Key Biscayne, Fla. — This morning, a coalition including the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), PETA, Orca Network, and Orca Network director Howard Garrett hit the Miami Seaquarium with a lawsuit contending that the facility’s imprisonment of suffering orca Lolita—currently held without the company of any others of her kind in a cramped tank with no protection from the harsh sun—constitutes a violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Under the protection of the ESA—which Lolita was granted following a successful petition from the coalition—her imprisonment and forced performances constitute an unlawful “take,” meaning that she is being harmed, harassed, or wounded.
“Lolita is protected by the Endangered Species Act and deserves to live a life free of harassment, in which she can engage in natural behaviors,” said Stephen Wells, ALDF Executive Director. “We will continue to fight to win her protections under the law.”
“Decades of abuse, miserable confinement, and chronic deprivation have cost Lolita everything natural and important to her,” says PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel Delcianna Winders. “PETA is taking action now to ensure that the Miami Seaquarium is held accountable for her suffering, and we will continue to push for her relocation to a seaside sanctuary.”
Since 1970, Lolita has been unable to swim more than a few yards of the 100 miles a day she might cover in the wild. Lolita’s tiny tank offers no protection from the sun—which, according to a former caretaker, has caused her skin to crack and bleed. PETA, ALDF, Orca Network, and countless concerned advocates have pushed for years for Lolita to be retired from performing and transferred to a seaside sanctuary that’s waiting for her in her home waters off Washington’s San Juan Islands, where she could interact with her family pod. In the wild, Southern Resident orcas often spend their entire lives with their mothers. Lolita appeared to recognize her pod’s calls decades after being captured, and the orca believed to be her mother—who’s estimated to be about 86 years old—is still thriving.
When it comes to news about orca whales, more often than not, the headlines detail thesuffering of these animals in captivity. We know that orca whales are incredibly dynamic, emotional creatures and yet, we continue to hold these animals captive in tanks the size of fishbowls for the sake of our own entertainment. For this reason, most of the stories we hear involving orcas and humans involve people abusing or exploiting these majestic animals, this story, however, demonstrates the exact opposite.
A female orca whale became stranded on the rocks at Whale Point in British Columbia, Canada, after the tide went out and was completely unable to get herself back into the water. Thankfully, a team of whale researchers from Cetacean Lab were notified and set out to lend a hand.
The orca was clearly in distress and cried out in agony. ”We decided the best thing to do would be to keep her cool, that meant to put water on her body and we used blankets and sheets,” said Hermann Meuter, a co-founder of Cetacean Lab, in an interview with CBCNews.Trying to move the whale was out of the question given her weight and the jagged rocky surface. The team realized they would have to wait for the tide to come back in if they had a chance at releasing her back into the water without further injury.
At first, the orca was extremely agitated by the presence of the rescue team. Meuter recounts, “you could see that her breathing was getting a little faster.” But in time, she came to understand that the people were there to help her and she calmed down. To help keep her wet and cool, the team covered her with soaked blankets and rigged a makeshift water pump to keep a steady stream of water on her for a total of six hours!
Despite the length of time ahead before the tide returned, the rescue team happily stayed in their place, ensuring that the orca was comfortable. Finally, around the 4 pm in the afternoon, the water level reached the rocks and the whale began to inch her way back into the shallow waters. ”It took her about 45 minutes to negotiate how best to get off the rocks,” saidMeuter. “We all just kept our distance at that point.”When she was finally submerged, the team breathed a much-anticipated sigh of relief. “We all cared about this whale and we were just very lucky to give that whale another chance,” said Meuter.
The incredible care and respect that this team showed to the needy whale is an example that we could all stand to learn from. All animals deserve to be treated as individuals worthy of a life free from harm and exploitation at the hands of people. We are so glad that this orca was able to return to the wild and live the life she was born to lead.
3 Traumatic Experiences Captive Orcas Know All Too Well.
Efforts to prevent the live capture of marine animals date back to 1972 when the Marine Mammal Protection Act was passed to protect wild marine mammals from forced into captivity. By 1976, Washington became the first state to prohibit the capture of orcas from their waters. While the legislation and bans in place showed progress and change in the public’s perception of marine mammal captivity, specifically of orcas, dozens had already been captured and sent to marine mammal parks around the world, including SeaWorld and Miami Seaquarium.
