Preparations were made this week at both the Whale Museum sea pens and at Dolphin Base in Taiji, Japan as the typhoon approaches that coast this week. At the Cove after the storm, one of the nets was washed up onto the beach and the little wire fence on the rocks came down. Nice to see the Cove without that net across it. The nets should be put away forever. Lots of debris left in the water after the typhoon. While “trainers” were hard at work cleaning and repairing the facility, the dolphins were finding ways to pass the time. Dolphins, with their complex brains and cognitive abilities, suffer at captive facilities all around the world from a lack of stimulation. #dolphinproject
Although the Cove remained BLUE, dolphins continued to suffer. 12 dolphins were loaded into wooden crates and forklifted into the backs of large trucks. 4 trucks with 3 dolphins each departed for an unknown destination. What is known is that these and many other dolphins around the world will spend the rest of their lives “entertaining” humans. Although the dolphins were already in the crates when they came into view, making it impossible to confirm species, one dolphin lifted its head out of the crate and was positively ID’d as a bottlenose dolphin, the most popular species for captivity. Until the demand for captive dolphins is eliminated and the profits made from the capture and sale of dolphins disappears, this will continue. It is up to us to reduce and phase out the demand for captive dolphins. Please spread awareness.
Dolphins and whales are in trouble and desperately need your help!
Keeping orcas and smaller dolphins in concrete tanks is abusive. In just the past 9 months at SeaWorld. Three orcas: Tilikum, Kaska, and three-month old baby Kyara are all dead.
Tilikum at SeaWorld Orlando: Dead of infection. Kyara at SeaWorld San Antonio: Dead of infection. And now, 43-year-old orca mom Kasatka at SeaWorld San Diego: Dead of "lung disease."
Enough is enough! Keeping orcas and dolphins in concrete tanks is a failed, cruel experiment and must be ended. It is time to retire them to seaside sanctuaries.
SeaWorld is sputtering. Investors are fleeting and attendance is dropping. Yet they won't retire a single orca or dolphin. Their alternative: a $15 million TV ad buy to con people into believing the orcas are "thriving" at SeaWorld.
Please help us fight back against their misinformation and distribute our new 7-minute video,The Chance to Be Free. Watch it HERE.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government resumed the brutal dolphin slaughter, allowing hunters to rip wild dolphins from their families for sale to amusement parks in Japan and China. Dolphin meat is sold to the public, even though it is ladened with mercury.
We've brought the dolphin kill levels down, but more needs to be done. The killing must end!
Your support will allow us to expose the Japanese government's cruelty and block sales of dolphins captured from the wild. It will also help expand our campaign that the Olympic IOC ban all whale or dolphin products from the 2020 Olympics in Japan.
Finally, dolphins in the Eastern Tropical Pacific are under threat. The Mexican tuna industry is using the most disastrous fishing technique that has ever been devised. They intentionally chase and set nets on dolphins as a way to catch tuna that swims below.
Shockingly, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) - a global fisheries certification company - is caving in and rewarding Mexican tuna companies with an Eco-label that deceives people into believing that their canned tuna is Dolphin Safe!
MSC's decision is wrong and must be reversed. They are threatening the lives of tens of thousands of dolphins -- all for a cruel fishing practice that should be banned.
Your help allows us to warn consumers not to buy this deceptive and destructive tuna product.
The International Marine Mammal Project is a project of the Earth Island Institute network. EII receives the highest marks from Charity Navigator, demonstrating that we are worthy of your trust. Taiji photo courtesy of OPS, Captive Orca photo © Mark Palmer, Dolphin in Tuna net photo © Sam LaBudde
