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Disabled killer whale survives with the help of his family.
Posted : January 7, 2016 1:19 pm
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Act Now to End Orca Captivity in the U.S.
Posted : January 8, 2016 2:05 am
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Posted : January 8, 2016 7:10 pm
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Posted : January 9, 2016 9:07 pm
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"David Bowie could have charged us tens of thousands of dollars to license 'Heroes' for The Cove - we didn't have that kind of money - but one could dream. Pop Songs by superstars like him can license for 6-7 figures. He made his publishers take that absolute minimum they would take and we were charged nearly nothing for that song. Rest in peace, Mr. Bowie - you are my hero." - Director Louie Psihoyos
Posted : January 11, 2016 5:00 pm
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PETITION: END SWIM WITH DOLPHIN PROGRAMS
Target: Members of Congress
Petition by
Ric O'Barry
Miami, Florida
Please sign and share!
https://dolphinproject.net/take-action/petition-end-swim-with-dolphin-programs/
Posted : January 15, 2016 12:29 am
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http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=hw_JhFNdFGk
THE COVE TURNS TO BLOOD AS STRIPED DOLPHINS SLAUGHTERED
Taiji, Japan, January 12, 2016
“There are no words to describe the massacre that I have just witnessed. Yesterday, I said the image of part of a pod fleeing to freedom would never leave my mind. Now all I can see is blood and all I can hear are the thrashes of whom we believe belong to the same family.” ~ Maria Nangle, Dolphin Project Cove Monitor
https://dolphinproject.net/blog/post/the-cove-turns-to-blood-as-striped-dolphins-slaughtered/
Posted : January 15, 2016 1:51 am
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Happy Orca Fun Fact Friday!
Now that we have introduced you to the Southern Resident orcas, we will focus on the specific pods. This week we will look at the defining features of J pod.
J pod currently has 29 members who are found year-round in the Salish Sea in areas such as lower Puget Sound, Georgia Strait, and the Southern Gulf Islands. In the spring, J pod members are most commonly seen near the San Juan Islands. The oldest member in the J pod is Granny, or J2, a female who is estimated to be around 104 years old! J pod currently has only three mature males: J26, J27, and J34.
J pod has been experiencing a recent "baby boom," with 5 new calves born since December of 2014. Over the past year, the calves Scarlet (J50), Nova (J51), and Sonic (J52), plus the more recent J53 and J54, born in the fall and winter, have increased the total number of Southern Resident orcas to 84 individuals. Despite this recent good news, the outlook for J pod is still worrisome. Before the births of these five calves, it had been two years since any calves had been born and survived in J pod. Since 1998, ten J pod members have gone missing and are presumed dead.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10153340330704632&substory_index=0&id=70847349631
Posted : January 15, 2016 8:48 pm
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JEDOL AND SAMPAL ARE FREE – WE HAVE PROOF!
By Ric O’Barry
Founder/Director
Dolphin Project
https://dolphinproject.net/blog/post/jedol-and-sampal-are-free-we-have-proof/
I’ve released a number of captive dolphins back into the wild. One of the biggest lies being told by the likes of SeaWorld and others in the dolphin abusement industry is that dolphins in captivity can never be released back into the wild.
Jedol and Sampal, however, beg to differ. Both were being kept in captivity in aquariums in Seoul, South Korea, and Jeju Island. Thanks to the efforts of the Mayor of Seoul, Park Won-soon, and the outstanding nonprofit Korean Animal Welfare Association, three bottlenose dolphins – Jedol, Sampal and Chunsan – were removed from their captive tanks and placed in a sea pen in May 2013 to be acclimated to the ocean and to be fed live fish, which they would have to catch. I provided the protocol and helped with consulting in the release, but the KAWA group and other Koreans did most of the work. And their work paid off.
Sampal actually decided the sea pen was too confining and fled through a hole in the net early in June. Jedol and Chunsan were released after a few months in July 2013.
So, can captive dolphins survive in the wild, if properly released and evaluated? You bet they can.
Here are several photos taken by Dr. Kim off the island Jeju, showing both Jedol and Sample on April 15th – just two days ago. You can tell them from the freeze brand on their dorsal fin. It is imperative to freeze-brand the dolphins so that they can be identified after the satellite tag falls off.
I am very excited about these photos. It’s a big deal. It is absolute proof of our success in the rehab and release of Jedol and Sampal. They are making it in the wild ocean again. The protocol works!
My thanks to the Koreans and especially to KAWA for keeping me informed. There are other dolphins in Korea and in other countries that should be returned to the ocean. It is the least we can do for them, having stolen them in the first place.
