Support the Blue Freedom Project, an End to Dolphins and Whales Captivity

It's not that long ago when the controversial documentary 'Blackfish' that centers on the captivity or orcas in the famous Sea World marine park surfaces in the film making industry and touched the hearts and minds of many. Then, there's the infamous hunt and slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan that made headlines this year.

It's easy to feel broken and distressed with these seemingly cruelties and injustices to these beautiful creatures that deserve respect and freedom in the ocean. The good news is there are people out there who genuinely care and are building a movement that can turn the tides. In the midst of suffering, there's always hope. Hope for a positive change and better circumstances.

I'm pleased to come across the Blue Freedom project, carried out by film students and aspiring filmmakers. Its goal is to produce and film a documentary that advocates for the end in captivity and slaughter of dolphins and whales.

One's support can go a long way into making this project come to life and take part in a growing movement. Oftentimes, it is only through controversies like 'Blackfish' and annual dolphin hunt that we begin to wake up and start making progress.

You can find out more information about Blue Freedom project and how to give your support on its Kickstarter website. https://www.kickstarter.com/bluefreedom

Always remember that we are the change we want to see in our society and world at large. It always starts with you, me and us...


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"A better attitude leads to better actions and a better world..."

Dilemma on SeaWorld and Animal Parks

Last year's documentary film, 'Blackfish', has stirred attention and controversy on the dark side of SeaWorld. What is believed to be pure entertainment and joy catered to families and kids apparently comes with cruelty and suffering for orcas, dolphins, marine animals held captive in the popular animal theme park. Behind the dolphin smile, killer whale splash and amazing tricks... there lies loneliness, agony and frustrations for these captive animals that have been deprived of their natural habitat. In the wake of this remarkable documentary film, more reports have circulated regarding the awful lives of orcas that are trained to perform for the audience at SeaWorld. 

I feel like the 'Blackfish' along with the 2009 Oscar Winning documentary film 'The Cove' that presents the heartbreaking and shocking hunt and slaughter of dolphins in a cove of Taiji, Japan delivers an ethical dilemma for us. At some point, we all have gone to the zoos and animal parks. We have this fascination for beautiful and seemingly elusive sea animals. A lot of that has to do with the fact that we don't get to see and interact with them in our daily lives and the zoos and animals parks serve this purpose for us. Because of places like SeaWorld, we get to see the amazing killer whales and adorable dolphins up close, take pictures of them and maybe even touch them. Zoos and animal parks have always served to entertain and educate us about them and the marine life.

I have gone to SeaWorld twice after a decade of absence at the park. At the beginning of Shamu show, I looked around the large stadium. I see audience applauding and thumping on the bleachers, cheering for the killer whales to come out. I looked at the small tank behind the center stage where the orcas are waiting to be released for the show. Something didn't feel right. I asked my sister, "Do you think they get stressed out with all of these, 'cause I feel like they do."

Few months later, the 'Blackfish' comes out and all my assumptions about the emotional and physical stress of orca performers in captivity are validated.

So what happens when this blissful belief of education and empowerment about sea animals becomes tainted by the harsh reality of what really goes on in these animal theme parks? All it takes is documentary films like 'Blackfish' and 'The Cove' to open our eyes to this animal cruelty. Hunt and slaughter of dolphins, beluga whales and killer whales. Living in small tanks. Forced to perform tricks. Separated from their families. Deprived of their natural habitat. These are all the uproars of animal advocates, activists, documentary films and investigations regarding SeaWorld and animal parks.

Dolphins in Taiji, Japan

Dolphin hunt in Taiji, Japan

So, what now? Should we boycott SeaWorld and animal parks? Do we tell our kids that they are never to set foot in those parks? 

While my personal take on this matter is to never go to SeaWorld or any animal parks anymore, there seems to be no shortcut solutions to this dilemma. There is a tradeoff. To not go to SeaWorld anymore would stop the demand for the marine animal performers like the orcas and dolphins. When there's no demand, the need to hunt, capture and torture these sea animals also stops. Hence, killer whales and dolphins get to live their lives free in the vast ocean where they belong. But when you take out SeaWorld and animal parks out of the equation, it's hard to imagine how to bridge the gap between people and marine animals. So, there's that question that haunts me -- would majority of the people show great concern and appreciation for sea animals if there's no medium like SeaWorld that conveniently connects us to life in the ocean? SeaWorld and its underlying cruelty exist because of animal lovers and fascinated people. So, there's the irony. 

