A Whale of A Week! Whale Prisons! Look at the parking lot at SeaWorld compared to pool they house whales in which is the size of the one in my backyard! A Charlotte Crosby message, Newest Southern Resident Orca Calf & 100+ orcas & belugas stuck in illegal prison in Russia!

Animal activists in Russia are working to free over 100 marine animals held captive in terrible conditions in what they’re calling a “whale prison.” In Russia, it is illegal to capture whales unless it is for scientific or cultural purposes. Late in 2018, the activists exposed the facility off the coast of the Russian Far East for capturing 90 belugas and 12 orcas. Russian prosecutors have called the capture illegal.

In this facility, the animals are being kept in small, crowded pools. There are 12-15 baby whales crammed on top of each other in small chain-link pens. Activist Nina Zyryanova says, “Now it’s getting colder every day. Although these animals are native to the Arctic, they must move, hundred kilometers a day, to stay warm.” The animals were captured by four Russian companies who obtained a (most likely illegal) permit from the Federal Fishery Agency.

Animal activists believe the animals are being kept in these conditions to be sold to foreign amusement parks. Whales are worth a lot of money on the black market and would make these companies a fortune. Thankfully, the local court agreed to hear the activists’ lawsuit not only demanding the release of these animals, but to penalize the officials who allowed the capture.

For more information on how damaging marine parks and captivity are to orcas and whales, check out Here’s Why We Should Never Forget What ‘Blackfish’ Was Really About, This Image Will Make You Never Want to Visit a Zoo or Marine Park Again, and Skip the Circus, Marine Park, and Zoo: Here are 10 Humane Ways to Interact With Wildlife. To support organizations fighting against the captivity of marine animals, see 10 Amazing Organizations Bravely Fighting for Marine Conservation.

Orlando Sentinel, January 31, 2019 op ed - SeaWorld death shows why orca captivity must end by Stephen Wells, Guest Columnist & Animal Legal Defense Fund President!

The Animal Legal Defense Fund grieves the death of Kayla, a 30-year-old orca whose death SeaWorld announced on Monday. And we renew our call for Florida and other states with captive orcas to pass and enact stronger orca protection laws.

We mourn not just Kayla's death, but that she never truly got to live. It's not just a limited lifespan that makes captivity so cruel for orcas. They are among the smartest, most emotionally complex animals on earth. In the wild, they live in large, intricate societies, and swim some 140 miles every day but in captivity, at SeaWorld, these animals are often kept alone or with little company in small tanks that are essentially glorified bathtubs. We need legislation that will protect other orcas from this cruel fate.

In the wild, orcas like Kayla have an expected lifespan of 40-60 years, and may live to 80 or 90 years old. In captivity, that lifespan is substantially reduced. A 2015 study finds that captive orcas in the United States live on average of 12 years.

Nearly three years ago, in response to public demand, SeaWorld promised to end its orca breeding program and to phase out its orca shows. The orca shows are still occurring, though the company says they will end in 2019. There is no way, though, to enforce these promises and SeaWorld has dispatched lobbyists to defeat attempts to codify its voluntary commitments.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund has proposed the Florida Orca Protection Act, which would make it illegal to hold orcas in captivity for any purpose — grandfathering those already in captivity in Florida. It would also be illegal to breed captive orcas, or to transport captive orcas into Florida or out of North America, unless provided by federal law or to rehome to sanctuary. Additionally, the bill would require that orcas held for rehabilitation or research purposes be returned to the wild whenever possible.

Thanks to Representative Jared Moskowitz, the bill was filed for the 2018 legislative session as HB 1305 but the legislature adjourned before the bill was debated. We are working with lawmakers to reintroduce the bill in the 2019 legislative session.

We need the Florida Orca Protection Act because Kayla deserved better than what she got: a short life in a small tank. Orcas are counting on us to make sure this generation of captive orcas is the last.

Ever since the release of acclaimed documentary Blackfish a few years ago, entertainment giant Sea World has been on the defensive … and on the decline.

Damaging evidence has continually emerged since that time, showing the public that Sea World is not exactly the marine mammal paradise it claims to be. The revelation that they must administer psychoactive medication to their killer whales to stave off depression was particularly damaging, as were their multiple citations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for welfare and safety violations. studies have been released concluding beyond doubt that their animals are stressed as a result of captivity.

This Image Will Make You Never Want to Visit a Zoo or Marine Park Again

Last year, marine mammal veterinarian Dr. Heather Rally found “scars and lesions on dolphins, orcas, and other animals,” witnessed “unprotected and unsupervised contact between visitors and aggressive animals; and observed listless animals engaging in abnormal, repetitive behavior likely caused by stress, among other apparent violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA).”

There is a lot that could be said about Sea World’s continued policy of holding large marine animals in captivity. However, in this case, a picture paints a thousand words. If anyone, anywhere, still thinks there is nothing wrong with holding a twenty-thousand-pound orca in a tank whose size equates to a minuscule percentage of their natural territory … let them check out this image...This Image Will Make You Never Want to Visit a Zoo or Marine Park Again:

Andrew Lawes posted the image to Facebook after public outrage erupted over the killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe. He said, “Lot of talk about animal rights this week, thought I’d share this. The red line is the size of the Sea World car park. The green line is where the Orcas spend their entire lives. Shocking really.”

The reality for captive animals right across the board – whether they are housed in a zoo or a marine park – is that they face zoochotic illnesses and stresses that would never be a factor of their everyday lives were they in the wild. While the story of Keiko demonstrates to us that the release of a marine animal must be carefully managed, we need to have a serious conversation NOW about the future of captivity, and whether this practice ought to be phased out. But can we ever do that if SeaWorld continues to deny that there is a problem?

SeaWorld is an establishment that is solely driven by profit, so when we stop paying for them to abuse animals, it can stop.