Protocol for Releasing Captive Dolphins
https://dolphinproject.net/about-dolphins/releasing-captive-dolphins/protocol-for-releasing-captive-dolphins/
Photos courtesy of Dr. Kim and the Korean Animal Welfare Association
Posted : January 16, 2016 2:09 pm
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A Toxic Threat Is Killing Off Europe’s Killer Whales and Dolphins
Researchers find high exposure to PCBs could drive some marine mammals to extinction.
The United Kingdom’s rare killer whales have not had a successful birth since 1990 and will go extinct, say researchers.
JAN 14, 2016Emily J. Gertz
European killer whales and bottlenose and striped dolphins suffer from the highest levels of now-banned industrial chemicals ever recorded, according to a study released Thursday.
The contamination has harmed their ability to successfully bear young, scientists report. As a result some European resident whale and dolphin populations have vanished, and others are likely to go extinct—including a pod of killer whales off the coast of the United Kingdom that has dwindled to just eight individuals, and has not produced a calf since 1990.
In research published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers compiled data on concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls in tissue samples from 1,081 marine mammals, including killer whales, harbor porpoises, and striped and bottlenose dolphins. The samples came from animals in the U.K., Ireland, Spain, France, and elsewhere.
They found that even though PCBs have been banned in the U.K. and the European Union since the 1980s, striped and bottlenose dolphins and killer whales carried amounts of the chemicals in their bodies that far surpassed the levels known to cause health problems such as reproductive failure.
While the level of PCBs in marine mammals in the United States has continued to decline since the chemicals were banned in the 1980s, contamination remains level among those in the waters of industrialized Europe. Scientists are not sure why, Paul Jepson of the Zoological Society of London, the study’s lead author, said during a meeting with reporters.
“The answer to that is neither easy nor straightforward,” he said. “But mitigation measures should really involve dealing with historic and current industrial uses in old equipment—transformers and things, in electrical equipment—PCBs leaking out of landfill into rivers, PCBs in marine sediments, which are often dredged to keep shipping lanes open, which makes them more bioavailable to get into the marine food chains.”
PCBs are manufactured chemicals that were widely used in inks, flame retardants, electrical equipment, and other products and machinery during much of the 20th century. Health and environmental concerns led the United States, the U.K., and the European Union to phase out PCBs during the 1980s, but they remain persistent in the environment.
“One of the things that is particular about them is they dissolve in fat tissue,” Jepson said. “Animals will ingest them in their diets, and then the PCBs will pass through the gut into the bloodstream and then eventually settle out in the fat tissue, in the blubber.”
As a result, predators high on the food chain, such as marine mammals, are at risk of consuming concentrated amounts of PCBs with their prey and then storing them in their own bodies, a process called bioaccumulation.
When female dolphins and whales nurse their offspring, they pass much of the contamination along with the fat in their milk, Jepson said, “at a time when the new calf is very vulnerable.”
The U.K.’s killer whales, which are known to consume a lot of seals, showed PCB levels in excess of 250 milligrams per kilo of fat, Jepson said, while killer whales off the Iceland and Norwegian coasts, which consume mostly herring, showed only 25 milligrams per kilo.
Some marine mammal populations off the coasts of Spain, Portugal, and France are also failing to reproduce and at risk of extinction because of PCB contamination, he said, adding that about 1.1 million tons of PCB-contaminated materials in the European Union still await proper disposal.
“Despite regulations and mitigation measures to reduce PCB pollution,” Jepson said, “the levels are so high they will have toxic effects.”
Posted : January 17, 2016 1:19 am
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OP ED: WHAT HAS OUR INTERFERENCE COST DOLPHINS?
17 JANUARY, 2016
https://dolphinproject.net/blog/post/op-ed-what-has-our-interference-cost-dolphins/
Posted : January 18, 2016 1:24 pm
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Urge British Airways to Part Company With Unethical SeaWorld
http://action.peta.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=5&ea.campaign.id=34096&utm_campaign=18012016+-+BA+SeaWorld+-+Post&utm_source=PETA+UK+Facebook&utm_medium=Promo
Posted : January 18, 2016 3:37 pm
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BREAKING: RIC O’BARRY DETAINED IN TOKYO
19 JANUARY, 2016
For Immediate Release: January 20, 2016
TOKYO – Ric O’Barry, recipient of the prestigious Bambi Award and star of the Oscar winning documentary “The Cove” was detained by Japanese immigration officials at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport on Monday. After arriving into Tokyo at approximately 4:45 p.m., O’Barry was repeatedly interrogated, and placed in a deportees’ facility, similar to a jail, where he has been held for over 32 hours.
