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

Investors renew lawsuit against SeaWorld
Shareholders claim new evidence shows 'Blackfish' hurt attendance

By Mike DeForest - Investigative Reporter
Posted: 6:21 PM, June 08, 2016
Updated: 1:58 PM, June 09, 2016

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/investors-renew-lawsuit-against-seaworld

STATEMENT ON MORGAN BY RIC O’BARRY
09 JUNE, 2016

https://dolphinproject.net/blog/post/statement-on-morgan-by-ric-obarry/

National Aquarium plans to create a Dolphin Sanctuary!

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/15/science/national-aquarium-dolphin-sanctuary.html?emc=eta1&_r=0

Captive.

http://www.takepart.com/captive/whale-watching?cmpid=tp-eml-2016-06-13-Guide

Over 30 Years and Three Deaths: Tilikum’s Tragic Story

http://www.seaworldofhurt.com/features/30-years-three-deaths-tilikums-tragic-story/?utm_campaign=0616%20Tilikum%20Fathers%20Day%20Video&utm_source=PETA%20Facebook&utm_medium=Promo

See How SeaWorld's Killer Whales Can Go Home Again
Coastal sea pens would acclimate the orcas to life in the ocean.

http://www.takepart.com/video/2016/06/14/sea-pen-explainer?cmpid=tp-fb

This Horrifying Statistic Will Make You Loathe SeaWorld Even More

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/this-horrifying-statistic-will-make-you-loathe-seaworld-even-more.html#ixzz4Ck1aJCG6

SeaWorld Makes The Fourth Of July Hell For Its Orcas
By Sarah V Schweig Jun. 30, 2016

Animals often get a little freaked out by fireworks on the Fourth of July. Our dogs and cats run under our beds or jump into our laps for extra petting until the booming is over.

But for wild animals with sensitive ears, like orca whales, who are trapped in a tank when the blasts start, the displays can be very scary — and possibly harmful.

Shutterstock

"I live ten miles from SeaWorld San Diego. They have nightly fireworks shows during the summer, which freaks my dogs out every night, even this far away," one Dodo reader recently wrote in, in response to an article about orcas and noise. "I can't imagine what it's like for the animals in residence at the park. SeaWorld won't even acknowledge what the debris from the fireworks does to our bay and the animals, fish and birds they profess to care so much about."

SeaWorld writes on its website:

We have worked with independent experts in the field of bioacoustics from Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute and the National Marine Mammal Foundation to measure the ambient noise in our environments (including music, etc.). Our underwater noise levels are quieter than the ambient ocean. And those above water sounds don't transfer underwater. So, based on these studies, we are confident the sounds in our environment are not detrimental to the animal's wellbeing.
The Dodo asked scientists independent of the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, who said the fact is, SeaWorld's orcas are often forced to surface during shows and for feedings.

Shutterstock

"It is true that in-air noises like fireworks do not penetrate the air-water interface well. While the whales might be able to hear the fireworks underwater, the noise would be very muted and would probably not be very bothersome," Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist at the Animal Welfare Institute, told The Dodo. "What SeaWorld fails to address (on purpose, no doubt) is that captive orcas spend an unnatural amount of time at the surface of the water — in fact, with their head (and ears) out of the water. As a matter of standard operating procedure, the whales are taught 'stationing' behavior — to position themselves in front of their trainers, head out of the water — which is how they are fed."

Shutterstock

When the orcas are in shows, their heads are out of the water more than 90 percent of the time, Ingrid Visser, a scientist at the Orca Research Trust, told The Dodo. "SeaWorld's statement about the 'underwater' noise is not the point to dispute. It is the fact that the animals are exposed to the above water noise that is the issue."

If SeaWorld cares, as it professes, it might want to consider the concerns people have for animals.

But because SeaWorld is a for-profit entertainment corporation, the firework shows this weekend (and all summer) at SeaWorld parks across the country are sure to be a literal blast ... orcas be damned.

Update: A Dodo reader wrote in with examples of videos showing orcas being encouraged to be out of the water during firework displays at SeaWorld. Here is just one example of many:

https://www.thedodo.com/seaworld-fireworks-animals-1228886454.html

Seaquarium still confines Lolita
Delcianna Winders

Double standard created for endangered animals

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/commentary/fl-viewpoint-lolita-20160704-story.html

A Miami judge recently denied relief to Lolita, the sole orca at the Seaquarium, by creating out of whole cloth a double standard for endangered animals like Lolita who are held in captivity. As a result, Lolita will remain in the smallest orca tank in North America without the company of a single other orca.

