Your Weekly Dolphin Outlook!

Is There Hope for Taiji’s Dolphins? What We’ve Learned From This Year in The CoveMiami Dolphins Sever Business Partnership With SeaWorld and Help Complete Born Free Documentary

Protect the Ocean. Help to complete the film Born Free about the dolphins and whales in captivity.

“This film has the potential to do for Russia what "Blackfish" has done for the United States. It can open the eyes of the public to the suffering that goes on behind the scenes at dolphinariums."                                                                                      

Dr. Naomi Rose, Marine Mammal Scientist, Animal Welfare Institute

"I am very much looking forward to the release of the film “Born Free”.  The film itself will take a monumental step to change the way how people view  dolphins and beluga whales in captivity. " 

Dr. Samuel Hung, Chairman of Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society

The StoryIn 2013 the export of 18 beluga whales to USA from Russia was banned. Initially they were caught to be sold and exported to Georgia Aquarium. We learned about this by reading actress Kim Basinger's open letter to President Putin in the media reports where she begged him to set those beluga whales free. We rejoiced at the fact that such a ban was made possible. But realizing that belugas' journey in Russia still not over we made up our mind to find them. They have been kept at the Utrishskaya marine station  at the Black Sea (Russia). The moment we managed to see big white whales in small tanks we were astounded. Nowadays the belugas are still imprisoned there unseen by the public eye behind a tall fence. Their owner still hopes to sell them to the USA and pinning his hopes on a court of justice.


https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/born-free-documentary
Yet, our film dwells not solely on this story that has not seen its ending so far. It is only a tiny piece of a giant puzzle called industry of cetaceans in captivity. A while ago it was reported that two orcas had remained hidden in old rusty tanks in Moscow. Doomed to a complete isolation, crammed into an extremely narrow space, the animals have been waiting there for more than a year for an oceanarium to be inaugurated. Now there are already three of them, the third one been brought there, as well.

