[Closed] 'Blackfish' Backlash: Fan Pressure Leads Willie Nelson to Cancel SeaWorld Concert

This story is so sad and reprehensible:

Shirley was bound by chains on three of her legs as she went into labor with Riccardo. Just moments after his birth, Riccardo was pulled out of her reach as she cried out and tugged against the heavy chains.

Well before he would have reached his first birthday, Riccardo was dead.

During a forced circus training session involving a bullhook and a rope around his trunk, little Riccardo fell from a pedestal and shattered both of his fragile, still-growing hind legs. He was euthanized soon after.

Imagine the excruciating pain that young elephant must have felt as his bones broke—and imagine the deep loss that his mother must still feel now that her beloved calf has been taken away from her forever!

PETA is committed to freeing animals from beatings and abuse in the name of twisted "entertainment."

Male elephants born in the wild often stay by their mother's side for 16 years—but in the circus, breaking the bond between mother and child at an early age is just another step toward preparing a young elephant for a life of beatings, chains, and misery. When these young animals don't perform a trick correctly, they are struck with sharp metal bullhooks that can pierce their sensitive skin. And when they cry out in terror and pain, their mothers cannot answer their calls for help.

Powered by compassionate supporters like you, PETA has led the charge against circus abuse for 35 years—and in that time, we've made tremendous progress:

After decades of protests, video exposés, and powerful ad campaigns, we helped push Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus to phase out the use of elephants in its shows by 2018—and one unit has closed already. Now we're pushing for these long-suffering elephants' immediate retirement and using this momentum to ramp up our efforts to stop the use of elephants and other animals by other circuses.

We worked to secure historic bullhook bans in cities and municipalities across the United States, including Fulton County, Georgia, and Oakland and Los Angeles, California. But as long as a single elephant is still chained, beaten, and dragged across the country, we need your help to ensure that this archaic weapon is never again used to torture an elephant anywhere.

We're exposing the suffering of animals exploited for "entertainment." Our efforts to free orcas abused by SeaWorld have contributed to the company's plummeting stock values and dwindling ticket sales. Today, you can fuel more hard-hitting exposés and campaigns that will spread the truth about this abusive industry.

Make a tax-deductible gift of just $5 to PETA right now to help continue our lifesaving work for elephants imprisoned in circuses and other animals in need.

17 Orcas Who Can’t Celebrate Mother’s Day, Thanks to SeaWorld
May 6, 2015

Breakfast in bed, flowers, a card, a phone call, a hug—these are some ways in which people honor their mom on Mother’s Day. For the orcas at SeaWorld, however, there is little reason to celebrate.

Orcas in the wild live in close-knit pods, bonded groups of up to 30 individuals who often travel together for their entire lives (which, in the case of an orca named Granny, can last more than 100 years). Younger female orcas learn to bond with and care for calves by watching their own mothers and others with whom they travel. At SeaWorld, orcas have been torn away from their mothers for breeding purposes and to bring in revenue. Some mother orcas in captivity have been filmed screaming out in distress when their babies are taken.

SeaWorld would love for you to believe that the mother/child bond is important to it.

But below are 17 orcas whose lives show that the exact opposite is true. These orcas were ALL SEPARATED from their mothers while in SeaWorld’s possession:

Ikaika

Ikaika was born at SeaWorld Orlando. When he was 4 years old, he was separated from his mother and shipped to Marineland in Ontario, Canada. After just a few years there, he was moved to SeaWorld San Diego.

Katerina was separated from her mother, Katina (who was captured in the wild and separated from her pod), after two years. Katerina died before her 11th birthday, while Katina, who has had seven calves while at SeaWorld, lives at the Orlando, Florida, park with just two of those who have survived to adulthood.

Sumar

Sumar was raised by surrogate mothers after his own mother, Taima, attacked him when he was 6 months old during a live show at SeaWorld Orlando, likely because she had never learned to care for calves properly, as she would have in the wild. Before his death at the age of 12, Sumar’s dorsal fin had curled, a phenomenon rarely seen in the wild but which is commonplace among male orcas held in captivity.

Tekoa

Tekoa’s mother never learned to care for calves properly, and those who survived were taken from her, including Tekoa, who after three years was moved to Texas and then to Loro Parque, where he’s still kept today. After being bred repeatedly by SeaWorld, Tekoa’s mother ultimately died from complications that arose during the delivery of a stillborn male calf.

Trua

Trua remained in Orlando, Florida, when his mother was shipped to San Antonio after just three years together. The pair were later reunited, only to be separated once more the following year.

Kalina

Kalina had the distinct “honor” of being the first orca born in captivity to survive to adulthood and was branded by SeaWorld as “Baby Shamu.” She was separated from her mother when she was 4 years old, and in the span of only 16 months, she was hauled across the country three times to different SeaWorld parks.
Taku

Taku and his mother spent 13 years together at SeaWorld Orlando before he was shipped to SeaWorld San Antonio, where he died 11 months later. Before separating Taku from his mother, SeaWorld allowed them to breed with each other—meaning that Taku’s daughter was also his sister.

Kohana and Skyla

When Kohana was 3 years old, she was separated from her mother. The two are now kept on different continents. She, like other mother whales at SeaWorld who never properly learned to care for their young, rejected two of her own calves.

Skyla’s mother, Kalina (now deceased), often helped other captive orcas raise their babies, perhaps because her own calves, including Skyla, were torn away from her and shipped around the world. After two years, Skyla was taken from her mother and relocated to Spain.

Kohanna and Sklya's Movement

Takara

Takara’s mother, Kasatka, reportedly helped Takara deliver her first calf, highlighting the bond that orcas typically have in the wild. In the time since, SeaWorld not only separated Takara from her mother (after 12 years) but also took two of her own calves away from her.

Unna

Unna spent six years with her mother at SeaWorld Orlando before they were separated. She reportedly spent time assisting her mother after the birth of her younger sibling, Ikaika. Unna was taken from her family and transported to San Antonio.

Keet

Keet was born in Texas. SeaWorld separated him from his mother when he was a year old and seemingly decided that the best way to show the “care” that it touts was to relocate him over and over again to its various locations around the country.

Tuar

Tuar was taken from his mother in Orlando, Florida, when he was 4 years old and shipped to San Antonio.

