Target: Wisin
Goal: Stand up for marine animals by canceling concert at SeaWorld.
Puerto Rican musician, songwriter and record producer Wisin is planning to perform at SeaWorld Orlando on May 14 for the park’s “Viva la Musica” concert series. This music festival is SeaWorld’s latest money-making ploy to save its nosediving brand, which is now associated worldwide with systematic cruelty. The idea is to divert attention from the fact that the whole SeaWorld enterprise is founded on the exploitation and suffering of marine animals. Don’t let them get away with it.
Good news came recently when SeaWorld announced that it would no longer breed orcas. This would never have happened without the massive backlash caused by the film Blackfish, a fantastic documentary that exposed SeaWorld as nothing more than a cruel prison for animals. The cessation of the orca breeding program is a positive development; however, many animals—including orcas, beluga whales, dolphins and seals—are still held captive by the so-called amusement park, forced to live their lives in cramped tanks that are like bath tubs for them.
The boycott of SeaWorld will not stop merely because they have ceased to breed orcas. It will continue until all of the sentient beings are released from confinement and sent to ocean sanctuaries. With this in mind, events like the Viva la Musica music festival must be opposed. Thanks to the continued activism of organizations like PETA, several musicians have canceled performances at SeaWorld, including Willie Nelson, Martina McBride and Trace Adkins. Please sign the below petition urging Wisin to follow their humane example.
Dear Wisin,
I am sorry to hear that you plan to perform a concert at SeaWorld on May 14. As millions of people now understand, to perform at SeaWorld is to support the abuse and neglect suffered by all the marine life held captive there.
SeaWorld is a nefarious company that profits from the exploitation of highly intelligent animals like orcas and dolphins. As the documentary film Blackfish revealed, the conditions in which these animals are forced to live and perform are deplorable, causing emotional and psychological distress, as well as significantly shortening their lifespans.
Surely, you do not endorse the exploitation and abuse of innocent animals, in which case it does not make sense for you to perform at SeaWorld. I respectfully urge you to cancel your scheduled concert and to furthermore help educate your audience about the park’s sordid enterprise.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Mercedes Dayanara
Heartbreaking Reality of How Humans Have Reduced One of the World’s Most Complex Species. We humans often like to think of ourselves as the most superior species on this Earth, by far. However, there are plenty of other species out there whose advanced cognitive abilities (not to mention, their ability to enhance and contribute to the overall health of their ecosystem, instead of destroying it) might cause us to question that assumption. Dolphins and elephants are especially renowned for their high levels of intelligence and emotional sensitivity.Another species whose cognitive capabilities might give us food for thought is the orca (also known as the killer whale). An orca’s brain is four times bigger than a human brain, and the brain lobes that deal with the processing of complex emotions are also larger in these animals than they are in humans. They have complex ways of communicating with one another, with different “dialects” being observed among different orca populations. They have been evolving for millions of years while modern-day humans only emerged around 200,000 years ago, so it is safe to assume that they are at least as cognitively advanced as we are … if not more so!
In the wild, orcas live in close-knit matriarchal pods. They stay close to their family members all their lives, traveling up to 100 miles per day. The compassion and love that orcas have been observed demonstrating toward their family members is often breathtaking. Earlier this year, a beautiful story emerged about an orca pod off the coast of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, who are helping their disabled brother to survive by supplying him with food. Whenever wild orcas have been recorded interacting with humans, their movements have been surprisingly gentle, given their “killer” nickname. To date, there has never been a documented case of an orca killing a human in the wild.
When orcas are confined to aquarium or marine park tanks (which typically comprise only 0.001 percent of the territory that would be available to them in the wild), a very different story emerges. Captive orcas have often been known to lash out at one another and at the humans who work with them. SeaWorld Orlando orca Tilikum, whose heartrending story was described in detail in the 2013 documentary “Blackfish,” has been linked to three human deaths. The most well-known case was that of Dawn Brancheau, whom Tilikum killed on February 24, 2010, after losing his temper during a performance. Keto, an orca of Loro Parque, Spain, killed his trainer Alexis Martinez on December 24, 2009.