In course of our investigation we were confronted with the seamy side of this infamous business which involves a great deal of agents, money and animals' suffering. We learned that Russia now is the only country where wild belugas and orcas are captured and sold to oceanariums around the world. We found that the mortality rate in course of  beluga captures may reach up to 50 percent. It would mean 50 deaths per 100 of  animals retrieved from the ocean. This is the price for the beluga whales shows people attend in oceanariums in the USA, Canada, China and other countries. As for the orcas, the price of one  whale sold to China makes up approximately 10 mln USD, and usually several of them are sold at once. Each year the animals are captured in ever increasing numbers. 
Our film is not in the slightest aimed against any certain person  and no one can accuse us of evoking bias or acting out of venality. Our mission is to reveal the truth about the industry of dolphinaria to a broader public, to show the way captures and transportations are carried out, to share the opinion of prominent experts in the field who will specify what captivity means for dolphins.
Above all, we intend to celebrate free dolphins and beluga whales in the wild. Indeed, our film is dedicated to freedom. 
The Reasons For Our Commitment
Our director and producer Gayane Petrosyan is a professional documentary filmmaker. There is a bunch of cinema profs engaged in the Born Free production. However, what constitutes a significant part of our lives is that we are freedivers. We swim and dive with free dolphins and other cetaceans in their natural  environment and are blessed to see them happy and free in the Ocean. We dare say they are not inferior to humans intellectually, perhaps, even superior, in some respect. Apart from the horrors of dolphinaria we want to stress the contrast which needs no comments – dolphins in captivity and those living free. This contrast is the best argument in favour of freedom.
Only Facts...
Chlorine and other disinfectants contained in water cause damage to dolphins' skin and eyes. 
In the wild dolphins cover a distance of 150 km a day on average and dive at a depth of about 100 m. Compare these numbers to the size of dolphinarium tanks these animals are kept in.
Sound waves by means of which dolphins orient themselves and communicate get reflected from the tank's walls which may inflict upon the animals a considerable physical pain
Dolphins are often believed to smile in captivity and to willingly perform tricks. In fact, in so doing they merely earn food. Whereas what we misread as a smile is nothing but a design feature of their facial muscles. Eventually dolphins suffer from a depression in captivity. Sometimes they even commit suicide.
As social and highly intelligent creatures dolphins display strong familial bonds. In captivity they are separated from their families and mates and placed in an environment deeply alien to them. Once and for  ever. This is equal to a life sentence.
The Current Stage We Are In
We started to work on this documentary 18 months ago. Since then a lot of  footage has been acquired, plenty of expeditions and visits to dolphinaria accomplished, interviews with experts recorded. The production was funded at our own expense along with a generous help of our friends, dolphin-fans. But now we rely on your support to be able to complete the project. There is a small step to be done, we are standing nearly at the finish point. Yet, in order to provide a high-quality postproduction, share a movie reaching out to people's hearts, and launch a website which would efficiently promote the project and attract public interest, we need your financial support.
Our Goals
- Urge people to refuse from attending the shows featuring marine mammals in order not to reward this cruel industry
- Change public perception of oceanaria so that the latter would subsequently turn into an ugly anachronism
- Propose a humane alternative to how one can interact with dolphins and whales without any violence applied whatsoever
What Happens Next?
We do hope that  our film - Born Free, is going to initiate Russia-based project targeted at preserving cetaceans from captivity. The “Born Free” our first step, we believe more stories of the kind have to be told to change the attitude of the public in Russia and worldwide on the cetaceans in captivity and animal trade. There is more to be uncovered and told to the world and we are committed to continue our investigation and the story.
What We Need Your Donations For
We kindly ask you to help us complete the film “Born Free” so that we  can broadcast it and tell the truth about the live captures of dolphins and dolphinaria in Russia as soon as possible. At the moment we are short of 30 000 USD to cover following costs:
- postproduction: editing, montage, colour adjustment, music, and sound design altogether, graphics
- “Born Free” website
A high-quality postproduction is first and foremost of crucial importance to us, since filming was often performed under difficult circumstances, in locations where cameras are only reluctantly welcome, to say the least. At times this resulted in a more or less poor video quality which should be enhanced.
If The Funds Raised Are Insufficient, Will The Project Be Completed?
We strongly believe in the importance of this  documentary and intend to complete it either way, that is why each penny donated turns out to be vital. However, this would inevitably mean a slower progress that we have not initially taken into account. A high-quality film reaching out to the viewers' hearts and emotions cannot be managed for a song. 
If The Funds Raised Exceed The Declared Amount
Brilliant, because in this case the money would be directed to promote and distribute the film: advertising, participation in festivals, DVD production, receipt of distribution certificate, production of copies for cinemas – everything that would contribute to spreading the film around the globe. You can be assured that every dollar you share is going to be used exclusively to sponsor the project Born Free and ultimately lower the profit of oceanaria offering shows which involve dolphins and whales.
Our Team
Producer, director and writer  Gayane Petrosyan is an award-winning documentalist, author of more than 20 documentaries, chief executive of Baikal Cinema studios. Gayane's core activity includes films dealing with social problematic, environmental conservation and a harmonious cohabitation of humans with nature. She cooperates with the United Nations and IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare). She is a full member of the Russian Geographical Society.
„I am sure that a straightforward movie about dolphinaria and oceanaria is even more indispensable for humans, than for dolphins. A society which incessantly cultivates a human's right to deprive other rational beings of their freedom for the mere sake of the former's whims and entertainment under no circumstances can be defined healthy and advocating humanitarian values. It may be slightly immodest to say so about the film you are working on, but still I do believe that such films as Born Free give us a chance to become better“.
Tatyana Beley and Yulia Petrik are co-authors  and camera operators of movie, authors and participants of underwater shootings. And they are genuine mermaids boasting a unique experience of socialising and interacting with free dolphins and whales in various seas and oceans. 
Yulia Petrik is the first Russia's champion in freediving, prize winner of international competitions, Master Instructor and international judge of International Association of Development of Freediving, yoga instructor of the International Yoga Federation (IYF), founder and Director of the first Freediving School in Russia,  and underwater filmmaker, shooting  in freediving mode. She made journeys to more than 50 countries in course of a unique „collection“ of seas and isles in the waters of all four oceans from the Polar circle down to the southern tropics. 
Tatyana Beley is also the author of idea and the creative producer of our film. She is an anchorperson and broadcast author of the Russian television, song writer and singer, freediving instructor and underwater filmmaker, shooting  in freediving mode. Tatyana  loves and trust the sea to such a great extent that even her small daughter was born right in the ocean last year.
*** Please, share our campaign-page where you can. Thank you very much for your support! 
Find This Campaign On
Meet The Team
The beginning of a new year is a good time to take a broader look at the progress of the notorious annual dolphin slaughters taking place in Taiji, Japan. As depicted in the Academy Award-winning documentaryThe Cove, the hunts have generated worldwide controversy and condemnation, but continue just the same.
The Cove came out in 2009, and many people are surprised and upset that the dolphin slaughter continues, despite the publicity surrounding The Cove. But there have been changes, some major.
When Earth Island Institute began our Save Japan Dolphins Campaign in 2004, about 1,600 dolphins were killed in Taiji that year. Last season (Sept. 2013 to Feb. 2014), about 835 dolphins were killed. Our contacts within Taiji tell us the reason for the decline is that the market for dolphin meat has also been in decline. The hunters are killing fewer dolphins because they cannot sell the meat. We believe our efforts in Japan, along with that of other organizations, to educate the Japanese people about the dangers of high levels of mercury and PCBs found in dolphin meat has helped trigger this market decline. We are making progress.
Taiji