Since the release of the documentary Blackfish in 2013, marine mammal facilities have taken a hit as the public, for the first time since protests in the 70s, question the captivity of orcas. Although much of the information in Blackfish wasn’t new to the scientific community, it brought global attention to captivity and just how detrimental it is on the physical and psychological well-being of orcas.
SeaWorld, the self appointed pioneer and leader in marine mammal captivity, will never be able to recreate the orcas natural environment. Captivity of orcas leads to a number of stereotypic behaviors that marine parks attempt to sweep under the rug through the use ofpsychoactive drugs. While marine parks can try to mask the suffering of the animals they hold captive, as conscious consumers, it is up to us to continue to question these facilities who profit off of showcasing animals. When we look at how life in the wild compares to that in captivity, the answers are rather clear. These are just a few of the traumatic experiences captive orcas have had to endure, but they illustrate the greater sacrifices that these animals have to suffer for the sake of entertainment.
1. Being Captured From the WildIn the documentary Blackfish, footage of orca captures and first-hand accounts by fishermen who were involved in the captures exposes a past SeaWorld tried desperately for years to keep under wraps. The footage shows the fishermen corraling a pod of orca into a bay and using explosives and nets to separate the babies from their parents in order to capture them. The struggle between the humans and the whales was traumatic to say the least. Many orcas were injured or killed in the process of capture and the sounds of sheer terror and sadness emitted from the whales are enough to break your heart on the spot. While the footage of orca captures is depressing, it only further corroborates what we’ve known for years: the bonds that form between members of orca pods are incredibly intimate and unique and to separate them from one another is cruel.
In the wild orcas live in pods consisting of kin from a number of generations. Lead by the oldest living female the family dynamic present in orca pods is comparable to that of a close knit family, perhaps even more so.
Today, SeaWorld holds 22 orcas in its three parks in the United States. Five of the orcas still living at the parks were captured from the wild when they were young. While SeaWorld no longer participates in live capture, the traumatic experience of these five orcas has only spawned further suffering for their children who have been born into a captive world that they should have never had to know.
2. Separating Mothers and CalvesDuring the height of orca captures, the separation of mothers and calves was common practice. After the Marine Mammal Protection Act was passed and facilities were prohibited from taking orcas from the wild, breeding programs were necessary to ensure the parks had not only a living population of whales but also the ability to produce calves through sperm collection and artificial insemination.
Orca mothers have repeatedly abandoned or rejected their calves in their captivity, a phenomenon rarely seen in the wild. In this incidence, SeaWorld has justified the separation of mothers and calves by stating it’s only ever done when it’s absolutely necessary and that calves are not taken until they’re old enough.
The truth is, it’s traumatic to remove an orca calf from their mother at any age, given they rarely leave their mother’s side in the wild. SeaWorld has repeatedly removed calves from their mothers at unnaturally young ages and continues to disregard the obvious: if captivity was a stimulating and healthy environment for their orcas, the mothers would not be rejecting their calves at all.
Despite the reasons SeaWorld uses to justify separating mother and calf, it’s no less traumatic for the whales involved. John Hargrove, a former senior killer whale trainer at SeaWorlddescribed his first hand account of the separation of a mother and calf:
“In fact, [when Takara was taken from Kasatka], she was emitting vocalizations that had never been heard before ever by anyone … obviously Takara was gone and [Kasatka] was trying anything she could to try to locate and communicate with Takara, which is absolutely heartbreaking.”
According to Hargrove, he knows of at least 19 instances that calves were removed from their mother, 17 of which were for management purposes and only two of which were medically necessary.
3. Aggression in CaptivityA social hierarchy is present in wild orca pods, but the artificial social groups designed by SeaWorld employees makes things a little more confusing. Whales from different regions are bred in captivity and forced to live together; this in addition to the size of the pools orcas are confined to leads to an increase in orca conflict in captivity.
In the wild orcas are able to work out any issues they may have with one another by simply swimming away to avoid being rammed or raked. Sadly, we’ve seen the devastating resultsthat can occur when a captive orca becomes aggressive with a trainer or with a fellow whale.