The Endangered Species Act makes it illegal to harm, harass or wound Lolita. This broad ban includes a prohibition on significantly disrupting normal behavior patterns. Congress and the Supreme Court have stressed that it should be interpreted as broadly as possible, even to extend to seemingly harmless activities like bird watching if they might disturb the protected species.

It is beyond dispute that the Seaquarium's confinement of Lolita disrupts her normal behavior patterns.

Orcas are highly social animals who stay with their mothers for life. Lolita was ripped from her family as a baby.

She hasn't seen another orca since 1980, when her companion died after ramming his head into the tank, believed by some to be an act of suicide.

Still, Lolita reportedly continues to use vocalizations known only to her pod. When played a recording of her pod's calls, she responded and returned the calls.

Wild orcas dive hundreds of feet and travel up to 100 miles every day. The Seaquarium confines Lolita, who is 20 feet long, to a tank that is just 20 feet at its deepest and 80 feet across at its widest, making it is impossible for her to dive even a few feet or to travel any meaningful distance.

But because she is in captivity, the judge ruled that Lolita isn't entitled to the same level of protection that her wild family members are.

The decision flies in the face of the letter and the spirit of the Endangered Species Act, the most far-reaching conservation law ever enacted.

As the federal government has explained, the Endangered Species Act "does not allow captive animals to be assigned different legal status from their wild counterparts on the basis of their captive status."

But now a federal judge has gone and done exactly that, given Lolita a different legal status than her wild family members based solely on the fact that she had the misfortune to be captured.

So, while fines are issued merely for flying drones over Lolita's wild relatives, the Seaquarium has carte blanch to harm, harass and wound Lolita until she is at death's door.

But all hope is not lost. Lolita's advocates can appeal this senseless decision. She may yet have an opportunity to once again communicate with her pod and to see her mother, who is believed to still swim free.

Delcianna Winders is Harvard Law School's Animal Law & Policy Fellow.

Captive Whales Deeply Suffer Psychologically, Experts Agree
Detailed research shows they are stressed, bored, unhappy, and go mad
Posted Jul 03, 2016

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201607/captive-whales-deeply-suffer-psychologically-experts-agree

Video Showing How Captive Whales Get Hydrated Will Convince You It’s Time to Empty the Tanks!

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/video-showing-how-captive-whales-get-hydrated/

VIDEO: MORGAN SHOWS WHAT’S WRONG WITH CAPTIVITY

https://dolphinproject.net/blog/post/video-morgan-shows-whats-wrong-with-captivity/

Tilikum the Orca Is Secret Pleader in New Billboard Blitz Against SeaWorld

Tilly Appeals for Release of Marine Park Captives to Coastal Sanctuaries

For Immediate Release:
July 11, 2016

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

Orlando, Fla. – “Joel, every night I lie alone in the tub and cry” is the message to SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby on new billboards that PETA has launched as part of a series of ads visible within minutes of SeaWorld Orlando, reminding would-be visitors of the plight of Blackfish subject Tilikum and other marine mammals held captive at the facility in anguish and torment for decades. The ads will run through July 31 and are on South Orange Avenue at Zell Drive, McCoy Road near South Orange Ave, and Central Florida Parkway.

Tilikum the orca

“PETA’s billboards put Tilikum’s decades of misery and stress in a different light, allowing people to relate to how this sensitive and intelligent individual must feel as a result of being imprisoned in a tiny concrete tank,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA urges families to steer clear of SeaWorld until it builds coastal sanctuaries where the orcas can feel the ocean currents, hear their families’ calls, and have some semblance of a normal life.”

Tilikum—who was captured off the coast of Iceland in 1983 at just 2 years old—has been at SeaWorld since 1992, where for decades, he has been housed in tiny concrete tanks with aggressive, incompatible orcas who frequently leave him torn up and bloodied. He has been forced to father 21 calves—more than half of whom have died—to follow in his miserable footsteps, and a lifetime of constant deprivation and stress has driven him to kill three human beings and wear his teeth down to nubs from gnawing on metal tank bars.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—notes that in the wild, orcas form complex social relationships and swim as far as 100 miles every day. But at SeaWorld, they swim listlessly in circles in barren concrete tanks that, to them, are the size of a bathtub. Many break their teeth from gnawing on metal tank bars out of stress and are given the drug diazepam to manage aggressive, psychotic behavior. At least 26 orcas have died in U.S. SeaWorld facilities since 1986, and not one died of old age.