Trade in Live Dolphins

On the other hand, the trade in live dolphins has increased substantially in recent years. A live trained dolphin on the international market can bring as much as $155,000 USD or more. Most such live dolphins, which are caught in Taiji by the dolphin hunters alongside the captivity industry representatives, are going to dolphinariums in Japan (which has more than 100 facilities with live dolphins), China (where aquariums with dolphins are a major tourist attraction), and the Middle East. As a dead dolphin may bring around $500-$600US when sold for meat on the market, it is clear that the international captivity industry is subsidizing these terrible hunts.
The gruesome hunts begin on September 1st each year, and can go through March, although they usually end earlier (again, due to lack of demand) around the end of February.

The current hunt season, then, is more than half over. What is the trend this year, compared to last year?

The total kill of dolphins in Taiji from Sept. to Dec. 2014 was 367, (although at least 20 more have been killed in January so far). These numbers are running about the same as last year at this time. Last season (2013-2014) was the lowest year of dolphin kills we have seen at only 835 dolphins killed for the whole season. However, there are still two months to go in the current season (2014-2015), and the Taiji hunters show no signs of giving up the chase. If they come across one or two large pods of dolphins in the next two months, they can easily make up for their annual quota, which this year totals 1,938 dolphins, issued by the rapacious Japan Fisheries Agency.
Obviously, the quotas also do not include those dolphins that may be injured or lost during the chase and during release, so the number of dolphins dying is clearly much higher than the numbers posted by the Japan Fisheries Agency. This “cryptic kill” is not counted against the quotas.
Another reason for the release of dolphins is that Taiji is having trouble selling dolphin meat, due to consumer concerns with mercury. Sources in Taiji have told us that the market for dolphin meat continues to be poor, so rather than fill up their limited freezer units space with dolphin meat that cannot be sold, the dolphin hunters release the dolphins.
This season the dolphin hunters have not caught as many dolphins as last season for a life in captivitySo far, about 33 dolphins have been caught, versus 68 caught last year at this time. This may again be due to the fact that they already have saturated the market for live dolphins. Another explanation is that this year fewer pods of bottlenose dolphins have been caught by the Taiji hunters. This is the species most sought after by the global captive industry.
Seventeen spotted dolphins have reportedly been caught this season for captivity, but this species does very poorly in captivity relative to bottlenose and other dolphins. The dolphin hunters may have a special order for this species, but likely they just caught them because they have caught so few bottlenose dolphins. Many of the spotted dolphins will likely die in Taiji before they even get to an aquarium somewhere else.

Is There an End in Sight?