Wild Versus Captivity
There are undeniably dangers that orcas face in the open ocean, many of which are caused directly by human activities including overfishing and boating accidents. Despite these dangers, however, we can’t help but wonder if the possibility of encountering danger in the wild is still a far better prospect than the suffering orcas experience in captivity.
Orcas born into captivity live a life of monotony where they are subjected to the aggression of others and deprived of the ability to develop meaningful relationships with their families. These highly intelligent beings deserve more than the life we have artificially constructed for them in captivity, and it’s time SeaWorld and marine parks around the world end their breeding programs so no more orcas are forced to suffer.
Let SeaWorld and other marine mammal parks know you don’t support the captivity of orcas, but most importantly, don’t buy a ticket!
Lead image source: Creative Commons
Discussing Threats to Orca: This week Defenders’ Northwest
team attended an annual event – “Superpod 4” — to celebrate and support the
population of 81 endangered orcas living off the coast of Washington and Oregon.
This orca population — called the southern resident orca — face several threats.
This event brought players together to discuss the ongoing causes of this
population’s decline, as well as opportunities to collaborate. Much discussion
was had about the decline of the orca’s primary food source, Chinook salmon.
Dams in the Columbia River basin block hundreds of miles of salmon spawning
habitat, and collectively the 400 plus dams in the Columbia River basin account
for an estimated 80% decline in all salmon species in the watershed. Our team
met local conservation groups and took the opportunity to view the southern
residents from shore. By all measures, Superpod 4 will continue its success and
Defenders looks forward to continuing to collaborate to save southern resident
orca!
Whale Researchers Document a Rare and Stunning Display of Orcas in the Wild.
Few wildlife encounters are quite as breathtaking as that of a wild whale sighting – which is why this team of marine biologists from the Center for Whale Research were overjoyed to receive a visit from a whole family of wild orcas in the San Juan islands last summer! Every summer, these orcas visit the San Juan Islands to prey on salmon. This four-minute clip, uploaded on behalf of the Center and obtained under a federal research permit granted by NOAA, documents a portion of their hunt in summer 2014. The Center for Whale Research is dedicated to monitoring the health of the Southern Resident killer whale population, located in the waters of the Pacific Northwest and building a solid database of studies on these whales to help assist in their conservation efforts. Thanks to the Center’s efforts, more is now known about this population of killer whales than about any other group of marine mammals in the world. You can find more about the Center, and how to support their work, by clicking here. Image Source: drth80/Flickr
Faroes Update: 253 Pilot whales died this last week. Six Sea Shepherd volunteers have been arrested.
Rosie Kunneke of South Africa
Christophe Bondue of Belgium
Marianna Baldo of Italy
Xavier Figarella of France
Kevin Schiltz of Luxembourg
Susan Larsen of the United States
Tom Strerath of Germany
Sea Shepherd Captures Shocking Footage Of Mass Slaughter Of Pilot Whales:
An annual Danish whale hunt – with the signature sea turning red from blood – has been captured on film by activists. READER’S WARNING: This story contains images and graphics of an extremely graphic and disturbing nature. International environmental and animal rights group Sea Shepherd has captured shocking footage of the annual slaughter of pilot whales in a remote corner of the Danish coastline. Yesterday, around 200 pilot whales were speared through the spine on the “killing beaches” of Denmark's Faroe Islands.
They’re called ‘killing beaches’ because each beach must be licensed for the annual hunt, and have shallow gradations where the whales can be beached right on the shoreline. Dozens of boats drive the whales into the shallow coves, before hundreds of local men wade into the shallow waters and drag the wahles further onto the beaches. A spear is then driven down through the whales' spines. In the process, they cut the main arteries leading to the whales’ brains, causing them to bleed heavily, and staining the beach and water red with blood.
Yesterday’s slaughters, known by the traditional Faroese term ‘grindadráp,’ – or by their English name ‘grinds’ - took place over two separate drive hunts which ended at the Bøur and Tórshavn killing beaches. Sea Shepherd reports it’s the single bloodiest day in the archipelago this year. Three Sea Shepherd crewmembers from South Africa, Belgium and Luxembourg were arrested at the slaughter, and a further two, from Italy and France, have been detained.