For more information, please visit SeaWorldOfHurt.com.

SeaWorld Entertainment (NYSE:SEAS) Insiders Look Pessimistic About Prospects

http://reviewfortune.com/2016/07/12/seaworld-entertainment-inc-nyseseas-insiders-look-pessimistic-about-prospects/

http://www.onthewildsideinitiative.com/

https://m.facebook.com/onthewildsideinitiative?refid=18&ref=m_notif&notif_t=like&_ft_=qid.6307538329716553633%3Amf_story_key.278200479203102%3Atl_objid.278200479203102

VISSER & LISKER (2016) ONGOING WELFARE CONCERNS AT LORO PARQUE

http://www.freemorgan.org/visser-lisker-2016-ongoing-welfare-concerns/

Fractured Teeth and Broken Minds – Assessing Captive Orca Welfare

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/fractured-teeth-and-broken-minds-assessing-captive-orca-welfare/

SeaWorld's Orcas Are Attacking Their Tanks — And Losing Their Teeth
By Ameena Schelling
July 9, 2016

Scroll down to article:

https://www.thedodo.com/seaworld-orcas-losing-breaking-teeth-1932433713.html

Whales Grieve for Their Young Like Human Parents
'They know something is wrong': study co-author

By Jenn Gidman, Newser Staff
Posted Jul 19, 2016 5:55 PM CDT

http://www.newser.com/story/228307/whales-grieve-for-their-young-like-human-parents.html

(NEWSER) – Whales are known for their intelligence—and now they may become known for their emotions and parental instincts, too. A study in the Journal of Mammalogy has found that at least seven species of toothed whales—including killer, sperm, and short-finned pilot whales, as well as four dolphin varieties—have been found swimming close by and touching and pushing the bodies of fellow younger whales after the demise of those latter whales, offering evidence that they mourn their young when they die, National Geographic reports. "They are in pain and stressed," says study co-author Melissa Reggente. "They know something is wrong." The findings add these marine mammals to other animal species—including elephants, giraffes, and chimps—that have been witnessed exhibiting grieving-type behavior. The scientists involved with this study examined (mostly unpublished) reports pertaining to these seven species and their apparent mourning habits in three different oceans, observed by other researchers on the open water.

One scientific expedition in the Red Sea, for example, witnessed an Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin push the corpse of a smaller dolphin through the water; another case showed a female killer whale carrying a deceased newborn whale in her mouth. The researchers noted these cases involved an adult grieving for a calf or juvenile whale and that they were probably related. While it may be tempting to say the whales were just acting out of curiosity or couldn't turn off their nurturing instincts after another whale had died, National Geographic points out that following a dead whale like this can put the living whale in peril because it's not eating or maintaining social relationships with other whales the way it should. Instead, researchers say, the study lends credence to the fact that "adults mourning their dead young is a common and globally widespread behavior in long-lived and highly sociable/cohesive species of mammals." (Sperm whales can also use their heads as battering rams.)

SEAWORLD SHAMED AS #1 WORST AQUARIUM
10 Worst Tanks for Dolphins and Whales Announced

IMAGES: http://bit.ly/2agAOAa

CONTACT: Toni Frohoff, Ph.D., toni@idausa.org, (805) 836-0496

San Rafael, CA (July 20, 2016) – International animal protection organization, In Defense of Animals, today released its list of the Ten Worst Tanks for Dolphins and Whales in North America, with the #1 spot shaming SeaWorld as the “most disappointing”.

The Ten Worst Tanks list exposes and represents the misery and suffering of some of the oceans’ most intelligent and complex mammals in captivity. Whales and dolphins are subject to astonishing rates of premature death, captivity-related injuries, forced removal of babies from mothers, and solitary isolation. Many are confined to swimming endless circles in cramped tanks, deprived of healthy social groups, and forced to endure invasive reproduction techniques, polluted water, dangerous transport, and brutal exploitation of their sociable natures through “swim” and “petting” programs.

The list was selected from over 60 facilities from southern Canada to Mexico where almost 1,000 whales and dolphins are held captive for public display.