Will the dolphin hunts end? We believe so, as more and more Japanese consumers learn about the dangers of eating dolphin meat, and as the older generation of Japanese who still eat whale and dolphin meat pass on. Younger generations are not interested in eating whale and dolphin meat, preferring other foods. International pressure on the Japanese government has not yeilded many positive results – the government Fisheries Agency is an entity on its own, having tremendous political power and feeding off its own revenue sources. The U.S. government in particular, while giving lip service to supporting an end to whale and dolphin hunts, has not taken any significant action against their ally Japan.
The real villain of Taiji is the captivity industry. By subsidizing the hunts in paying the hunters huge rewards for the capture of a handful of show dolphins, the industry supports the slaughter of the balance. The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums has a policy stating opposition to takingdolphins from drive hunts such as those in Taiji, but it is simply ignored by the industry as a whole.Don’t feel good about it – it is a scam. It is time for the industry to stand up to the dolphinariums in their midst, that have created an insatiable monster destroying the very animals they claim to “love” and conserve.
Other countries are starting to take their own actions. Many have banned dolphinariums altogether. The government of India, through the work of Earth Island working with local NGOs, has gone a step further, not only banning dolphinariums but also further declaring that dolphins are “nonhuman persons” that deserve their own rights to exist.
Japan and the United States must do the same.
Cove Report Graphic by Helena González.
This article was written in collaboration with Laura Bridgeman.
The authors wish to thank Ceta-Base.org for many of the statistics used here from Taiji, which are collected from reports by Sea Shepherd’s Cove Guardians.
Lead image source: D Mangus/Flickr

Miami Dolphins Sever Business Partnership With SeaWorld

10245646.87.jpg
Photo by George Martinez
Protesters at the March for Lolita in Miami.
The Miami Dolphins finally did something right, it would seem.
After a three-year relationship with SeaWorld, the Dolphins are ending their marketing partnership with the theme park. For SeaWorld, it's yet another company that has broken ties. Southwest Airlines, Virgin America, STA Travel, Hyndai, and Taco Bell have all distanced themselves.
Just last year, animal rights groups were calling the Dolphins out for promoting SeaWorld as a way to entice people to become season ticket holders.

The Dolphins presented the opportunity to get certain perks for people who became season ticket holders. They offered a myriad of package deals, including yacht parties and discounts to restaurants; those who bought a suite/club level package were sent to Orlando to SeaWorld.
Back then, the Dolphins' chief revenue officer, Jeremy Walls, likened the season ticket perks to being "part of a country club, a church, or a high-end gym membership."
It was all part of an ambitious marketing partnership with SeaWorld that began in 2012 and was originally promoted with a photo of star defensive end Jason Taylor and his family in wetsuits posing inside what looks like a dolphin-petting pen.
The ending of the relationship was announced by SeaWorld on Thursday in a statement that tried to sound as pragmatic as possible, without bringing up the fact that other companies have severed ties also.
"Due to shifting business priorities of both companies, a new [partnership] will not be created," SeaWorld spokeswoman Becca Bides said in an email. "The Dolphins were great partners, and we wish them well this offseason."
The Dolphins themselves have not commented on why the partnership is ending, but it's possible they're moving on in part for the same reasons companies like Southwest Airlines have: the backlash from customers who are demanding SeaWorld end their cruel captivity practices.
SeaWorld has spent the better part of a year trying to plow through mounting public criticism, plummeting stock, and corporate sponsors abandoning them, all due to the public awareness of its captive orcas brought upon by the popular documentary Blackfish, a film that depicts the cruelty and dangers of keeping killer whales in captivity.
Last April, SeaWorld reported 3.05 million people went through its parks' gates in the first three months of 2014, which was a 13 percent drop in attendance compared to the corresponding period in 2013.
In December, CEO Jim Atchison announced that he's stepping down this year. The company followed that announcement by saying it was cutting jobs to save $50 million a year.
Also in the past year, popular music acts, from Willie Nelson to the Bare Naked Ladies, canceled scheduled gigs at a SeaWorld music festival.
Send your story tips to the author, Chris Joseph.

Follow Chris Joseph on Twitter