The origins of many marine mammals in aquatic theme parks are obscure, so protection should be strengthened, experts said. Xin Wen reports.

Tian Zhiwei was surprised when he saw a spotted seal pup at the port in the harbor city of Tangshan, Hebei province, in February, because the reclusive marine mammal is not usually seen in the area at that time of year.

Exhibiting aggressive behavior, the lost 2-month-old pup stayed in the water for the whole night, so Tian decided to bring it to his rescue station near Jingtang port in southeast Tangshan to keep it safe.

As a novice at feeding wild marine mammals, Tian experienced some initial difficulty, but he quickly discovered that the pup - who he named Gousheng, or "lost kid" - would happily eat a mash made from fish and potatoes.

In March, after taking care of Gousheng for four weeks, Tian released the pup into the Bohai Sea at Panjin, Liaoning province. The area is close to Liaodong Bay, one of eight recognized spotted seal breeding grounds in the world.

Tian's caring approach and subsequent release of the pup was unusual, though. In recent years, a growing number of seal pups have been illegally removed from the waters of the bay off the coast of Dalian, a major seaport in Liaoning, and sold to aquariums.

China has the largest number of aquariums in the world. In 2017, there were nearly 200, according to data from the second China Aquarium Development Forum held in Qihe, Shandong province, in November that year.

The range of species and the number of protected marine mammals being bred in these facilities are also among the highest on the planet.

Statistics collated by Shenzhen Ocean World, one of China's largest marine theme parks, show that the number of aquariums mushroomed from 2014 to 2016, surpassing the total number in the previous 27 years.

As a result, demand for spotted seals and other "show mammals", such as sea lions, dolphins and white whales, has soared.

However, experts say questions remain about the sources of the mammals and the legality of breeding programs, and there are serious concerns about the quality of animal welfare in aquariums.

"The problem has existed for a long time," said Lu Zhichuang, a researcher with the Liaoning Ocean and Fisheries Science Research Institute. "Because the law stipulates that wild animals cannot be bought or sold, many aquariums have sought other ways to obtain or breed marine mammals."

In addition to accepting rescued marine mammals, some of the nation's biggest aquariums have founded reproduction bases so they can breed large numbers of aquatic creatures, he added.

Poaching

Listed as a Level 2 protected national rare species in China, spotted seals are mainly seen along the Bohai Strait in the provinces of Hebei and Liaoning in the north and Shandong in the east. The mammal is Liaoning's mascot.

They usually cross the Bohai Strait in November to give birth in Liaodong Bay in January, and generally remain in the area until May.

In February, police in Dalian dealt with a case in which 100 spotted seal pups had been poached. However, by the time police intervened, 29 of the pups had died, and a further 10 died in the weeks that followed, despite intensive care from a rescue team.

By Friday, all 61 survivors had been released back into the ocean.

Officers believe the culprits were fishermen from Changxing Island in Liaodong Bay. Ten suspected poachers have been detained, but two others remain at large. Police said the fishermen started sneaking into the breeding zone in the north of the bay in January.

Lu said: "Winter is the coldest time of the year, when the sea ice is at its thickest. That's usually when the spotted seals give birth to their pups on the ice."

He added that the seals prefer to stay far away from humans, choosing to give birth on ice floes in the middle of the bay. Ironically, though, that provides convenient cover for poachers.

In global terms, spotted seals are not rare. It is thought that more than 300,000 are scattered throughout the habitats and waters of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean in the Northern Hemisphere.

In 1993, there were an estimated 4,500 spotted seals in Liaodong Bay, but it is thought that the number has fallen to fewer than 2,000 in recent years as a result of the rise in poaching.

Criminal chain

Poached spotted seals are usually sold to aquariums and restaurants that put them on display, said Zhou Jinfeng, secretary-general of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation, an organization in Beijing that aims to protect biodiversity and provide grassroots solutions for environmental protection.

Tian Jiguang, a volunteer who has devoted more than 20 years to the protection of spotted seals, said though some aquariums are certified to breed pups, others - most notably those lacking certification - prefer to rent marine mammals from agents. That raises the risk that they may be obtained from illegal traders, and poses a threat to the fragile ecosystem.

The construction of aquariums is supervised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, while certificates to breed marine mammals are issued by the Fishery Management Bureau, which is overseen by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Each aquarium is allowed a specific number of each species, and they must apply for permission to replace any mammals that die.

"The two different government agencies are separately responsible for the management of aquatic mammals and aquariums, which may create opportunities for illegal traders," Zhou said.

Tian Jiguang said: "Replacement seals can be obtained via underground deals, rather than legitimate channels. So, when a seal dies, an aquarium can definitely find another to replace it because no one will realize the two seals are different."

Lu, the researcher, said genetic testing is an effective way of confirming the identities of seal pups and their relatives. However, the limited number of genetic samples gathered from spotted seals means it is difficult to identify key genetic points among them.

Biodiversity threat

Covered with downy fur, spotted seals are nicknamed "sea dogs" or "sea pandas" by the fishermen around Changxing Island.

As spotted seals are often the apex predators in many of their aquatic habitats, a minor fluctuation in their number could have a huge impact on the entire biological chain.

Song Junhua, deputy director of a committee at the China Society for Environmental Sciences that assesses environmental damage, said the decline in the number of spotted seals in Liaodong Bay has resulted in a population boom among their natural prey. That, in turn, has led to the decimation of the species on which that prey feeds, such as shellfish and fish.

"At present, the diversity of biological resources, such as shellfish and fish, in the coastal wetland near the seal reproduction base, has declined severely, which has made the biological chain very fragile," she said.

Moreover, the fragile ecological environment has resulted in far lower densities of various fish species in the area, which could prompt the seals to move to other areas to breed. That would damage the local environment and have a serious impact on biodiversity, she added.

Ma Yong, director of the legal committee at the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation, said the problem is exacerbated by weak wildlife protection in terms of law enforcement.

He said a strict approval process should be established throughout the entire breeding and domestication chain for marine mammals in aquariums, and the procedures should be open to scrutiny.

"Currently, it's hard for us to get an exact list of facilities that have applied for permits for breeding and for treating rescued marine mammals, which has greatly increased the difficulties in wildlife protection," he said.

Ma called for stronger environmental public interest laws to safeguard the species involved, and said a large nature reserve protection area should be established in Dalian, which would allow more volunteers to participate in the protection of wild animals.

Tian Zhiwei, who rescued Gousheng, the spotted seal pup, echoed Zhou's sentiments. He said his primary objective is to help protect more species with the aim of providing a better habitat for the next generation.

Zhou, the biodiversity foundation's secretary-general, said the status of spotted seals should be upgraded immediately to attract more attention to their plight, but the ultimate goal is to find a better way for people to coexist with marine mammals.