Read more:
https://dolphinproject.net/blog/post/breaking-ric-obarry-detained-in-tokyo/
Posted : January 19, 2016 5:19 pm
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For Immediate Release: 01/19/16
Born Free USA Condemns Yet Another SeaWorld Death
Dolphin marks fourth death of a marine mammal at SeaWorld over past seven months. "Enough is enough" - Born Free USA CEO
Washington, D.C. -- A Commerson's dolphin named "Betsy" has died at SeaWorld Orlando's Aquatica park. Following the death of an 18-year-old orca named "Unna" at SeaWorld San Antonio in December, Betsy is the fourth marine mammal known to die at SeaWorld since June. Born Free USA, a global leader in animal welfare and wildlife conservation, reports that this tragic rate of demise is unacceptable, and reinforces the conclusion that cruel captivity is completely unsuitable for marine mammals.
According to Adam M. Roberts, CEO of Born Free USA and Born Free Foundation, "Betsy had only the briefest taste of freedom before she was captured from the wild at less than one year of age. She clung to life in a bleak concrete tank for decades, never again seeing the open ocean or her pod. Instead, she was gawked at by visitors as she languished in a pool."
Commerson's dolphins can swim at up to eight miles per hour in the wild. They are playful, known for leaping and spinning in the air. Their acrobatics and high swimming speeds mean that they are highly active in the wild: something that cannot be replicated in a tank. They are social animals who can live in groups of two to 100 dolphins and communicate with clicks and whistles. These natural needs and behaviors cannot be met in captivity, leading to a frustrating existence, complete with mental and physical anguish.
Roberts continued, "How much longer will SeaWorld pretend that it is contributing to wildlife conservation or meeting animal welfare needs by keeping these remarkably intelligent animals on display? The exploitative use of marine mammals is driven by greed, pure and simple. Enough is enough. It's long past time for SeaWorld to yield to public sentiment and the welfare of these individual animals, and end marine mammal captivity for good."
Born Free USA is a global leader in animal welfare and wildlife conservation. Through litigation, legislation, and public education, Born Free USA leads vital campaigns against animals in entertainment, exotic "pets," trapping and fur, and the destructive international wildlife trade. Born Free USA brings to America the message of "compassionate conservation"—the vision of the U.K.-based Born Free Foundation, established in 1984 by Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, stars of the iconic film Born Free, along with their son Will Travers. Born Free's mission is to end suffering of wild animals in captivity, conserve threatened and endangered species, and encourage compassionate conservation globally. More at www.bornfreeusa.org, www.twitter.com/bornfreeusa, and www.facebook.com/bornfreeusa.
Posted : January 19, 2016 9:10 pm
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JAPANESE GOVERNMENT DENIES O’BARRY’S APPEAL TO ENTER COUNTRY
21 JANUARY, 2016
For Immediate Release: January 22, 2016
https://dolphinproject.net/blog/post/japanese-government-denies-appeal-to-enter-country/
Posted : January 22, 2016 2:52 pm
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North Atlantic Right Whale, One Of The World's Rarest, Spotted Off South Carolina
There are a little more than 500 of these majestic whales left.
01/18/2016 04:39 am
Ed Mazza
Overnight Editor, The Huffington Post
One of the rarest whales in the world has been spotted off the coast of South Carolina for the first time in three years.
An endangered North Atlantic right whale nicknamed Chiminea was seen earlier this month swimming near Folly Beach, not far from Charleston:
It was the first confirmed sighting of a right whale off South Carolina in three years, according to the Post and Courier newspaper.
Right whales reach lengths of up to 55 feet, which is longer than a school bus, and weigh as much as 140,000 pounds, which is nearly the weight of an empty space shuttle.
They got their name because they were slow, stayed close to land and floated after being killed due to high levels of valuable blubber -- making them the "right" whale to hunt, according to the World Wide Fund For Nature.
Centuries of hunting brought them to the brink of extinction, with a population of just 263 whales in 1996, according to the IUCN Red List.
Since then, the whales have started to make a comeback, with 526 individuals photographed in 2014, according to the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium.
That's believed to represent most, if not all, of the whales left.
As calving season in their breeding grounds off the Georgia coast gets under way this year, there has already been some good news:
More calves have since been spotted, bringing the total to six so far, according to the New England Aquarium Right Whale Research Team.