Depression, psychological issues, collapsed dorsal fins (in males), significantly reduced life expectancy, and unusual illnesses are commonplace among captive orca populations, though they are almost never witnessed in wild orca populations. Tilikum is now gravely ill with a bacterial infection, and a young female orca named Unna passed away on December 21, 2015, at SeaWorld San Diego, of a fungal infection. She was just nineteen years old: much younger than the average age of 48 years that she could have reached as a wild orca, or even the age of thirty years that she could have reached as a captive one.
SeaWorld has had to resort to medicating its orcas with psychoactive drugs to keep their psychological problems under control, and it is well-known within the industry that this practice must be repeated in zoos and marine parks all over the world. It is truly tragic that we humans have reduced captive animals to this state … and when you consider the fact that orcas are cognitively sophisticated, deeply sensitive, and have been on this planet a whole lot longer than we have, the arrogance that our species has displayed by trapping them in tiny tanks for the sake of our entertainment is truly staggering.
If orcas could speak our language, how likely is it that they would tell us they just love performing inane tricks?
The heartbreaking photo above displays the reality of existence for so many captive orcas: deprived of everything that would give their lives a sense of depth and meaning if they were in the wild, left at the mercy of humans, and forced to perform tricks that do not come naturally to them (the threat of withheld food is often used to make them do this). With the momentum against whale and dolphin captivity growing by the day, there has never been a more urgent time to call for those tanks to be emptied once and for all.
To learn more about why you should boycott any aquarium or marine park that holds dolphins and whales in captivity, read the articles below. And don’t forget to share this article to help raise awareness of the issue!
- Orcas Are More Emotionally Complex Than Humans, and Other Facts About These Awesome Animals
- A Look Into How Life for Captive Orcas Differs From Their Wild Counterparts
- 10 Signs Whales and Dolphins DO NOT Belong in Tanks
Image Source: Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images
Old Arctic Drilling Permits Hold Up Protection for Narwhal Whales. Activists sue the Canadian government to quash 30 oil and gas exploration permits issued to Shell Canada in 1971.
World Wildlife Fund–Canada, represented by lawyers from Toronto-based Ecojustice, filed the lawsuit in April in Canadian federal court. The group is seeking to force the government to recognize that 30 permits for oil and gas exploration in Lancaster Sound are invalid and to update government records to reflect that.
The permits were issued in 1971 to Shell Canada and expired in 1979, said Ian Miron, an attorney with Ecojustice.
The government has prohibited oil or gas activities in the area on and off since the early 1980s, but WWF-Canada believes that no moratorium has been in place since 2000, according to Miron.
“The government has continued to treat these permits as valid, and it’s my understanding that Shell is doing the same,” he said. “Our position is that according to the law, they are not valid.”
The permits’ shadowy status with Canada’s registrar of petroleum permits, which is part of the agency Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, has contributed to several years of debate between the government and the region’s Inuit over the scope of a proposed marine-protected area in Lancaster Sound, Miron said.
“Essentially, the government proposed a boundary for what would be protected, and the Inuit proposed a boundary that’s larger and covers some critically important areas of Lancaster Sound that don’t fall within boundaries of the government’s proposed area,” he explained.
The government’s plan would encompass about 18,500 square miles of Lancaster Sound, according to the Parks Canada website.
But its proposed borders “skirt around these permits issued to Shell in the 1970s,” said Miron.
Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada declined an interview request. “The government of Canada will continue to work towards ecologically sustainable development in the north, and science and conservation goals will guide the potential of oil and gas exploration in the area,” agency spokesperson Shawn Jackson wrote in an email.
The deep fjords and icy shores of Lancaster Sound, which is at the eastern end of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, harbor millions of seabirds. The sound is also a globally important habitat for marine mammal species, including polar bears, narwhals, bowhead and beluga whales, walruses, and ringed, bearded, and harp seals.
“Arctic cod is the lynchpin of the Lancaster Sound ecosystem,” according to the Pew Charitable Trusts Oceans North program website, “swimming in schools as large as 30,000 tons.”