Kayla and Halyn

After being born in San Antonio, Kayla’s mother, who is now deceased, was moved to Orlando, Florida, after the pair spent a little less than two and a half years together. SeaWorld has since moved Kayla all over the country—to Ohio and Florida and back to Texas. Her own calf, Halyn, who died at only 2 years old, was torn away from her almost immediately after birth because Kayla, who didn’t grow up in a pod with her family, rejected her, likely because she never had the chance to learn to care for a calf.

Splash

Splash was taken from his mother when he was 2 years old and moved from Marineland to SeaWorld San Diego. Some allege that Splash died from gastrointestinal complications that may have resulted from his consumption of large quantities of sand that came through his tank’s filtration system, something trainers noted that he often ate. This unnatural fixation potentially developed as a result of the stress of perpetual confinement and boredom.

Keto

Keto spent time in all four of SeaWorld’s parks before being shipped overseas to be held at Loro Parque on Spain’s Canary Islands on an indefinite loan. His well-being doesn’t appear to be much of a concern to SeaWorld—he was separated from his mother when he was 3 years old and is now the father of his own inbred half niece. Further highlighting the danger of keeping whales in captivity, in an incident that predated the death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau, Keto killed Loro Parque trainer Alexis Martínez during training.

Orcas at SeaWorld are trapped in cramped tanks. They are inbred, and the babies are torn away from their mothers.

SeaWorld is a horrible place for orcas, who endure stress, boredom, and depression in captivity. In the wild, orcas live in large social groups, often spending their lives with their families. They’re intelligent animals who swim up to 100 miles a day and dive hundreds of feet below the ocean’s surface, but at SeaWorld, they’re confined to tiny, barren concrete tanks.

Don’t support this cruelty: Every purchase of a SeaWorld ticket contributes directly to the suffering of these majestic animals in parks around the world.

While SeaWorld Ohio may be closed, whales continue to be torn from their mothers and shipped around North America and even overseas. Be sure to share this page with your family, friends, and any mothers you know on social media today. Let them know that SeaWorld is no place for families!

See YouTube video:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rBknu_86n5I
See below link for WorldMap with Locations of SW Whales

Read more: http://www.seaworldofhurt.com/features/seaworld-unhappy-mothers-day/#ixzz3ZlZEAHCO

Victory! Hawaii’s Governor Pledges to End Wild Animal Acts
Alicia Graef
May 11, 2015

In more good news for animals in entertainment, Hawaii has become the latest state to pledge to permanently end wild animal acts.

Animal lovers and advocacy organizations are applauding the move and hope that Tonk, Maggie and Yogi, three grizzly bears who are headed to the 50th State Fair later this month, will be the last to be featured in the state.

“Wild animals have no place in which the sole purpose is entertainment and such practices are being banned throughout the U.S. and the world. Such entertainment comes at a significant price of suffering for the animals involved. That suffering is exacerbated because of Hawaii’s location that requires arduous travel across land and sea,” said Pamela Burns, Hawaiian Humane Society’s president and CEO.

As we continue to learn more about the toll that performing takes on animals, more and more people are opposing their use in entertainment.

So far, more than 40 cities in the U.S. and 30 countries around the world have ended the use of wild animals for entertainment purposes and the numbers are increasing.

Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus announced it will retire its elephant performers. In March, a Pennsylvania senator pledged to end their use in the state and has officially introduced legislation to get it done, while officials on the federal level have introduced a bill to ban wild animals in circuses throughout the U.S.

Sadly, the long overdue change in Hawaii doesn’t come without a history of tragedy. On August 20, 1994 a female African elephant named Tyke met a horrifying end captured on film after she snapped during a performance in Honolulu.

After seriously injuring her groom, she killed her trainer in front of the audience and then escaped into the city. She later died on the street in a hail of gunfire.

The tragedy in Honolulu wasn’t Tyke’s first troubling incident either. She had gone on two similar rampages the year before in Pennsylvania and North Dakota before she was killed in Hawaii.
Had anyone respected her previous attempts to say no, the tragedy
in Honolulu could have been avoided.

Now elephants may just get their Blackfish moment, thanks to documentary filmmakers Susan Lambert and Stefan Moore, along with co-producer Megan McMurchy, who are telling her story through Tyke Elephant Outlaw, which premiered at the Sarasota Film Festival in Florida last month.

They tell her story from start to finish through the eyes of the people who knew her and from the perspective of activists who have been fighting to end the exploitation of elephants.

See link for video:
http://www.care2.com/causes/hawaiis-governor-pledges-to-end-wild-animal-acts.html?onswipe_redirect=no&oswrr=4#comments

“Each of them related to what happened to Tyke in different ways, yet each has a profound and abiding connection to her,” said Moore. “Twenty years after the harrowing events in Honolulu, Tyke’s legacy lives on in the global battle over the use of performing animals in captivity.”

The events in Honolulu incited numerous lawsuits against the city, state and the Hawthorn Corporation, which owned Tyke, in addition to the later removal of 16 elephants from the Hawthorn Corp as part of a settlement reached in a case alleging abuse and has added to the ongoing dialogue about what’s acceptable when it comes to keeping and using these animals.

Hopefully Tyke’s story, and dozens of others like hers, will continue to drive change for elephants and other animals who have been reduced to ridiculous caricatures of their natural selves and have suffered the injustice of being denied everything that would make them healthy and happy.

For more info about the documentary and upcoming screenings, visit TykeElephantOutlaw.com.

Help Free Lolita, the World's Loneliest Orca

Lolita was torn away from her family and natural habitat decades ago, along with several other orcas in Puget Sound who were later sold to marine parks. Almost 45 years later, she is still stuck in a tank at the Miami Seaquarium—in the smallest orca tank in North America—while the rest of her pod swims freely. Lolita is a member of the Southern Resident orca population—a group of orcas who are now protected as an endangered species, in part because Lolita's capture and those like it decimated the population. Inexplicably, until now, Lolita has been denied the same protection as her free-roaming family.

Following a petition submitted by PETA, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, and the Orca Network, the National Marine Fisheries Service finally reversed its decision and will protect Lolita as a member of an endangered species, which is an important first step in her rehabilitation and release from captivity. Now we need you to tell Miami Seaquarium's owner, Palace Entertainment, how important it is for Lolita to return to her natural habitat.