Dolphin tanks

This brings me to one compromise that respects the lives and wellness of orcas and dolphins in their natural habitat without depriving people of their desire to connect with the fascinating marine animals. If we can create a humane alternative to SeaWorld along the lines of sanctuaries and whale watching, we might have a shot at changing the flawed system. Marine animal sanctuaries, whale watching tours and local waterways seem like a better way to observe and appreciate sea animals in their natural environment. Their effectiveness on changing this form of animal cruelty is still yet to be seen. Maybe down the road, big and money hungry corporations would still find ways to exploit and abuse them after all. However, I still want to believe that they're the beginning to more research and evolution to come for animal parks that would give high regard to the welfare of marine animals. As of now, what's important are the echoes of thousands to millions of people who were captivated by the heart wrenching lives of orcas like Tillikum in the 'Blackfish' and the international concern for the annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, Japan. Awareness and compassion are a good start. A start for a better attitude that leads to better choices and actions for a better world for these fascinating and highly intelligent marine animals. People who have gone to SeaWorld and animal parks do not generally support animal cruelty and captivity. We are just often misinformed or unaware of the realities. 

A landmark bill that seeks to ban orca shows, orca captivity and captive breeding of orcas at SeaWorld is recently introduced in the legislation by Assemblyman Richard Hershel Bloom. Whether this bill would pass or not, it signals a changing trend and changing views toward SeaWorld and marine parks.

Below are some of the widespread controversies that came up against SeaWorld in follow up to the spurt of 'Blackfish.'



Five orcas currently at SeaWorld were kidnapped from their ocean homes, as were others who have since died. For example, Tilikum, a 32-year-old orca, was captured at the age of 2 by a marine "cowboy." Tilikum wasn't taken from his natural environment because he was injured—instead, he was torn away from his family against his will and confined to a small concrete tank for a hefty profit.

A scientific study by Newcastle University found that dolphins in close proximity to humans experience extreme stress, "preventing them from resting, feeding or nurturing their young." Despite these findings, SeaWorld continues to allow park guests to swim and touch dolphins at its Discovery Cove location in Orlando, Florida.



In 1965, the first-ever orca show was performed by a female orca named Shamu at SeaWorld San Diego. During Shamu's capture, her mother was shot with a harpoon and killed before the young orca's very eyes by a marine "cowboy" named Ted Griffin. Griffin's partner, Don Goldsberry, later worked for SeaWorld and was assigned to bring orcas into the park. He continued kidnapping and slaughtering orcas, and at one point, he hired divers to slit open the bellies of four orcas, fill them with rocks, put anchors around their tails, and sink them to the bottom of the ocean so that their deaths would not be discovered.



In nature, orcas choose their own mates. But at SeaWorld, orcas are forced to breed on a regular basis. Male orcas are trained to float on their backs, and their trainers masturbate them to collect their sperm. Females are artificially inseminated and forced to breed at a much younger age than they would in nature. Katina was forced to breed when she was only 9 years old (at least five years earlier than she would have naturally bred in the wild). Now she is used as a virtual breeding machine and is even being inbred with her own sons.

SeaWorld's corporate incident log contains reports of more than 100 incidents of orca aggression at its parks, often resulting in injuries to humans and even causing one death by extensive internal bleeding.

Following a 2006 attack by an orca on a trainer at SeaWorld in San Diego, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health concluded that it was "only a matter of time" before someone was killed while interacting with the orcas. A further investigation into these attacks could have prevented injuries and deaths.



Orcas in the wild have an average life expectancy of 30 to 50 years—their estimated maximum life span is 60 to 70 years for males and 80 to more than 100 for females. The median age of orcas in captivity is only 9.