The area “has supported Inuit harvesting and culture for millennia,” said Paul Crowley, WWF-Canada’s vice president for Arctic issues.
“Most of the world’s narwhals go through Lancaster Sound, giving Canada an incredible responsibility in the world,” he added. “One-seventh of the world’s belugas go through there.”
Lancaster Sound is also at the southern edge of the area where, scientists believe, Arctic Sea ice and animals like the polar bear, which can’t survive without it, will make their last stand in coming decades against rising global temperatures brought on by climate change.
“Having oil and gas permits right next to the boundary of a really rich marine park, you have to wonder how sensible that could be in any event,” Crowley said. “Oil in water currents will not stay put. Oil on ice will not stay put as the ice moves around, and that’s impossible to clean up. So there is no logic of having permits still there.”
The Qikiqtani Inuit Association, which has represented Inuit communities in the planning process for the marine-protected area, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Crowley said his organization has tried to determine why the government has continued to keep the exploration licenses on the books. “There is nothing in the public record that indicates why those permits are still valid,” he said. “For years, the government has stalled on listening to what Inuit wanted in the area.”
Shell Canada spokesperson Cameron Yost termed the lawsuit “unfortunate.”
“Shell supports the aim of government, indigenous communities and environmental organisations to establish a Canadian National Marine Conservation Area for Lancaster Sound,” Yost wrote in an email. “A government moratorium has been in place for nearly 40 years in the Lancaster Sound and Baffin Bay regions. Shell has not conducted any exploration activities on these lands since the moratorium.”
Groundbreaking Organization Aims to Create a Sanctuary for Captive Whales and Dolphins. Last week, in response to public demands, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus put on their last elephant show and sent all of their captive pachyderms to their retirement facility in Florida.
Also last week, in the wake of a very public lawsuit by the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP), the New Iberia Research Center announced they will be moving not just Hercules and Leo, the two chimpanzees for whom the NhRP had been seeking retirement to a sanctuary, but all 200 chimps in captivity at their laboratories.
And last month, again in response to public pressure, SeaWorld announced an end to all orca breeding in their parks around the world immediately.
The one difference, in the case of orca breeding, is that, as laudable as this decision was, there will still be 25 orcas kept in theme parks in North America, forced to live out their remaining lives in concrete tanks at SeaWorld (23 of them are at their three parks), the Miami Seaquarium, and Marineland, Canada. And that’s in large part because there’s nowhere for them to go.
Beyond Ringling’s own elephant retirement facility, there are two first-rate sanctuaries for elephants in this country, and several for chimpanzees. But for orcas, nothing.
At least not yet.
Sea Sanctuaries Are a Sure Thing—Get With the Program, SeaWorld. Sea sanctuaries are one step closer to becoming a reality with the launch of The Whale Sanctuary Project, whose mission is to develop, design, and establish a protected coastal location “where cetaceans (porpoises, dolphins and whales) can be rehabilitated or can live permanently in an environment that maximizes well-being and autonomy and is as close as possible to their natural habitat.”
Keiko, the star of Free Willy, experiencing a more natural life in a sea sanctuary in his native waters of Iceland.
This is welcome news, as orcas and other marine mammals at SeaWorld are suffering in tiny concrete tanks, unable to fulfill even their most basic needs. In seaside sanctuaries, they could live in large areas of the ocean while still benefiting from humans’ care for as long as they might need to. Seaside sanctuaries offer more space in which to swim and dive, more novel and dynamic natural elements, the possibility of communicating with wild orcas, the opportunity to learn how to hunt and solve problems, and the freedom to choose what they want to do and when and where they want to do it. Sanctuaries also offer some orcas the potential for release into the open ocean.
Headed by neuroscientist and leading researcher in brain and dolphin brain anatomy Dr. Lori Marino, the project is officially underway.
SeaWorld had previously rejected the company’s $1 million offer to release an orca named Tilikum to a sanctuary, an offer that PETA matched.
What You Can Do
Now that a plan of action is underway, SeaWorld has no more excuses. The company must begin developing a transition plan. Let SeaWorld know that you support moving the animals to sanctuaries.