“These ten aquariums really plumb the depths in their exploitation of intelligent and sensitive animals,” said In Defense of Animals President, Dr. Marilyn Kroplick. “Even with the most modern technology, veterinary care, and infrastructure, cetaceans still suffer intensely in captivity and exhibit surprisingly high mortality rates. Please help protect dolphins and whales in the wild where they belong, by pledging to never visit facilities that imprison them.”

SeaWorld’s Shame

SeaWorld recently announced it would end its orca breeding and performances, but the statement lacks the depth of change the orcas and dolphins deserve. Instead of rethinking the public’s growing distaste for exploiting imprisoned animals, SeaWorld is now developing a “swim with dolphins” attraction in San Antonio that is slated to open this fall.

“Beneath the glitz, glamour, and dolphins’ permanently fixed ‘smiles’ is a world of pain and suffering in these brilliant and complex mammals of the sea”, stated Toni Frohoff, Ph.D., Cetacean Scientist for In Defense of Animals. She said, “SeaWorld and other aquariums deprive whales and dolphins of the lives they’ve adapted to live for millions of years in the wild, and steal from them what we value most; freedom and family.”

Despite claims of having “the highest-quality care based on the latest advances in marine veterinary medicine”, a disturbing number of cetaceans are dying at SeaWorld, decades earlier than their natural life expectancy. Six young cetaceans died prematurely at SeaWorld facilities in 2015; teenage orca Unna, two baby beluga whales, and three young dolphins. Tilikum, the tormented orca featured in revolutionary film Blackfish, is ailing and may be next.

Behind SeaWorld’s announcement about phasing out orca breeding was a ruling from the California Coastal Commission that restricted the company’s ability to breed orcas in San Diego. SeaWorld quickly threw away the key for the remaining 28 orcas in its concrete prisons with an impudent declaration that the animals would never see or feel the natural seawater of a seaside sanctuary where they could retire in peace.

10 WORST TANKS:

1. SeaWorld, San Antonio, Texas; San Diego, California; Orlando, Florida

2. Marineland, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

3. Puerto Aventuras Dolphin Discovery, Mayan Riviera, Quinta Roo, Mexico

4. Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta, Georgia

5. Miami Seaquarium, Miami, Florida

6. Six Flags Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico

7. Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, Gulfport, Mississippi and Unnamed new facility planned by same owner also in Gulfport, Mississippi

8. Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada

9. Vancouver Aquarium, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

10. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago, Illinois

Dishonorable Mention:

Dophinaris, Scottsdale, Arizona

Honorable Mention:

National Aquarium, Baltimore, Maryland

### NOTES ###

The Ten Worst Tanks list was produced over the past year by multiple cetacean experts and scientists to represent the myriad horrors faced by cetaceans in captivity. Facilities were examined and investigated in-person; through review of government records, veterinary records, and death reports; and via image and data documentation.

In Defense of Animals also produces the respected Ten Worst Zoos for Elephants List, now in its twelfth year: http://www.idausa.org/2015tenworstzoos

For more information please visit: www.idausa.org/10WorstTanks

### ENDS ###

In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization located in San Rafael, Calif. dedicated to protecting animals’ rights, welfare, and habitats through education, outreach, and our hands-on rescue facilities in India, Africa, and rural Mississippi.

IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS • 3010 KERNER BLVD. • SAN RAFAEL, CA 94901 • 415-448-0048

“Carpe Diem” (Short Version) by Nino Del Duca

https://vimeo.com/86310643

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CWg3wA1FloI

"Voiceless" - A Blue Freedom Film - Official Documentary 2016

The Most Disturbing Things Insiders Have Seen at SeaWorld

Profile photo of kjohnson
Posted July 18, 2016 by Kim Johnson

SeaWorld is a terrible place—but don’t take our word for it. Check out some of the most disturbing things insiders have seen at SeaWorld parks:

http://www.peta2.com/blog/seaworld-insiders/

Killer whale miscarriages linked to low food supply

New techniques for studying orcas have been credited with breakthroughs in reproductive and developmental research. Drones and dogs are helping scientists connect declines in food supply with low birth rates and poor health.

https://www.eopugetsound.org/magazine/orca-miscarriages

Why We Can’t Give Up Fighting to Empty the Tanks

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/we-cant-give-up-fighting-to-empty-the-tanks/