In captivity, all male orcas have collapsed dorsal fins as adults, which is a sign of an unhealthy orca. SeaWorld claims that this condition is common and natural for all orcas. However, collapsed dorsal fins are caused by the unnatural environment of captivity and are rarely seen in the wild. Only 1 to 5 percent of male orcas in some populations (and none in others) have fully collapsed dorsal fins.



Contrary to popular belief, trainers often have no formal education in marine biology. Their main purpose is to entertain and put on a "good" show for visitors, not educate people about the intelligence, social nature, or natural families, foraging behavior, and habitats of the animals held at SeaWorld.



On January 11, 2012, the USDA issued an official warning to SeaWorld San Antonio for its "repeated failure to provide drain covers that are securely fastened in order to minimize the potential risk of animal entrapment"—a violation that resulted in the death of a sea lion.

In March 2013, prompted by PETA's complaint about a child who had been bitten by a dolphin at SeaWorld, the USDA conducted an investigation and cited the marine park for several violations of the Animal Welfare Act, including the use of expired surgical materials, some almost a decade old. The USDA also documented that a dolphin tank and the areas surrounding the orca performance tank were in disrepair and contained cracked and crumbling concrete and rusty beams that could pose a threat to the health and safety of both the animals and workers. The USDA pointed out that the unsafe conditions "might create a health risk if these pieces of concrete fall off into the pool and get ingested, or if they become abrasive" and that they "do not facilitate cleaning and disinfection."



SeaWorld confines whales and dolphins—who often swim up to 100 miles a day in the wild—to tanks that, to them, are the size of a bathtub.

SeaWorld presents itself as a family establishment full of fun "educational" activities. However, these activities harm animals physically and emotionally. SeaWorld has the financial means and ability to create coastal sanctuaries, where the orcas would have a more natural and less stressful life and where they could feel the tides and waves; see, sense, and communicate with their wild relatives and other ocean animals; and engage in other natural behavior that they are now denied. However, the park instead chooses to stick with the same inhumane business model that it has used for 50 years, despite all the violent and deadly incidents and evidence of harm. Please say NO to SeaWorld and its enslavement of animals by refusing to buy a ticket to this abusement park, and ask the marine park to release these animals to sanctuaries.

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"A better attitude leads to better actions and a better world..."

Make it illegal to hold dolphins and whales in captivity for any entertainment purposes. Stop SeaWorld and those alike.

SIGN THE PETITION to SHUT DOWN MARINE PARKS 

 

In the early 1990's, the U.K. shut down marine parks with captive dolphins and whales on display. Why did they do this and why should the U.S. do the same? 

-These animals do not enjoy performing.
-Dolphins and whales in captivity live shorter lives in captivity. Anti-depressants are sometimes administered.
-They are highly intelligent, family oriented creatures and placing them in captivity cuts them off from their family group.
-A cage in captivity is never a healthy enough space than the ocean.
-To engage and educate the public, most surveys say people would be more interested in observing them in the wild than in a tank.
Sign this petition and let your voice be heard to shut down SeaWorld and those alike that hold dolphins and whales in captivity.

Created: Jan 03, 2014

Issues: Arts and Humanities, Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement, Environment

 

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Slaughter of 250 Dolphins in Taiji, Japan

Hundreds of dolphins getting slaughtered every year in Taiji, Japan is now at the center of international controversy. While the livelihood and culture of people in Japan is of great importance, I strongly and firmly believe that it does not validate the killings of dolphins every year.

Every year, hundreds to thousands of dolphins, which are highly intelligent and gentle creatures, are getting hunted, captured and killed by dolphin hunters. The brutal process of captivity instills great panic, fright and terror among these sea animals. Many have been wounded and died in the process and young dolphins are forcefully and painfully separated from their mothers and families. Dolphins are killed with brute force and skiff motors to be either butchered for meat or be sent to lifetime captivity in dolphin captive industries, such as amusement parks, zoos and circuses that claim to be Eco-friendly.

As much as there is an urgent and huge concern for the welfare of the dolphins, there is underlying danger involved in this inhumane practice that affects the health and lives of people as well, which makes dolphins unfit for people's consumption. Dolphins contain dangerously high levels of mercury that can be lethal to humans when consumed in certain amounts. Children and pregnant women are especially at risk to this toxic substance. Symptoms of mercury intoxication vary. They can range from general symptoms like headache, nausea, vomiting, irritability, poor concentration and weakness up to far serious symptoms like muscle atrophy, impaired kidney function, neuromuscular changes, sudden respiratory failure and death.

