Efforts to Rescue Lolita the Orca from Miami

Read the rest of the article in the Courthouse News Service....

Animal-rights activists claim an orca is being held in an "inadequate tank" in the Miami Seaquarium. They sued the National Marine Fisheries Service for excluding captive killer whales from listing under the Endangered Species Act.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund, People for the Ethical Treatment of Individuals and three individuals challenge the NMFS decision "to exclude from the listing of the Southern Resident killer whale population all captive members of that population and their progeny."

The federal complaint focuses on a whale named Lolita, who was captured more than 40 years ago, and has been held at the Miami Seaquarium. The activists claim Lolita is being "kept in an inadequate tank, without companions of her own species or adequate protection from the sun."

Dutch Whale Denied Freedom; Must Go to Spanish Amusement Park

Unfortunate, but the court decided she would not survive being returned to the wild.

Here's an excerpt from the online Boston Globe...

Morgan, a 4-year-old killer whale, has lost her bid for freedom

Agriculture Secretary Henk Bleker ruled Wednesday that the orca, rescued last year ailing and emaciated from the Wadden Sea off the northern Dutch coast, should be transferred to an amusement park on the Spanish island of Tenerife.

A Dutch court had suspended the government's export permit after an animal rights coalition presented a plan to release her to the wild in stages. A judge ordered the coalition, the Agriculture Ministry and the Harderwijk Dolphinarium, which put her ondisplay after nursing her back to health, to review the scientific evidence and work out a solution.

Bleker said after hearing arguments from both sides that Morgan's chances of survival were too slim if she were freed.

"This feels like a defeat because an animal like this really belongs in the sea and not a zoo," Bleker said in a statement. "Morgan belongs in the wild, but not at all costs."

In Defense of Animals Decries Another Captive Orca Death

Taima, a 20-year-old orca at Sea World died Sunday while giving birth to her stillborn calf. In Defense of Animals is calling for the the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to create regulations to prohibit captive breeding and phase out the public display of orcas.

I wish them luck.

PETA Testimony to US Congress On Marine Animal Captivity

Here is a link to PETA's testimony submitted to the US Congress regarding marine animals in captivity. There was a hearing held this past Tuesday.

Congressional Hearing on Marine Animal Captivity

The hearing was held today (Tuesday.)

Congressional Hearing on Sea World Incident

So, remember the incident in which an orca whale attacked and killed its trainer at Sea World? Now there's going to be a Congressional hearing this week about it. I sincerely hope this leads to a change in law regarding animals in captivity. At a minimum, they should stop the captivity of orca whales.

We'll see. It may just be more Congressional hot air.

Celebrities Joining in Campaign Against Marine Animal Captivity

This article claims that Raul Julia's son is recruiting celebrities to help end the captivity of marine animals. Supposedly these celebrities include actors Johnny Depp and Wesley Snipes, singer Elton John and rapper RZA.

I'm sorry, but considering Wesley Snipes' serious tax problems, is he a help for the cause? But I would be thrilled if Johnny Depp signed on. He's one of my favorite actors.

Orcas Have Some Pretty Big Brains

They have the second largest brains of all marine mammals. That's pretty impressive and demands a deeply introspective review of how we treat them.

South Carolina Only State that Bans Capturing Marine Mammals for Display

The law has been around since 1962 and it's the legacy of an albino dolphin named Snowball.

Animals Should Kept in the Wild

Nice argument for animals to be kept in the wild, not in captivity. It's from a Malaysian news site.

PETA Attacks Jack Hanna

Sea World has hired him to defend the use of captive whales. PETA calls him an animal pimp "entertainer." You can read some pretty strong words from PETA here.

Orca Whale Article Appears in Salon

Informative article with one expert saying captivity can drive orcas insane.

I'm not surprised. They are used to miles and miles of ocean. The argument that they have "plenty of room" has been made about elephants too. In fact, the animal research supporter in my book club said that very same thing.

(By the way, she works for a company that does clinical testing for drug companies. Animals are commodities for her. So why should I be surprised at her elephant comment?)

Free those Orcas!

There is NO REASON to keep orcas in captivity. It's simply for human entertainment. That generally means money for someone. That is NOT a sufficient reason to do so.

Animals were not put on this planet for your kids or your wallets.

According to this article, there is a lot of organized outcry following the trainer death at Sea World.

SeaWorld Upset by Dophin Slaughter Film "The Cove"

It is not a favorable portrayal. They are basically portrayed as benefiting from the horrific hunting and capture of dolphins in Japan.

"The Cove" Continues to Disturb

We posted about this film a while ago, but it is still inspiring news coverage. Clearly, it is disturbing enough to provoke some real discussions about the ethics of dolphins in amusement parks.

Whenever I read about dolphins in places like Sea World, I think of an ex-co-worker named Gretchen who admitted she had "issues" with animals. However, she really liked dolphins because she thought they were so cute in their shows. She actually told me that they looked like they were enjoying themselves. (I'm sure Anna Paquin would agree...check out the picture on the story.)

How I wish she could watch this film. I haven't and probably won't because it would disturb me too much (this blog serves that purpose already), but then again, I'm already convinced.

From MSNBC....

The affecting cloak-and-dagger documentary “The Cove,” which documents a brutal dolphin hunt off the Japanese town of Taiji, is putting would-be amusement park visitors in an ethical bind and park owners on the defensive.

