Protesters plan to be outside the National Aquarium in Baltimore tomorrow at noon to encourage Chief Executive Officer John Racanelli to move them to an ocean-side sanctuary.

It’s a move that Racanelli recently said the 33-year-old tourist attraction is formally considering.

Organizers said in an email that 52 similar events are slated in 21 countries, all planned by a group called Empty the Tanks Worldwide.

Tomorrow’s protest – planned by the local “Empty the Tanks” group that staged a demonstration at the Inner Harbor last year – is buoyed by the Aquarium’s announcement last week that it is reconsidering dolphin captivity altogether.

“Somebody from the Aquarium came outside last year and talked to us and said they were getting rid of their dolphin shows and weren’t quite sure what they were going to do withthe dolphins long-term,” said organizer Kevin Starbard. “Now it looks like things have gotten a little clearer for them and they’re really thinking about doing the right thing.”

As The Brew first reported, the Aquarium is engaging in a far-reaching rethinking of its physical assets and mission, including the concept of keeping cetaceans in the Aquarium tanks as a public attraction.

Racanelli signaled a move in this direction about two years ago when he ended the scheduled dolphin shows, with their leaps and synchronized behaviors, andinstead allowed visitors to go to the Marine Mammal Pavilion and look at the dolphins.

Strong Reactions

The announcement about the dolphins brought the National Aquarium worldwide attention, coverage in The New Yorker and National Geographic and several online petitions encouraging release. This one has nearly reached its goal of 40,000 and has signatures from Ukraine, France, Brazil and Germany.

Public reaction has run the gamut, with some applauding Racanelli for progressive thinking and others castigating him.

“As a member and a former intern of the National Aquarium where I worked with the dolphins and seals, I strongly support closing the dolphin exhibit and moving the dolphins to a sanctuary. We have learned so much more about how incredibly intelligent and social these animals are and have to accept that any tank – no matter how large – is still the equivalence of a jail cell,” Patrick Fogle wrote on the Aquarium’s Facebook page.

“I am proud that the National Aquarium is being a leader in considering shutting down the dolphin exhibit,” he said.

Shannon Yoskoski had another view.

“Disgusted and disappointed to hear this organization (where I once proudly worked for several years in their marine mammal department) is considering moving their dolphin family from a place where they receive top-notch health care, training, and enrichment to a location off-site,” Yoskoski wrote on Facebook. “People think dolphins ‘want freedom,’ but they fail to recognize that 7 of the 8 dolphins were born in human care and have never seen the ocean.”

The Aquarium has created a website to discuss and solicit feedback on their upcoming changes. If you want to weigh in ahead of the invitation-only Dolphin Summit the Aquarium is planning, go here.