Human lives are valuable as much as dolphins and other living things in our planet. While some of people's livelihood (dolphin fishermen, amusement parks, zoos, circuses and more) depend on the existence of dolphins and other animals, it can never be emphasized enough that there is always a far better process to incorporate them into our lifestyle. Hundreds to thousands of dolphins held captive, terrorized and slaughtered is not the best solution and practice. There is always far better and humane treatment for animals, there has to be.

   

With our higher sense of judgment, humans can always do better, can always choose better. We are caretakers of this planet as much as we are consumers. I believe we owe it to the world and to ourselves to peacefully coexist with dolphins and every other living thing in this world in the best way possible.  

It's always never too late to make a change. We can always achieve progress by negotiating a global ban and limitations on this terrible practice. The dolphin atrocity in Taiji, Japan has to stop and we have the power to make this happen.

(CNN) -- Japanese fishermen rounded up more than 250 bottlenose dolphins in a secluded cove to kill for meat or sell into a lifetime of captivity, U.S. conservationists warned.

The annual hunting of dolphins at Taiji Cove highlights the rift between conservationists worldwide who see it as a bloody slaughter and Japanese who defend it as a local custom.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society first raised the alarm over the plight of the dolphins Friday, saying five separate pods of bottlenose dolphins had been "driven into Taiji's infamous killing cove."

The group warned that the dolphins would "face a violent and stressful captive selection process. Babies and mothers will be torn from each other's sides as some are taken for captivity, some are killed, and others are driven back out to sea to fend for themselves."

By the end of Saturday, 25 dolphins had been removed from their pod and taken "to a lifetime of imprisonment," the group said. One of them died in the process and will be butchered, it said.

The dolphins will be kept penned in the cove for another night before the selection process begins again Sunday.

'Panicked, frightened and fatigued'

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society live-streamed video of events in the cove Saturday and posted frequent updates on Twitter.

"Killers continue to ruthlessly wrap bottlenose dolphins into nets and drag them to the shore for selection," one update said.

Another, a few minutes later, said, "Panicked, frightened, and fatigued, another portion of the bottlenose pod is driven closer to the shore."

"Killers and trainers tore half of the pod apart today, and will finish tomorrow," was the final post on the day's hunt.

Caroline Kennedy, who was sworn in last year as the U.S. ambassador to Japan, tweeted her condemnation of the process.

"Deeply concerned by inhumaneness of drive hunt dolphin killing," she said. The U.S. government "opposes drive hunt fisheries."

CNN was unable to reach anyone at the town office for Taiji, a community of about 3,000 that juts into the Pacific Ocean, or the local fishermen's union for comment.

But local officials have reacted angrily in the past to Western criticism of what they say is a traditional practice dating back centuries.

Officials say criticism is biased, unfair

A 2009 Oscar-nominated documentary film, "The Cove," brought the issue of dolphin hunting in Taiji to the fore with bloody scenes of dolphin slaughter.

The Wakayama Prefecture, where Taiji is, condemned the film in an online response as distorted, biased and unfair to the fishermen.

"The Taiji dolphin fishery has been a target of repeated psychological harassment and interference by aggressive foreign animal protection organizations," it said.

"Taiji dolphin fishermen are just conducting a legal fishing activity in their traditional way in full accordance with regulations and rules under the supervision of both the national and the prefectural governments. Therefore, we believe there are no reasons to criticize the Taiji dolphin fishery."

The Japanese practice of whale hunting has also put it in conflict with the views of much of the world.

Japan's fleet carries out an annual whale hunt despite a worldwide moratorium, taking advantage of a loophole in the law that permits the killing of the mammals for scientific research. Whale meat is commonly available for consumption in Japan.

Environmental activists warn that dolphin meat, also sold for consumption in Japan, contains dangerously high levels of mercury and other toxins.

'Stop the cruel slaughter'
 

Celebrities joined in the condemnation of the latest Taiji dolphin hunt via Twitter.