While North Atlantic right whales are no longer hunted, they still face manmade threats. Since they live in the busy waters off the East Coast, they routinely get hit by boats, or get caught in fishing ropes and netting.
Some 83 percent of the whales have scars from having been caught in fishing gear, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The Inwater Research Group has more about the North Atlantic right whale here.
http://htl.li/WQeNP
Posted : January 22, 2016 2:58 pm
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Japan to Dolphin Activist: Get Out
Immigration officials to deport ‘The Cove’ star Ric O’Barry and bar him from entering the country for five years to campaign against Japan’s annual dolphin slaughter.
Please sign and share petition on link.
http://www.takepart.com/article/2016/01/22/dolphin-activist-be-deported?cmpid=tpdaily-eml-2016-01-22
JAN 22, 2016 Taylor Hill
Japan has ordered the deportation of dolphin trainer–turned–animal rights activist Ric O’Barry, who was featured in the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary The Cove.
O’Barry, 76, was detained at Japan’s Narita airport on Monday when officials refused to allow him to enter the country using a tourist visa. On Friday, authorities denied an appeal from O’Barry’s lawyer, Takashi Takano.
His son, Lincoln O’Barry, said that since the release of The Cove, which brought international scrutiny to the annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, his father gets harassed and interrogated every time he visits the country.
Lincoln O’Barry said Japanese officials initially accused his father of being a member of the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd, which maintains a constant presence in Taiji, monitoring the dolphin hunt.
“But now, they are saying he lied about where he went the last time he was in the country, so he can’t be trusted this time around,” Lincoln O’Barry said.
In an email to his son, Ric O’Barry said he is being held on “trumped-up charges.”
“For the past 72 hours, I have been behind bars in a detention facility, yet I have broken no laws,” he wrote.
With his appeal denied, O’Barry has been scheduled for deportation and will not be permitted to return for five years. That’s a punishment his son says cannot stand.
127 Million Reasons Why the Cove Dolphin Slaughter Continues
“He has been working for 13 years to expose the brutal dolphin hunt there, and this is their latest attempt to shut him out,” Lincoln O'Barry said.
Takano has reportedly filed a lawsuit in Japan to fight the deportation warrant. O’Barry’s conservation group, The Dolphin Project, has started a petition on its website calling for the deportation measures to be dropped.
From Sept. 1 through March 1, fishers on boats drive thousands of dolphins into Taiji Cove, after which they are either sold to aquariums and marine parks or killed for their meat.
“January is typically a brutal month of slaughter in the cove,” Lincoln O’Barry said. According to The Dolphin Project’s count, 418 dolphins have been killed so far this year. “It seems to be adding up to be an especially bad year, and this deportation issue can’t distract from that.”
Posted : January 23, 2016 11:45 am
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UNCOVERED
25 JANUARY 2016 - 11:52AM
A new documentary, Vancouver Aquarium – Uncovered is available to view on Vimeo or watch below. Over the course of 60 minutes, it details, through interviews with cetacean experts, Vancouver Aquarium staff and Vancouver Park Board representatives, past and current, the problems associated with the keeping of whales and dolphins at the Aquarium, problems which are typical of the industry which displays whales and dolphins to the public for entertainment.
One thing the Aquarium does do differently to a lot of aquaria holding whales and dolphins in captivity is the claims it makes regarding its contributions to conservation and education. Other facilities may make similar claims, but Vancouver Aquarium has built its reputation on it. It has also claimed the belugas it keeps are not in a breeding programme. The film exposes how little the Aquarium does in fact contribute to conservation, reporting that no wild whale or dolphin has benefitted from the Aquarium’s captive programme. Footage also shows interviews with school children after a visit suggesting they learned next to nothing about wild whales and dolphins, let alone conservation. It also reveals how belugas from the Vancouver Aquarium are part of SeaWorld’s active breeding programme, including Nanuq on long term breeding loan from Vancouver, who died in 2015 at SeaWorld Orlando while suffering from an infection in a jaw injury that resulted from an “interaction” with another whale.
Further shocking revelations, many of which are documented in Park Board meetings, with Board Members asking poignant questions, include the high calf mortality at the Aquarium compared to the wild, sourcing of Pacific white-sided dolphins from Japan under “rescue” claims, and CEO John Nightingale’s clanger from June 2015: ““I think the idea that animals ought to live free in nature is absolutely a natural human emotion, but we believe that is wrong.”