Since Lolita's tankmate died after ramming his head into the side of their tank more than 30 years ago, Lolita has been the only orca at the Miami Seaquarium. She has no opportunity to socialize or interact with other members of her species, which is excruciating for such a social and intelligent animal. When she is not forced to perform, Lolita has no other choice but to float in place or swim in endless circles. Visitors to the Miami Seaquarium see mere shadows of an orca who is denied the opportunity to engage in any natural behavior. Marine parks such as the Miami Seaquarium teach all the wrong lessons: that it is acceptable to imprison animals, deprive them of freedom of movement and thought, prevent them from exploring and establishing their natural territory, breed and separate them as we please, and allow them to go insane from loneliness.

You can help free Lolita by urging Palace Entertainment to retire her to a coastal sanctuary that's already available for her rehabilitation. You can use the form below to send an e-mail directly to Palace Entertainment's CEO.

See this link to sign petition:

https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=4951

The Miami Seaquarium is About to Get Sued Over Lolita, The Lonely Orca

Alicia Graef
May 13, 2015

Animal advocates have been working hard to free Lolita, a lonely orca who has spent more than 40 years at the Miami Seaquarium in Florida. Now, Lolita’s advocates are back preparing further legal action to finally get her back into the wild.

In February, her supporters won a major victory when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that she would be included in the listing that protects her relatives in the wild under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Her relatives, the southern resident killer whales who live in three distinct pods in the Pacific Northwest, were protected in 2005 and she would still be there living among the L-pod today had she not been tragically torn from them in 1970 to be put on display for our amusement.

She’s been living at the Miami Seaquarium ever since in one of the oldest and smallest tanks in North America and she’s been alone there since 1980 as the last surviving southern resident in captivity.

According to the Orca Network, this Monday Lolita was officially included in the listing and has been given an ID by the Center for Whale Research like the rest of her family members of L-pod.

Her inclusion in the listing gave her legal advocates grounds to sue, and they wasted no time getting to work on her behalf. While other lawsuits have been filed over her living conditions in the past, now for the first time they’re targeting the Miami Seaquarium directly.

The day she was included, the Orca Network, Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) and PETA sent a letter to the Miami Seaquarium notifying it of their intent to sue over violations of the ESA.

“For too long, Lolita has suffered pathetic and illegal conditions at the Miami Seaquarium,” said ALDF Executive Director Stephen Wells. “ALDF intends to see that this facility’s failure to comply with the law, and the harms they’ve caused her, is swiftly corrected by the courts.”

They plan to argue that her living conditions constitute prohibited “take” under the ESA, which includes harming and harassing imperiled species.

For starters, the violations include keeping her in an inadequately small tank that prevents her from being able to enjoy the simple luxury of moving around freely . Her tank measures 80 feet by 60 feet, or 35 feet if it’s measured with the island barrier in the middle. She herself is long enough to stretch the full 20-foot depth of the tank if she floats vertically. Not only does her tank look ridiculously small, it’s also illegally small under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s standards for minimum size under the Animal Welfare Act.

She’s also suffered from social isolation having been left without the companionship of another of her kind and has no opportunity to escape Miami’s scorching sun, which former caretakers have said caused burns that led to her skin cracking and bleeding. In this case, her legal team and orca experts believe she has suffered a “stunning level of deprivation.”

Ultimately, they hope the case will result in an injunction against the Miami Seaquarium and that the court will order it to retire her home waters.

The Orca Network has an extensive retirement plan in place that’s been ready and waiting for her for years. The plan involves relocating her to a sea pen off the coast of Washington where she will be able to feel the current and communicate with her pod. Her mother, L-25 (Ocean Sun) who is now believed to be about 86-years-old is still alive among her pod, as are a few others who were present the day Lolita was taken.

Lolita will hopefully be able to return to the wild and reintegrate with her family, however, if she is unwilling, or unable, they have vowed to provide care for her for the remainder of her life.

The Miami Seaquarium now has 60 days to respond. Until then, we can help Lolita by ensuring she has a home and family to go to by supporting campaigns to restore Chinook salmon, which the southern residents rely on for food.

For more info on Lolita, the southern residents and how to help, visit the Orca Network, Center for Whale Research and Whale and Dolphin Conservation’s Don’t Let Orcas Be Dammed campaign.
http://www.orcanetwork.org/Main/index.php?categories_file=Retirement
http://www.whaleresearch.com/
http://us.whales.org/dams

See this link for videos attached to article:

http://www.care2.com/causes/the-miami-seaquarium-is-about-to-get-sued-over-lolita.html

Victory! Another City Steps Up for Elephants by Banning Bullhooks

Alicia Graef
May 14, 2015

In another victory for circus elephants, Richmond, Va., has become the latest city in the U.S. to officially ban the controversial use of bullhooks.

Many circuses and zoos have used bullhooks, or rods that feature a sharp metal hook on the end, for decades to “train” and control elephants through pain and intimidation. This week, the Richmond City Council took a stand against their use and voted 8-1 in favor of a new ordinance that will ban them within the city beginning in 2018.

Richmond will now be joining a growing list of regions around the country that have passed bans on bullhooks, including Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami Beach. According to the Humane Society of the United States, the recent vote makes Richmond the third largest city in the U.S. to do so.

“We are delighted that Richmond has taken this courageous step to further establish our city as one of progressive thinking about and compassion for animals,” said Robin Robertson Starr, chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA. “By banning bullhooks in Richmond, we help ensure that our children learn about wild animals in their real habitats and encourage true respect and caring for the magnificent animals that share our planet.”

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Councilwoman Kathy C. Graziano, the lone opponent of the ban, said the purpose of the ordinance was to end elephant acts and that this “has been accomplished” already.

Unfortunately, even though Ringling Bros. will finally be retiring its elephant performers, there are still other circuses traveling across the country with elephants, and other wild animals, who still need need our advocacy on their behalf.

This week, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals released a list of the top eight worst circuses in the U.S. for animals, many of which still use elephants and have a really bad track record when it comes to their treatment.

While more and more areas continue to take a stand against the use of wild animals in entertainment by banning them and restricting their use, we can all help them today by refusing to buy tickets to shows that exploit animals.

http://os.care2.com/all/victory-another-city-steps-up-for-elephants-by-banning-bullhooks#1

Emirates Becomes Latest Airline to Ban Transport of Big Game Hunting Trophies

Delta Airlines, though, has rejected a citizens’ campaign to get it to join the effort to discourage the hunting of African rhinos, lions, and elephants.

May 15, 2015 By Taylor Hill
Taylor Hill is TakePart's associate environment and wildlife editor.

Watch out, big game hunters: The options for bringing back animal trophies from your African safaris are dwindling.

