Members of our training staff, most of whom have worked at Marineland for ten years or more, keep very detailed daily logs on each animal in which such items as appearance, dietary intake, behaviour, etc. are recorded. In this way our trainers can quickly spot a change in an animal's appetite or behaviour which may suggest a health problem.

In addition, Marineland has veterinarians on 24-hour call. We also consult with Dr. Lanny Cornell, of California, who is considered to be one of the world's foremost experts on marine mammals. Our marine mammal supervisor has regular telephone conversations with Dr. Cornell who makes personal visits to Marineland and who will come to Marineland at a moment's notice if required. Marineland also exchanges information on the care of marine mammals with other marine parks.

The marine mammals are fed the best quality herring, capelin and squid. All of this food is part of their regular diet in the ocean. The marine mammals receive as much food as they want regardless of whether or not they perform their behaviours.

Our trainers are also very particular about allowing quiet time and play time for our resident marine mammals. Our trainers consciously set out to vary our marine mammals' activities from day to day in order to provide them enrichment.

Thanks to our modern filtration system, very little chlorine is used in our water. You would find higher levels of chlorine in public swimming pools.

Marineland's killer whales were originally acquired from Iceland. All of our killer whales have now been residents of Marineland for many years or have been born here. Due to the great amount of knowledge marine parks have acquired, over the years, with regard to keeping these animals happy and healthy, and, as a result of this knowledge, the success of killer whale breeding programs, killer whales have not been brought from the wild to a marine facility for quite some time (early 1980s).

Many animal rights' groups have been advocating for the release of long term aquarium residents. However, the majority of marine mammal veterinarians and scientists are against the release of long-term aquarium residents. No killer whales held for more than one year have ever been successfully released to the wild. Released cetaceans would face a significant health risk. Wild cetaceans typically carry a variety of internal parasites which are absent in captive killer whales and dolphins. When exposed to this, a released cetacean would be faced with a sudden influx of parasitism which could greatly weaken the animal's immune system. Conversely, a whale or dolphin that has been an aquarium resident for many years may have been exposed to viruses or pathogens to which wild populations would have no or little resistance. Much more research needs to be done on the viability of cetacean release programs.