverance that deserves encouragement and gratitude.

The cause of the whale advocates is noble in its own way, notably in a yearning for all whales to roam the seas rather than be confined to pools. But it is too easy to embrace that view, too simplistic in an imperfect world, as simplistic as a notion that there should be no zoos, no animals of any kind in captivity.

Zoos and aquariums exist for great and decent purposes, among them educating people about wildlife, habitat and ecology. They provide

opportunities to see firsthand creatures most of us never would see in a lifetime. Together, these purposes strengthen a greater mission: to inspire appreciation of all living species, and to sensitize people to their plight worldwide.

These small whales at Shedd Aquarium will serve that greater mission. In no way themselves endangered, they will evoke awareness, sympathy and support for those that are, especially those threatened by merciless slaughter. If even a small fraction of the half-million new visitors expected annually at the Oceanarium enlist in the cause, it will do more for whales than all the protests and pickets imaginable.

Save the whales, of course. Save them at sea and here on the shore of Lake Michigan.