The film’s protagonist, Ric O’Barry, who trained the animals that played TV’s Flipper before he had a change of heart, indicts businesses like Sea World as being either overtly or tacitly complicit in the cruelty. “The captivity industry keeps the slaughter going,” O’Barry charges in movie. If he has his way, the gruesome images of bloody dolphins will keep you from buying a ticket to a marine park, or stepping into a pool of one of those “dolphin encounters” at a tropical resort.

Park owners, on the other hand, are crying foul, insisting they have nothing to do with dolphin slaughter and that buying a ticket helps support valuable education and environmental work.

....Long notorious for its brutality, the Taiji slaughter is a so-called “drive hunt,” during which fishermen in a string of boats use clanging sounds to herd dolphins into small coves. Once penned, some dolphins are picked out by dolphin trainers and animal brokers for purchase and transport to amusement parks and resorts. The rest are killed with spears, knives and clubs in an orgy of cruelty. As the film graphically shows, the sea water churns into a bloody froth. The cries of the dolphins are pathetic.

Canadian Group Wants to Free Captive Porpoise

The Vancouver-based animal rights group Lifeforce wants the Vancouver Aquarium to free Daisy the porpoise.

Here is a video from the group.

House Bill to Prevent Primates as Pets

No! Ya think?

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall (D-WV) announced that, at his request, the House of Representatives will consider on Monday, February 23, the Captive Primate Safety Act (H.R. 80). Consideration of the needed legislation comes just one week after a woman was critically injured in a vicious chimpanzee attack in Stamford, Connecticut - leaving no doubt that the danger of nonhuman primates in homes and to communities must be addressed.

Keeping primates as pets threatens public health and safety, as well as the welfare of the animals. The legislation is a proactive federal response that would amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to prohibit individuals from buying or transporting primates across state lines as pets. While the bill does not prohibit possession of chimpanzees and other primates, it would serve as a needed complement to state laws outlawing primates as pets and to federal health regulations banning the import of these animals into the country. H.R. 80 would not affect the transportation of animals for zoos and licensed research facilities.

The Captive Primate Safety Act is bipartisan legislation introduced by Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Mark Kirk (R-IL), along with 17 other co-sponsors.

Guy Who Trained Flipper Protests Dolphin Slaughter

I just read this story today.

The moment Flipper died in his arms, Richard O’Barry was transformed from a dolphin trainer into an activist determined to free captive dolphins around the world.

That was 39 years ago. Today, the man who trained Flipper for the popular 1960s TV series is crusading against the slaughter of dolphins in Japan, captured by hidden cameras in a chilling documentary called “The Cove” that’s being shown at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

And here's a little snippet for Gretchen, the animal hater at work, who wears everything having to do with dolphins, but believes we pay too much attention to animals. She believes dolphins have "fun" doing shows.

Well, that's not true, b&*@.

O’Barry has been on a dolphin-protection crusade since the day in 1970 that Kathy, one of the dolphins that played Flipper, died in a steel tank at the Miami Seaquarium while he was holding her. O’Barry is convinced that Kathy was sick and depressed from being held in captivity and forced to do tricks for the TV show.

“Dolphins are extremely intelligent and they get bored to death when they have to do the same things over and over,” he said. “They have larger brains than their trainers and they’ve been around a lot longer than we have.”

Study Shows Shorter Life Spans for Zoo Elephants

Do elephants born outside of captivity live longer? The results of this study are pretty clear...and pretty controversial.

Elephants born in European zoos die at much younger ages than those bred in protected spaces, says a new study that's adding fuel to an already fractious debate over the welfare of the animals in captivity.

The research, to be published Friday in the journal Science, found that endangered Asian elephants born in zoos had a mortality rate two times higher than those born in parks or working in the logging industry.

....Animal rights groups argue that the size of the enclosures - usually less than a square kilometre, {report co-writer Georgia} Mason said - severely restricts the movement of animals that would travel thousands of kilometres annually in the wild.

They say that leads to obesity, atrophied muscles and cardiovascular problems, while the wet concrete they stand on can cause foot disease and lameness, which {Suzanne} Roy {of In Defense of Animals} said is the leading cause of euthanasia.

But zoo supporters dismiss the claims outright, arguing that competing studies have shown that captive elephants have life spans similar to those of animals living in the wild.

Steve Feldman of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums questioned the credibility of the Science report because it used data from 1960 when zoo husbandry practices were considered sub-standard. And it didn't include data on poaching, a major threat to wild elephant populations.

Knut the Bear Is Growing Up

Poor Knut, the young polar bear at the Berlin Zoo. He's not so tiny and cute anymore. And he's not getting the attention from zoo visitors that he's learned to enjoy.

Here's an update on his development. The old worries about the effects of being raised by humans have resurfaced.

But times change, cubs grow up and those experts may have been on to something after all. “With Knut, it’s clear that he has imprinted on humans, and when neither his keeper nor visitors are there he cries out,” said Thomas Pietsch, a biologist and expert on wild animals for the animal-welfare group Four Paws in Germany. Peter H. Arras, a zoologist and animal-protection advocate put it more succinctly: “He’s a psychopath addicted to human attention.”

That attention has fallen off significantly. Knut is now too large and too strong to play with Mr. Dörflein. And the largest crowds of spectators have moved south. In the Bavarian city of Nuremberg, a new young cub named Flocke, or Snowflake, claimed the crown of cuteness when she was introduced to the public earlier this month. A third cub in Stuttgart, named Wilbär, is being brought up the old-fashioned way, by his mother.

There are legitimate concerns (except for the newspaper that worried he may be gay. Oh, and the charge that he "senselessly murdered live carp - he is a BEAR, ya know.) But I still don't agree with those who thought he was better off dead.

Photo by davidoo750.