Emirates SkyCargo, the world’s third-largest cargo carrier behind FedEx and UPS, has announced it will stop carrying trophies of elephants, rhinos, lions, and tigers aboard its planes.

The ban, which took effect on Friday, makes Emirates SkyCargo the second international carrier to take wildlife conservation measures into its own hands, going above and beyond the rules set out by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. The treaty regulates the wildlife trade and allows for the sale of certain species.

The news from Emirates came on Tuesday in an email reply to Sarah Dyer, a U.K. representative of the Campaign Against Canned Hunting, after the conservation group asked if the airline would consider banning trophies.

“Emirates SkyCargo has an existing embargo on the carriage of products and parts of endangered animals and plants listed under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), including hunting trophies,” the company, which last year banned the transport of shark fins, said in a statement. “However, as part of our efforts to prevent the illegal trade of hunting trophies of elephant, rhinoceros, lion, and tiger, Emirates SkyCargo has decided that effective 15th May 2015, we will not accept any kind of hunting trophies of these animals for carriage on Emirates services irrespective of CITES appendix.”

South African Airways on April 25 became the first airline to ban the transport of hunting trophies.

“SAA Cargo remains committed to playing a significant role in curbing the illegal transportation of all animal species while positively contributing to national and international conservation efforts,” SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said in an email.

That move prompted Chris Greene, chairman of the American Bar Association’s Animal Law Committee, to start a petition to get Delta Airlines—the only U.S.-based carrier that offers direct flights to South Africa—to join the ban.

So far, Delta hasn’t budged on the issue. “Delta accepts hunting trophies in accordance with all U.S. domestic and international regulations, which prohibits the possession of trophies or other items associated with protected species,” company spokesperson Morgan Durrant said in an email. “Customers are required to produce detailed documentation of trophies to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials as their trophies undergo inspection.”

Greene believes his petition, which has so far attracted 110,000 signatures, could persuade Delta to implement a trophy prohibition.

“Delta is still dragging its feet, but they did agree a while back to stop transporting primates used in research, so we shall see,” he said.

http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/05/15/emirates-airlines-bans-hunting-trophies?cmpid=tpanimals-eml-2015-05-16-shell

On another note:

The War on India’s Tiger Preserves

The country’s forests are under endless assault from developers.

http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/05/15/saving-tigers-india?cmpid=tpanimals-eml-2015-05-16-shell

Japanese Aquariums' Link to the Dolphin Slaughter at Taiji

A survey shows that half the dolphins in Japanese facilities are taken from the annual hunts at the cove.

MAY 19, 2015 David Kirby has been a professional journalist for 25 years. His third book, Death at Seaworld, was published in 2012.

Nearly half of the dolphins in Japanese aquariums may have been taken from the dolphin hunts in Taiji, according to a survey in The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, which reported that a lack of breeding facilities is fueling demand for the mammals.

The newspaper surveyed 33 of the 54 Japanese aquariums that keep dolphins and found that 18 of them bought animals from the Taiji drives. Eight aquariums refused to respond.

“The 33 aquariums keep at least 352 dolphins, of which 158 were captured through drive fishery,” The Yomiuri Shimbun reported. “Some aquariums said all the dolphins they keep are from drive fishery.”

An additional 68 dolphins were captured after being snagged “in a fixed net by accident,” according to the newspaper, while only 42 were bred at aquariums. The article did not specify how the remaining dolphins were acquired.

Critics of the drives say the aquariums are sustaining the Taiji hunt, where entire pods are forced into a small cove and then slaughtered, released, or captured and sold to aquariums in Japan and around the world.

But is captive breeding the best way to reduce demand for live dolphins?

The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums has long demanded that the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums put an end to buying live-caught dolphins, and last month it suspended JAZA’s membership for refusing to do so.

Even zoos belonging to JAZA have criticized the country’s aquariums and said that captive breeding is the way to end the drives.

“Zoos stopped obtaining and exhibiting wild animals some time ago,” one unidentified zoo director told The Yomiuri Shimbun. “We’ve made efforts to breed animals. I think the time has come for aquariums to also change their way of thinking.”

But Ric O’Barry, director of Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project and star of the Oscar-winning documentary on Taiji, The Cove, said captive breeding “is not the solution.”

“One can clearly see that dolphins and other whales suffer and die in captivity,” O’Barry said in an email. “It does not matter if the dolphin was captured from the wild or born in captivity. They suffer equally. The captive dolphins die from the same stress-related diseases whether they were born in captivity or captured from the wild.”

Even if Japanese aquariums wanted to breed dolphins, most of them lack the space for a breeding pool, where mothers can nurse their calves.

As Naomi Rose, marine mammal scientist at the Animal Welfare Institute, pointed out, if aquariums are too small for breeding, they are, by the industry's own standards, too small for dolphins.

“Rather than recognize that there must be a problem with their facilities, they simply think they should be allowed to continue to source from the drives because otherwise they couldn’t have dolphins,” Rose, who opposes captive breeding, said in an email.

Courtney Vail, program and campaigns manager at Whale and Dolphin Conservation, said changing the way Japanese aquariums operate would be difficult.

“Unless standards improve in Japan, breeding success will be limited,” Vail said in an email. “Anything that removes the incentive for the hunts to continue is a step in the right direction. Of course, we have to be concerned that captures will occur elsewhere around Japan through other methods. Any capture operation is inhumane.”

SeaWorld in Trouble Again?
May 1, 2015

SeaWorld San Diego has received four citations, three of them categorized as serious, from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), for failing to put into place an effective “injury and illness prevention program.” Such programs are designed to identify workplace hazards that could result in serious injury or death. SeaWorld endangers the lives of its employees by putting them in close contact with orcas—the ocean’s top predator. Cal/OSHA fined the theme park $25,770.

In two of the citations, Cal/OSHA specifically called out SeaWorld for failing to have procedures to protect employees and supervisors who “rode on the killer whales and swam with killer whales in the medical pool” and “who were present on the slide outs with killer whales in various pools.”

This enforcement action comes after last year’s unsuccessful federal appeal by SeaWorld: The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) citation of SeaWorld for exposing trainers to the recognized hazards of working in close contact with killer whales during performances. SeaWorld had been cited after trainer Dawn Brancheau was dragged underwater and dismembered by the orca Tilikum.

SeaWorld’s own (incomplete) corporate incident logs include “600 pages of incident reports documenting … some 100 occurrences of killer whales biting, hitting, lunging toward, pulling on, pinning, dragging, and aggressively swimming over SeaWorld trainers,” according to OSHA.