Worth a watch, if a depressing one.
http://uk.whales.org/blog/2016/01/vancouver-aquarium-uncovered
Posted : January 25, 2016 4:19 pm
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MAYDAY MONDAY
Whale and Dolphin Conservation is currently working to expand critical habitat for Southern Resident Orcas.
Every week from now through March 14th, we will be posting information about the many threats preventing recovery of this unique population, and all the reasons why the current extent of critical habitat has not been enough to be an effective tool for conservation.
See link for entire article.
Posted : January 25, 2016 6:21 pm
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This is the price of a ticket to a dolphin show.
Like it?
Posted : January 26, 2016 6:12 am
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When people have bucket lists they normally consist of at least one or two life-changing experiences, like skydiving or travelling the world, mixed in with the slightly more docile ‘learn a different language’ or ‘learn to dance.’ Having a bucket list is a great idea, especially if you actually accomplish a lot of the things on it, however there are a few activities that should be removed from everyone’s bucket list straight away.
3 Things To Remove From Your Bucket List in 2016 | GVI
1. Riding an Elephant
We’ve all seen pictures of people riding elephants, all decked out in a pretty rug and saddle with some smiling tourists’ perched on top. For many people, it is an experience high up on their list. But in reality, it should never have reached your bucket list in the first place. Here are a few examples of what the animal goes through and why you shouldy remove it completely:
Separation: Baby elephants are separated from their mothers (who are then often shot), in order to be captured for domestication.
No Protection: Once elephants are captured, they are no longer considered under the Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act of 1992 (WARPA) guidelines, and can be treated like any livestock, despite being endangered.
The Crush: To break an elephant’s spirit and get it to submit, they are put through The Crush: tied up in a small pen, beaten with bullhooks and bamboo, deprived of food and water and taught the basic commands required of them.
Heavy Burden: Elephants can carry around 150kg, and with a saddle weighing in at around 100kg; this only leaves space for one small person. But elephants are required to carry typically 2 tourists, plus their mahout for the majority of the day. Saddles press down on their spines and ropes will leave sores.
Loss of Sociality: Elephants live in groups with strong social structures and complex relationships. These are all torn apart when an elephant is put through the crush and then forced to carry people all day.
Risk of Injury to Humans: Elephants are unpredictable animals, and reports of them attacking their mahouts have been cropping up in the news more and more lately.
Before going to elephant tourism hotspots like Thailand and Sri Lanka, make sure no elephant rides are involved and that the organisation is ethical.
2. Petting a Lion Cub
This applies not only to lions but to cheetahs, tigers and pretty much any other wild cat you can think of. And it includes feeding them or walking with the adults. Here are some of the things these big cats go through and why you should avoid taking part in all those activities:
Animals Are Raised To Be Hunted: People from all around the world pay large sums of money (US$25,000 – $50,000) to take part in what is known as canned hunting. Unlike a safari hunt, these animals have been denied the chance of a fair chase, by having physical or mental restraints imposed upon it. It therefore almost guarantees the customer a kill: a trophy.
Mothers Are Bred Excessively: In order to keep up with the demand, mothers are forced to produce a larger amount of offspring than would normally be expected.
Separation: To get cubs used to human contact they are handled from an early age and removed from their mothers.
Captive: None of these animals will ever see the outside world. They are bred, reared and hunted in captivity.
3. Swimming with Dolphins
Advertised as an amazing stress reliever, combatting depression and helping pregnant women through pregnancies, swimming with dolphins is seen as a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity. In reality, you may actually be causing the dolphins more harm than they good they may be doing for you. Here is what some dolphins go through and why you should avoid this activity:
Captive: Dolphins are wide-ranging, social animals, that don’t cope well away from their families. Many die young during capture, transport or in enclosures.
No Escape: If a dolphin has had its fill of human contact, or if a human is hurting it, there is nowhere for it to swim away in an aquarium. This can lead to dolphins lashing out at humans, causing injury.
Stress: Captive dolphins can be seen swimming in circles or floating lifelessly on the top on the water, both indicators of stress. Stress can even lead to stomach ulcers.
Disruption of Natural Behaviours: Even swimming with wild dolphins is not risk-free. Disruption of feeding, resting and nursing behaviour has been recorded in areas where humans swim with wild dolphins.
Take another look at your bucket list; does it include activities like these? The enjoyment you may obtain from that hour of interaction will never be enough to compensate for a lifetime of mistreatment for the animals. Change these activities into volunteering with organisations like GVI, and get close to wild animals without harming them.
Posted : January 28, 2016 11:34 am
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Posted : January 28, 2016 12:35 pm