A Sanctuary for Captive Whales
The Whale Sanctuary Project, a new non-profit organization, launched last week with the mission of creating seaside sanctuaries where cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) can be rehabilitated and either returned to the wild (which would only be possible in, at most, a very few cases) or can live permanently in a safe environment that maximizes well-being and autonomy and is as close as possible to their natural habitat.
Our new organization is not involved in advocacy. Instead, we are focused exclusively on building these habitats for orcas and other cetaceans and caring for the animals who come to them. Indeed, we would welcome SeaWorld and other marine parks joining us in helping to realize the vision of changing our relationship with marine mammals from one of exploitation to one of respect.
Last week’s announcement by the Whale Sanctuary Project has been met with enthusiasm from animal advocates, scientists and members of the public who understand that not only is it impossible for orcas and other marine mammals to thrive in concrete tanks; it is fundamentally immoral to use them in this way. They are not objects and commodities to be used as a means towards an end; they are, as Henry Beston said, “other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time.” As such, they are no more deserving of being exploited and abused as would be (and in some cases still are) members of our own species.
The Whale Sanctuary Project is comprised of a dream team of more than 50 of the most experienced and knowledgeable people from around the world, with all the skills that will be required for the creation and maintenance of these sanctuaries: engineers, veterinarians, attorneys, former marine park trainers and marine mammal scientists. With their help, we are already examining hundreds of possible bays, coves, and inlets on the northeast and northwest coasts of the United States and Canada. By the end of this year, we expect to have narrowed the list down to three or four sites that will then be further assessed “on the ground” with boats and specialized equipment. Other members of the team are preparing the protocols and detailed operational plans for the creation of this first sanctuary and the protocols for receiving and caring for the first residents.
Orcas are the apex predators of the oceans, among the most cognitively and socially complex of all animals. In the wild, they travel up to 60 miles a day and dive to at least 300 feet. Needless to say, building and operating the kind of sanctuary that will give them a true quality of life will be an expensive endeavor. So we’re very grateful to Munchkin Inc., makers of innovative products for babies and children, and its CEO, Steven Dunn, for their pledge of at least $1 million toward the completion of the first sanctuary. Through their Project Orca, they are already dedicated advocates for the retirement of orcas and other cetaceans to seaside sanctuaries.
A Better Future for Marine Life Education
As a teacher for more than 20 years, I believe that in this day and age, there are much better ways to educate people, especially young people, about dolphins and whales than by putting the animals on display in concrete tanks. I look forward to people being able to see these magnificent creatures in a sanctuary setting where they are not being exploited. And I’m excited by the fact that several cutting-edge outreach and educational displays, like virtual reality and immersion, are being developed that will not only capture the imagination of visitors but also provide them with authentic information about who these animals really are.
Breathtaking Photograph Illustrates Our Intertwined Destinies.
Many people have the knee-jerk reaction of fear whenever the word “shark” is mentioned in their presence. However, the largest shark in the world – the whale shark – is completely harmless to humans, feeding solely on plankton. The presence of whale sharks in an ecosystem is an important indicator of that ecosystem’s overall health and productivity. They are not the only shark species who help maintain the health of their ecosystems – in fact, sharks of all kinds play a vital role in slowing down the alarming phenomenon of climate change.
Climate change has been caused by vastly accelerated rates of greenhouse gas emissions released by human industrial activities over the past two hundred years. These gases – such as carbon dioxide and methane – exert a heat-trapping effect on the planet’s atmosphere, and have caused the world’s median temperature to rise by 1 degree Fahrenheit since 1950 alone. This, in turn, has been responsible for the disappearance of many animal species, ancient glaciers, and ice sheets, and even low-lying island nations. However, carnivorous shark species are helping to offset this by feeding on marine animals who would otherwise become overabundant and consume large amounts of carbon-storing vegetation. When just one percent of the oceans’ carbon-storing vegetation is lost, this releases 460 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere: the equivalent of emissions generated by 97 million cars!