What You Can Do
Ask SeaWorld’s new CEO to begin the process of transitioning the orcas to protected coastal sea pens immediately.

Read more: http://www.seaworldofhurt.com/seaworld-in-trouble-again-osha-citations/#ixzz3baOVynZ1

Killer Whales | Deadly But Social and Smart | Documentary
https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=-7E7FTSsbkg

Killer Whales | Deadly But Social and Smart | Documentary
https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=-7E7FTSsbkg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7E7FTSsbkg

Victory! Ontario Bans Orca Captivity
Alicia Graef
May 29, 2015

In a major victory for animals, this week lawmakers in Ontario passed landmark legislation that bans keeping orcas in captivity and will bring improvements to living conditions for other captive marine mammals.

Under the new law, the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, the acquisition and breeding of orcas is banned effective immediately, leaving violators facing potential fines of up to $60,000 and the possibility of two years in prison.

It also makes Ontario – which has more zoos and aquariums than any other province – the first province in Canada to set specific standards of care for marine mammals.

While the specific details of the new standards of care for marine mammals are still being worked out, they are expected to improve a number of aspects from sizes of enclosures and social groupings to updating regulations on how animals are handled and displayed. Additionally, the new law will require setting up independent Animal Welfare Committees at every facility. It will also require a marine mammal veterinarian be present to ensure proper care and oversight.

“Our government is committed to making sure marine mammals, and all animals in Ontario, are protected and receive the best possible treatment and care. Prohibiting the acquisition and breeding of orcas as we move forward on enhancing our standards of care to be among the best in the world is something Ontarians expect and these animals deserve. These amendments build on our government’s ongoing efforts to have the strongest animal protection laws in Canada,” said Yasir Naqvi, Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

Unfortunately, it also comes with the failure to do anything about Kiska, Canada’s only captive orca who was taken from the wild in the 1970s and is now being kept alone at Marineland in Niagara Falls.

The new law won’t bring her justice, but it will at least ensure that no others of her kind suffer a similar fate and animal advocates hope this move is the beginning of the end of keeping orcas in captivity around the world.

At a recent Tedx Talk “Let’s Throw Shamu a Retirement Party!” Dr. Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientists with the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), calls for phasing out exhibits and retiring orcas to sea pens. She also urges consumers to consider the price being paid by these intelligent beings when people choose to visit marine parks that hold them captive.

Rose explains some of the many things we’ve learned about the complex family structures and social ties in orca communities, along with some of the disturbing things that happen to them — which range from incest to aggression towards each other and us – when we deny them their needs and destroy their families.

According to AWI, there are currently 56 orcas being kept in captivity around the world and while we can’t give them back what we’ve taken, we can at least work for a future where we respect and protect their place in the wild and ensure no more suffer the fate of their captive counterparts.

“We all have family,” says Rose. “How can it be morally right for us to do to others, even when those others aren’t human, something we would consider devastating if it happened to us? That comparison isn’t anthropomorphism. It’s empathy.”

It's all about the money....

"....Like cruise ship traffic, the number of whales arriving in southeastern Alaska has been growing in recent years. The North Pacific population of humpbacks has recovered to the point where the US federal government is considering bumping them from “endangered” status down to “threatened.”

Yet more ships and more whales in one place also mean more of something else: collisions."

http://www.hakaimagazine.com/article-short/cruising-trouble

Another horrendous story of animal abuse.

Eyewitness Exposé: Pain, Fear, and Death at Primate Products, Inc.

You’ve never seen anything like this before—and much of it is being paid for by U.S. taxpayers’ dollars!

http://investigations.peta.org/pain-fear-death-primate-products/?utm_campaign=Primate%20Investigation&utm_source=PETA%20E-Mail&utm_medium=Alert

Please sign petition to stop this.

Here's another:

How You Can Help the Abandoned Research Chimps in Liberia
Please see link for the full article, the video and to sign the petition.
http://www.care2.com/causes/how-you-can-help-the-abandoned-research-chimps-in-liberia.html?onswipe_redirect=no&oswrr=4#comments

Dolphins Go Wild in Project to Free Captive Marine Mammals

The rewilding of two dolphins showstopper how animals kept at aquariums could roam free again.

http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/06/03/dolphins-returned-wild-offer-way-free-captive-whales

http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/06/03/dolphins-returned-wild-offer-way-free-captive-whales

David Kirby
June 3, 2015

A new report on the successful rehabilitation and release of wild-caught dolphins could well become the how-to manual for other efforts to “rewild” marine mammals at aquariums around the world.

The paper documents in step-by-step detail the Born Free Foundation’s two-year project in which it rescued two dolphins from a squalid facility in Turkey, prepared them for life in the sea, and monitored them after their release.

“This report sets a new precedent that it is possible to rehabilitate and release former captive dolphins and ensure their survival in the wild,” Daniel Turner, programs manager for captive wild animals/policy at Born Free, said in an email.

He said the results demonstrate that even captive-bred animals can be retired from theme parks and retrained to live in enclosed coastal sanctuaries. “The example of Misha and Tom ensures a viable solution for the more than 300 captive cetaceans in Europe and the more than 2,500 animals worldwide,” Turner said.

Born Free also released a video describing the project.

The male bottlenose dolphins, Tom and Misha, were captured off the Turkish coast and sent to various aquariums and “swim-with” tourist attractions. In 2010, the Born Free Foundation supported a campaign to retire them from a particularly subpar facility and place them in a sea pen for rehabilitation.

The report describes how the dolphins were returned to peak physical condition and swimming speed, retrained to catch live fish and spend more time underwater, and retaught to optimize their hearing and echolocation abilities.

Prior to release, the rehab team had to confirm that Tom and Misha harbored no known pathogens that could endanger other dolphins. They also ran DNA testing to ensure that the animals were not imported from the notorious drives in Taiji, Japan.

Other challenges included ensuring a steady supply of live fish and dealing with local residents’ resentment over the use of “their” bay. The cost of the project was around $765,000, according to Turner.

On their release day, in May 2012, “Tom and Misha refused at first to swim through the gate,” the report says. “After about 20 minutes the team gave Tom the hand signal to swim through the gate and Tom slowly responded, swimming through the gate to freedom.”

Within seconds, Misha followed. The two of them split up soon afterward.

Scientists used satellite tags and radio transmitters to monitor the mammals for several months. Their movements and behavior, the report said, proved that the project was successful.