Former Guns N' Roses drummer Matt Sorum, who works with the Dolphin Project, posted in support of Kennedy's message, saying he had been to Taiji himself.

"You could be a world hero if you can put pressure to stop the cruel slaughter in Taiji," he said to Kennedy. Actress Kirstie Alley tweeted, "HUNDREDS of DOLPHINS awaiting SLAUGHTER in #THECOVE ... JAPAN, STOP THIS HORROR!!"

CNN first learned about this story through a CNN iReport posted by Martha Brock, an environmental attorney and activist in Georgia. "There are activists around the world that are calling the embassy and the press, but I knew I couldn't do much, so I wrote this iReport," she said.

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"A better attitude leads to better actions and a better world..."

13 Amazing Facts About Our Beautiful Environment

You already know the basics: Climate change is a real and imminent threat, fracking has more to it than meets the eye and mother nature will never cease to amaze us. But if you really want to impress everyone over Thanksgiving dinner, here are 13 exceptional facts about all that surrounds us, thanks to the cleverly titled book "1,227 Quite Interesting Facts to Knock Your Socks Off."

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  The amount of water on Earth is constant, and continually recycled over time: some of the water you drink will have passed through a dinosaur. 
   
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  40 percent of all bottled water sold in the world is bottled tap water. 
   
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   27,000 trees are felled each day for toilet paper. 

   
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  Paper can be recycled only six times. After that, the fibers are too weak to hold together. 
   
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  There is no known scientific way of predicting earthquakes. The most reliable method is to count the number of missing cats in the local paper: if it trebles, an earthquake is imminent. 
   
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  Cat originally means 'dog.' The word comes from the Latin catulus, a small dog or puppy. 
   
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  Humans and elephants are the only animals with chins. 
   
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  Beavers have transparent eyelids so they can see underwater with their eyes shut. 
   
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  Octopuses have three hearts. 
   
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  The 100,000 trillion ants in the world weigh about the same as all human beings. 
   
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  As soon as tiger shark embryos develop teeth they attack and eat each other in the womb. 
   
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  There are more than 1,200 species of bat in the world and not one of them is blind. 
   
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  Dolphins shed the top layer of their skin every two hours. 
   
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"A better attitude leads to better actions and a better world..."

Dolphins Have Names and They Know It

Apparently, dolphins have names too and they know that. Though they may not come along the lines of Sam, John, Jessica, Carla or many other cool names that we, humans, use, they amazingly do. The recent study by Marine Biologists, Dr. Stephanie King and Dr. Vincent Janik in Scotland shines a new light on dolphins' learning abilities and communication that are not much different from humans.

From the study that is later published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, dolphins make 'signature whistles.' Just like how we have our personal names, each dolphin has his or her signature whistle, copied from family and friends, to which they respond to. Very cool, huh.

So how did they come to this finding? Researchers followed groups of wild dolphins where they took note of their signature whistles. They recorded various dolphin whistles and played them back in a computerized version. They found out that each dolphin only reacts to their own signature whistle and ignores the rest.

According to Dr. King, various animal signals exist to make distinction between predators and food. But unlike those inherent signals, they found that signature whistles from dolphins are rather learned, something quite unique in the animal kingdom.

This scientific finding makes dolphins the first case of naming mammals. Well, dolphins and possibly parrots. Because other research studies have also identified parrots’ amazing ability to learn sounds and use them to label things. But we’ll have a special discussion about parrots on a separate article where we can focus on their own uniqueness.

Whether it's listening to our name or a whistle, it's a matter of learning how to take in and respond to certain sounds. In other words, humans' and dolphins' form of communication overlap as we both have the capacity to acknowledge certain sounds, make meaning of them and respond.

With this new finding, don't you think dolphins just got so much cuter, adorable and valuable? This goes to show folks that these animals deserve more respect and recognition from us. There is just so much to learn about them just like the rest of our wildlife and the beautiful world we live in. Dolphins certainly deserve our love and affection and we can show them by protecting their habitat and continuously looking for ways to better understand them and empower their welfare. 

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"A better understanding leads to better actions that make a better world"