Sadly, the international Shark Foundation now lists over two hundred types of shark as “endangered,” and has warned, “more than 100 out of 400 shark species are being commercially exploited (and) many of these shark species are so overexploited that even their long-term survival can no longer be guaranteed.” Some shark species have experienced a 98 percent decline in their numbers over the past fifteen years alone!
Whale sharks are believed to be dependent on coral reef systems, as increased rates of coral reef destruction during the 1980s and 90s were linked to a corresponding drop in whale shark populations. Oceanic acidification and warming (again, caused by the increased amount of greenhouse gases we humans have put into the atmosphere in recent decades) are the primary factors behind coral reef deterioration. These gentle animals are also often targeted by the shark fin soup industry (which is responsible for the deaths of an estimated 73 million sharks every year). Luckily, there are signs that the tide could be turning against the trade, as shark fin sales are declining and a number of airlines and shipping companies now refuse to carry them. Meanwhile, a number of illegal whale shark processing plants have been exposed in recent years due to the work of undercover photographers such as Paul Hilton and Alex Hofford.
Sometimes, it can be very hard for us to comprehend the fact that 73 million sharks a year meet their deaths at our hands, so a well-orchestrated media campaign – or even a single, powerful photograph – can go a long way in helping to illuminate the true scale of the problem. Conservation photographer Shawn Heinrichs has now aimed to do just that, with a new photograph posted to his Instagram account alongside the caption, “What happens to the planet is now in our own hands.”
This breathtaking picture of a whale shark swimming alongside two humans reveals that our destinies are intertwined – and in spite of the many ways we demonize sharks, the truth is that we need them to continue being present on our planet if we have any chance of long-term survival.
You can learn more about how to help sharks by reading the articles below.
- How Protecting Sharks Can Help Slow Climate Change
- Don’t Bite the Hand That Feeds! Why Humans Need Sharks
- 7 Alarming Facts About the Shark Fin Trade
- This Cruel Trade is Rapidly Driving Sharks to Extinction
- If You Took Seafood Out of Your Diet, How Would it Really Help the Planet?
Image Source: Shawn Heinrichs/Instagram
WTH?! Baby Whale Washes Ashore and People Decide to Eat Him Instead of Helping. Sometimes it really feels like humans just don’t get it. Time and time again, when encountering a beached marine animal, we seem to forget that these living, breathing beings would almost certainly rather go back to his or her home than stay on the shore. And yet, senseless act of blatant stupidity and downright violence persist.
Take the recent case of a baby whale who washed ashore a beach in Russia. Still breathing, this whale was left helpless on the sand. Often times, marine animals are beached when they accidentally stray into shallow waters due to extreme weather conditions or in search of food. The logical reaction to a desperate animal in need is usually to come to its rescue … not to, well, eat it.
Incredible Navy Team Saves Suffocating Humpback Whale From Fishing Net (Click to watch the Video of it). There’s nothing harder to watch than a giant, strong, majestic creature rendered helpless at the hands of human cruelty.
Thankfully, they were successful in this operation and the whale regained his freedom! But sadly, not all whales are as lucky.
Because of the all-too-common use of gill and trawl nets in the commercial fishing industry, whales are often caught as “bycatch.” In fact, 90 percent of the ocean’s apex predators, like this whale, have been wiped out in the past 55 years. These massive, heavy nets are dragged along the bottom of the ocean, collecting literally everything in their path, causing a tremendous amount of damage to marine species. It’s estimated that nearly 650,000 marine mammals are injured every year thanks to the reckless practices of commercial fisheries.
The whale in this video escaped that fate. We’ve got to do everything we can to make sure all marine animals live in freedom.
How Can You Help?
You can help to make a difference for marine species with your diet. Aggressive fishing methods to meet demands for seafood contribute to the decimation all marine animals. By choosing to leave fish and seafood off your plate for one year alone you can save 225 fish and 151 shellfish. When you consider the fact that around 40 percent of all commercial fish catches are composed of bycatch, by keeping fish off your plate, you’re also helping to save countless other marine species who are unintentionally caught! To learn more about how you can help marine animals through your diet, join the #EatForThePlanet movement.