The idea of retiring captive dolphins, whether to the ocean or sea pens, remains controversial. The aquarium industry calls it cruel and impractical. Only a handful of captive cetaceans have been returned to the wild, with varying degrees of success.

The most famous case involved Keiko, the killer whale and star of Free Willy who underwent a multimillion-dollar rehabilitation program. Keiko spent three years in a cove in Iceland before swimming to Norway, where he died 18 months later.

Candidates for rewilding must be selected carefully, proponents say.

“Not every captive whale and dolphin are true candidates for release,” Courtney Vail, campaigns and programs manager at Whale and Dolphin Conservation, said in an email. “It is important to note that each rehabilitation and release scenario has to be tailored to individuals and their circumstances, their unique history and provenance.”

Vail dismissed industry opposition to rewilding.

“Repatriating individuals to their natural environments is not unethical or dangerous if it is done correctly, carefully, and is motivated by the welfare interests of the individuals involved,” she said.

Born Free conceded that the project was a “considerable undertaking for these two dolphins,” but said in a statement that it was more than justified because it “highlights a practical way forward and offers a realistic alternative for dolphins currently condemned for life in concrete tanks.”

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fPOHDO_6PRI

Why Animal Rights?

Almost all of us grew up eating meat, wearing leather, and going to circuses and zoos. Many of us bought our beloved “pets” at pet shops, had guinea pigs, and kept beautiful birds in cages.
We wore wool and silk, ate McDonald’s burgers, and fished. We never considered the impact of these actions on the animals involved.
For whatever reason, you are now asking the question: Why should animals have rights?

In his book Animal Liberation, Peter Singer states that the basic principle of equality does not require equal or identical treatment; it requires equal consideration. This is an important distinction when talking about animal rights. People often ask if animals should have rights, and quite simply, the answer is “Yes!” Animals surely deserve to live their lives free from suffering and exploitation. Jeremy Bentham, the founder of the reforming utilitarian school of moral philosophy, stated that when deciding on a being’s rights, “The question is not ‘Can they reason?’ nor ‘Can they talk?’ but ‘Can they suffer?’” In that passage, Bentham points to the capacity for suffering as the vital characteristic that gives a being the right to equal consideration. The capacity for suffering is not just another characteristic like the capacity for language or higher mathematics. All animals have the ability to suffer in the same way and to the same degree that humans do. They feel pain, pleasure, fear, frustration, loneliness, and motherly love. Whenever we consider doing something that would interfere with their needs, we are morally obligated to take them into account.

Supporters of animal rights believe that animals have an inherent worth—a value completely separate from their usefulness to humans. We believe that every creature with a will to live has a right to live free from pain and suffering. Animal rights is not just a philosophy—it is a social movement that challenges society’s traditional view that all nonhuman animals exist solely for human use. As PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk has said, “When it comes to pain, love, joy, loneliness, and fear, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. Each one values his or her life and fights the knife.”

The PETA Practical Guide to Animal Rights

Take vital steps to cut thoughtless cruelty to animals out of your life and to educate others around you. Check out the most comprehensive book on animal rights available today! In The PETA Practical Guide to Animal Rights, PETA president Ingrid E. Newkirk provides hundreds of tips, stories, and resources. It’s PETA’s must-have guide to animal rights. Also available for the Kindle!
http://www.peta.org/about-peta/why-peta/why-animal-rights/

A Little Medicine Shop of Horrors for Endangered Sun Bears
A new survey finds that nearly half of Malaysia’s traditional medicine stores illegally sell bear bile products—including whole gall bladders.

JUN 4, 2015John R. Platt covers the environment, technology, philanthropy, and more for Scientific American, Conservation, Lion, and other publications.

http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/06/04/malaysia-sun-bears-being-wiped-out-traditional-asian-medicine

Hundreds, if not thousands, of bears are dying every year to feed Malaysia’s appetite for traditional medicine made from their bile or gallbladders.

Even though Malaysia banned such trade decades ago—followed by a tougher wildlife-protection law that came into force in 2010—the sale of bear products remains rampant. A report issued this week by TRAFFIC, the international wildlife trade monitoring network, found bear gallbladders and medicinal products for sale in 48 percent of Malaysia’s traditional medicine shops. The products and organs, TRAFFIC found, were sourced not just from Malaysia’s native sun bears but from Asiatic black bears from China, Thailand, Russia, Vietnam, and other countries.

Bear bile is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat a number of conditions, even though it has no real medicinal value. Malaysia has a large population of people of Chinese descent who continue to make the concoctions.

Chris Shepherd, regional director for TRAFFIC in Southeast Asia, said the report “clearly demonstrates the bear bile trade is ongoing, widespread, and in many cases, being carried out with little obvious fear of the law.” Many of the stores surveyed said they knew the products were illegal but continued to sell them anyway.

The survey found a total of 298 whole gallbladders for sale; more than 60 percent of them were said to be sourced from wild sun bears. Shepherd called this “alarming” and said, “If this is an indication of the level of poaching of Malaysia’s sun bear, this species could be far more threatened here than we suspected.”

Others expressed fear for the future of the species.

“I believe the sales of bear parts have caused the local extinction of many small sun bear populations in Southeast Asia,” said Wong Siew Te, CEO and founder of the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre. “If the sale continues, recovery of the wild population is virtually impossible.” He said sun bears reproduce very slowly and also face the threat of habitat destruction, which has separated their remaining populations from each other.

Despite the report’s bleak portrait, Shepherd said progress is being made. TRAFFIC notified Malaysian authorities of the illegal sales and is working with the Federation of Chinese Physicians and the Medicine Dealers Association of Malaysia to shut down the trade.

This week, in conjunction with the release of the report, the medicine dealers association warned its 4,000 members to stop selling bear bile products. “We do not condone the use of bear bile, gallbladders, or derivative products,” physicians federation Secretary-General Kerk Ee Chan said at a press conference.

Not all of Malaysia’s traditional Chinese medicine shops belong to the federation, but Shepherd said proposed legislation could soon make membership mandatory for all dealers.

“With the federation itself playing a strong role in deterring the use of bear bile amongst its own members and its broad consumer base, I firmly believe we have an excellent opportunity to greatly reduce this illegal trade and to ensure we do not lose sun bears in Malaysia,” he said.

TRAFFIC has called for additional monitoring of the trade, additional protection for sun bears in the wild, and improved enforcement and collaboration among wildlife officials, pharmaceutical enforcement units, and the city council law enforcement agencies where local medicine shops are located.