The BRIGITTE BARDOT and SAM SIMON remain in Faroese waters monitored by the Danish warships TRITON and RASMUSSEN. The story has been reported extensively in the International Media and has gone viral on the social networks. This page alone has had 10.5 million hits since the beginning of the week.
Another Lie from the Faroes.
The Faroese claim that children are not allowed to participate in the Grindadrap despite the many times we have documented children playing on, or mutilating corpses. This video was taken only a couple of days ago showing a child slicing off the face of a pilot whale with a knife.
It's called dehumanization, the teaching of cruelty as normal to children, teaching them to have no respect or empathy for other life forms
#SUPPORT: More information on #StandUp250 coming soon
On Thursday July 23 2015, 250 pilot whales were slaughtered in the Faroe Islands.
Since then, people from all around the world have been asking what they can do to help stop the slaughter, and how they can stand up for the pilot whales of the Faroe Islands, and for the 7 Sea Shepherd crewmembers who have been arrested for defending them.
WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HOW YOU CAN #StandUp250 - COMING SOON.
#SeaShepherd #OpGrindini
The double-slaughter began during the court hearing for another two Sea Shepherd volunteers arrested earlier this week. Sea Shepherd is currently in the Faroe Islands for the organization’s sixth Pilot Whale Defense Campaign, Operation Sleppid Grindini. Established in 1977, Sea Shepherd is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization. Its mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world's oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species.
Ricky Gervais condemns slaughter of 250 whales in Dutch Faroe Islands. WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES: Ricky Gervais has blasted the Faroe Islands for allowing the slaughter of 250 whales. The Internet recoiled in horror yesterday after footage emerged of a gruesome whale hunt in the Faroe Islands. As the video was shared thousands of times on Twitter on Facebook, The Office star Ricky Gervais brought the slaughter to the attention of his follows. The comedian took to Twitter in disgust at the brutal killings, writing: “Tragic whale slaughter in Faroe Islands. It's good we've found a twin Earth because we're really f**king up this one.” Campaigners trying to prevent the slaughter were arrested moments before hunters ran into the sea to tackle the whales.
Whales were herded into a cove where they were killed
The whales had been herded into a cove so that the groups of hunters could have easy access to the whales.
Footage shows hunters smiling as their faces are covered in blood; scenes that have since shocked people around the world.
The islands- located between Norway and Iceland, 200 miles of Scotland- is self governed but within the Kingdom of Denmark.
Despite Denmark being anti-whaling in the EU, the brutal practice continues in the Faroe Islands.
A spokesperson for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society- the group which captured the footage- said: “How Denmark - an anti-whaling member nation of the European Union, subject to laws prohibiting the slaughter of cetaceans – can attempt to justify its collaboration in this slaughter is incomprehensible ”
Trying to move the whale was out of the question given her weight and the jagged rocky surface. The team realized they would have to wait for the tide to come back in if they had a chance at releasing her back into the water without further injury.
When she was finally submerged, the team breathed a much-anticipated sigh of relief. “We all cared about this whale and we were just very lucky to give that whale another chance,” said Meuter.
In the documentary Blackfish, footage of orca captures and first-hand accounts by fishermen who were involved in the captures exposes a past SeaWorld tried desperately for years to keep under wraps. The footage shows the fishermen corraling a pod of orca into a bay and using explosives and nets to separate the babies from their parents in order to capture them. The struggle between the humans and the whales was traumatic to say the least. Many orcas were injured or killed in the process of capture and the sounds of sheer terror and sadness emitted from the whales are enough to break your heart on the spot. While the footage of orca captures is depressing, it only further corroborates what we’ve known for years: the bonds that form between members of orca pods are incredibly intimate and unique and to separate them from one another is cruel.
During the height of orca captures, the separation of mothers and calves was common practice. After the Marine Mammal Protection Act was passed and facilities were prohibited from taking orcas from the wild, breeding programs were necessary to ensure the parks had not only a living population of whales but also the ability to produce calves through sperm collection and artificial insemination.
A social hierarchy is present in wild orca pods, but the artificial social groups designed by SeaWorld employees makes things a little more confusing. Whales from different regions are bred in captivity and forced to live together; this in addition to the size of the pools orcas are confined to leads to an increase in orca conflict in captivity.