Wong also called for Malaysia to step up enforcement of its existing laws. “This report shows the enforcement of wildlife laws is generally weak in this country,” he said. “This is the time for the authority and the medicine group to seriously do something to prevent these sales. The remaining wild sun bear populations exist in fragmented landscapes and cannot withstand any level of human-related mortality.”

Dolphins 'suffering miscarriage, lung disease, losing teeth after BP oil spill' researchers claim

Scientists say the animals in the Gulf of Mexico have deformities including missing teeth

By KASHMIRA GANDER
Monday 17 February 2014

Bottlenose dolphins with deformities including missing teeth and lung disease have been found in the Gulf of Mexico a year after the BP oil spill, according to US researchers.

The mammals were also suffering from hormonal imbalances, Pneumonia and liver disease, while a pregnant female was found carrying a dead foetus.

The first major study into the health of dolphins comes after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in April 2010 and saw the equivalent of 4.9 million barrels of oil gush into the sea.

During the study, researchers briefly captured dolphins off the coast of central Louisiana in 2011 to check their health.
Half of the 32 dolphins studied were judged to be seriously ill or in danger of dying.

The health of the animals was compared with 27 bottlenose dolphins from the Sarasota Bay, Florida, which was unaffected by the oil spill.
These dolphins had significantly lower levels of adrenal hormones, which are critical to an animal's stress response, while moderate to severe lung disease was five times more common in Louisianan dolphins.

“I've never seen such a high prevalence of very sick animals,” lead author Lori Schwacke, a researcher with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and an expert on dolphins in the southern US.

“There is disease in any wild population. We just haven't seen animals that were in such bad shape as what we saw in Barataria Bay,” she added.
Three of the Barataria Bay dolphins had also lost nearly all their teeth, and three others had just half of their normal number of teeth left. Dolphins typically have between 78 and 106 teeth.

Oil firm BP said the report, which appeared in December issue of the ‘Environmental Science and Technology’ journal was “inconclusive as to any causation associated with the spill”.

BP also called on NOAA to release all of its data on the unusual deaths of more than 1000 dolphins off the Gulf Coast, dating back to February 2010, three months before the spill.

Scientists admitted that their study cannot prove that the dolphin's health problems were caused by the Deepwater spill because there were no studies of dolphin health prior to it.

But the Louisiana dolphins had lower levels of pesticides and flame retardant chemicals than the Florida group, suggesting that agricultural runoff and common pollution were not the cause of their diseases, researchers claimed.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/dolphins-suffering-miscarriage-lung-disease-losing-teeth-after-bp-oil-spill-researchers-claim-9134045.html

JUST SICKENING!

Miami Seaquarium Agrees to Keep Trainers Out of Lolita’s Tank
by Alicia Graef
June 4, 2015

The Miami Seaquarium announced this week it will no longer allow trainers in the water with Lolita, a lone orca who has been at the center of a movement to see her retired and returned to her home waters.

The change follows an investigation conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which issued a citation requiring the Seaquarium to keep trainers out of the water during performances.

Since the tragic death of Dawn Brancheau at SeaWorld, OSHA has required either physical barriers or distance between orcas and trainers during drywork, when orcas are out of the water. SeaWorld has tried to keep trainers in the water, but has continued to lose and get cited.

Last summer, OSHA cited the Seaquarium for violating worker safety laws after it was caught putting trainers in the water with Lolita and fined the facility $7,000 after the Animal Legal Defense Fund investigated and filed a formal complaint that argued the Seaquarium was putting employees in harms way the way SeaWorld had.

According to the Orca Network, the Seaquarium’s decision to pull trainers itself comes with the downside that the issue won’t go to court as it was expected to in August and records from the Seaquarium that would have been exposed won’t come to light now. Still the organization and her advocates believe it’s another positive step for Lolita.

At least it’s one that will return a bit of her dignity and will hopefully change what we consider acceptable treatment for orcas, particularly for one who is an endangered species in captivity. Lolita — who was taken from the wild and is now the lone surviving member of her family in captivity — was officially included in the listing that protects her wild relatives, the southern resident killer whales, under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) this May.

Standing on her face and riding her around during performances should not so much be acceptable at this point as not so much. Neither should keeping her in the smallest and oldest tank in North America for whatever time she has left. After more than 40 years there, she’s already been denied everything we know an orca needs to thrive, and it’s all been taken away from her for nothing more than profit and amusement.

Though her inclusion in the listing didn’t force the Seaquarium to stop exploiting her, it did finally give her advocates legal ground to sue the Seaquarium itself and last month the Orca Network, ALDF and PETA notified the facility they were going to do just that over violations of the ESA.

They hope the court will ultimately compel the Seaquarium, which is still stubbornly refusing to let her go, to return Lolita to her home waters off the coast of Washington. Meanwhile, her advocates are calling on the public to boycott the Seaquarium until it releases Lolita.

The Orca Network has an extensive retirement plan in place that’s been ready and waiting for her for years. The plan involves relocating her to a sea pen off the coast of Washington where she will be able to feel the current and communicate with her pod. Her mother, L-25 (Ocean Sun) who is now believed to be about 86-years-old is still alive among her pod, as are a few others who were present the day Lolita was taken. If she is unwilling or unable to reintegrate with her family, they have vowed to provide care for her for the remainder of her life.

While we wait for an update on what changes the impending lawsuit against the Seaquarium will bring, we can help organizations working to ensure she has a home and family to go to.

In Washington the month of June has officially been declared Orca Awareness Month and numerous organizations will join forces to help educate the public about the plight of Lolita’s family who lives off the coast, and how we can help protect them.

For more info, check out the Orca Network, Center for Whale Research, Whale and Dolphin Conservation and Orca Awareness Month.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/miami-seaquarium-agrees-to-keep-trainers-out-of-lolitas-tank.html#ixzz3cCU7xmDm

See video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6EzCHKpWvo

Watch Misha and Tom, Two Wild-Caught Dolphins, Return To Their Home
Alicia Graef
Jun 5, 2015

http://www.care2.com/causes/watch-two-wild-caught-dolphins-return-home.html?onswipe_redirect=no&oswrr=4#comments

Whale and dolphin advocates hope a new report chronicling the successful rescue, rehabilitation and release of two captive dolphins will provide a blueprint for others who want to see these animals returned to their rightful home in the wild.

Back to the Blue, a report released by the Born Free Foundation, tracks a two-year project undertaken to save Tom and Misha, two male bottlenose dolphins who were being exploited in substandard conditions in Turkey.

According to Born Free, Tom and Misha were taken from the wild off the coast of Turkey and used to perform and provide ‘swim-with‘ opportunities for tourists. The conditions they were being kept in, consisting of a small dirty swimming pool, led to heavy campaigning by Born Free, a network of local activists and other organizations who were concerned about their welfare and believed they would die soon without intervention.

In 2010, rescuers obtained custody of Tom and Misha and the two were promptly moved to a sea pen in southwest Turkey where efforts to return them home began as part of the Back to the Blue project, which was conducted jointly with the Turkish organization Underwater Research Society.

The report describes how they were returned to top physical condition, trained to hunt for themselves and encouraged to spend more time underwater on their own instead of relying on their human caretakers over a period of 20 months before they were finally set free.

“In captivity, we train the animals not to think on their own, to shut down their brains and do what we ask them to do. What we are trying to do when we release them into the wild is get them off autopilot and thinking again. If they can make it alive through a six-month period, then we know they have been successfully reintroduced. Within six hours of release, they were eating wild fish and swimming with another dolphin. It was fabulous,” said Jeff Foster, a marine mammal expert who led the rehabilitation team.

Born Free describes their final moments:

After about 20 minutes the team gave Tom the hand signal to swim through the gate and Tom slowly responded, swimming through the gate to freedom. Within seconds of Tom swimming through Misha joined him and hurriedly swam through the opening. They quickly rounded the corner of the small bay and raced excitedly around the area and out to sea.

Born Free believes this is the most comprehensively documented dolphin rehabilitation and release program that has been completed yet and hopes it will be used not only to set a new precedent for what’s possible, but also to raise awareness about the harm that continues to be caused by our desire to swim with dolphins and see them in tanks.

Rescuers note that while each individual is different, and not all may be good candidates for release, the efforts here add more scientific proof that this can be successfully done, despite arguments otherwise from the captivity industry.

“The rescue of Tom and Misha has made history. We now have the hard evidence that it is possible for these animals to be successfully and humanely returned to the wild. That is a dangerous concept for a multimillion dollar captive industry that profits from their very confinement, posing new ethical and moral challenges for the future of an outdated industry,” said Adam M. Roberts, CEO of Born Free USA and Born Free Foundation.

Tom and Misha’s story is thrilling, but they aren’t the only cetaceans who have been successfully released. More well-known cases involving orcas Springer (who was rescued, released and recently spotted with a calf of her own) and Keiko continue to show us we can do the right thing for these cetaceans and that if we choose to, they can thrive. All of these efforts also add fuel to calls to do the same for Lolita, Morgan and hundreds of others being kept in captivity, who should be returned to the ocean where they belong.

All are Born Free; All Must Stay Free....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJv_ZziKUJg
Swan

Thanks for sharing the video and the sentiment!:@)
If only they could all be free!

Death of Baby Beluga at the Georgia Aquarium Fuels Calls to End Captivity

Alicia Graef
Jun 9, 2015

http://www.care2.com/causes/death-of-baby-beluga-at-the-georgia-aquarium-fuels-calls-to-end-captivity.html?onswipe_redirect=no&oswrr=4#comments

On Mother’s Day the Georgia Aquarium celebrated the birth of a baby beluga, but after less than a month the newborn has already passed away.

Even though her birth was considered a success and she bonded with her mother Maris, her condition deteriorated and she failed to reach expected milestones despite intervention from caregivers.

The Aquarium said in a statement, “in the early morning hours of June 5, the calf began showing signs of lethargy and needed assistance to swim. While next to her mother and in the arms of her dedicated caregivers, the calf took her last breath, and her heart stopped just after 7:00 a.m.”

Officials added that they believe she had gastrointestinal issues that were preventing her from properly absorbing nutrients, but even with a necropsy they may never know the actual cause of death.

The tragic death isn’t the first at this aquarium and leaves Maris suffering the loss of a calf for the second time; her first died just days after being born in 2012.

Despite the growing controversy and opposition that surrounds keeping cetaceans in captivity, including protests held this weekend as part of the Empty the Tanks movement, the Georgia Aquarium is determined to keep its beluga exhibit going.

Unfortunately, with a low success rate for breeding and a captive population that won’t sustain itself without new babies, aquariums are going to have to look to the wild to keep their exhibits open and that’s just what the Georgia Aquarium is doing.

In 2012, it applied for a permit to bring 18 wild-caught belugas here from Russia. Had the permit been approved they would have been moved to the U.S. and split up between the Georgia Aquarium and its partner facilities under breeding loan agreements, including SeaWorld parks in Florida, Texas and California, along with the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

It would have also marked the first time wild-caught cetaceans were brought here for display in 20 years. Fortunately, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) denied the application for a number of reasons, one of those being the harm it would cause to the wild population in the Sea of Okhotsk.

While the Georgia Aquarium arrogantly claimed in a petition it started that “Maintaining belugas in human care is essential to the survival of belugas everywhere,” it’s causing the very problem it’s claiming to fix.

Whale and dolphin advocates worried that not only would the import undermine laws intended to protect marine mammals, but that it would add to the demand for wild-caught cetaceans and perpetuate international trade at a time when it needs to end and conservation efforts need to be focused on protecting them in the wild.

“We fully support NMFS’s decision and find Georgia Aquarium’s arguments to overturn it to be exploitative and completely counter to the Aquarium’s self-portrayal as a conservation organization,” said Dr. Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist with the Animal Welfare Institute. “It is shocking how Georgia Aquarium ignores good science and basic conservation principles in its quest to increase the number of belugas in its breeding program.”

Despite opposition from the public and scientists, of this March the Aquarium is still fighting the decision in court and trying to get a federal judge to order the agency to overturn the decision and order it to grant the permit.

The Georgia Aquarium only has three belugas, including Maris, Grayson and Quinu. Instead of perpetuating the harm that continues to be caused to wild populations and those who are taken from their families and confined to tanks, the Aquarium should stop pretending it’s going to somehow save belugas and close down its exhibit.

TAKE ACTION!

Please sign and share the petition asking the Georgia Aquarium to stop trying to take belugas from the wild and phase out its current exhibit.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/928/590/880/georgia-aquarium-phase-out-your-beluga-exhibit/?TAP=1007&cid=causes_petition_postinfo