Special Idiots

(Artist credit: junefeier @ Deviant Art)

Yesterday was another dark day in Taiji, Japan.  25 striped dolphins were slaughtered mercilessly and without remorse.  While global awareness of this has increased at an amazing rate over the last few years, there are moments when I wonder if we'll ever see the end of this.  Not just in Taiji, but in the killing of pilot whales in Denmark, whaling in Japan, Norway, Iceland, etal, and other places too numerous to mention.

I recently learned about Diana Reiss, the author of The Dolphin in the Mirror and one of the founders of the website Act for Dolphins.  I've requested The Dolphin in the Mirror from my local library and based on what I've heard, it comes highly recommended among several of my dolphin friends.

I also found an article about her here:  Studying the Big-Brained Dolphin

I find it highly encouraging that more scientists are jumping on board in support of cetaceans and even supporting the notion that these mammals deserve human rights recognition. One such opinion piece I found is here:  Whales are People Too

Even some notable experts in Japan are speaking up more against whaling and one such example is this pdf pamphlet now available in English online that was published last June 2011.  You can find that here:  Research Whaling? 

One highly suspected culprit in why so many whales and dolphins around the world are stranding themselves lies in the military use of sonar.  Will suing the military make a difference?  I don't know.  But I'm heartened by the efforts of so many compassionate souls out there bringing this to every one's attention:  Groups Sue Over Navy Sonar Impacts on Marine Mammals

Another example of people coming together to speak up and to protect these mammals is A Voice of the Orcas.  This site was put together by a group of former Sea World trainers who are now making their voices heard on what really goes on at Sea World.  Please help spread the word on this.

Here's some good news!  As you know, Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has not only been active in helping to protect whales, sea turtles, sharks, and dolphins, he's also been instrumental in making people aware of the harp seal cull up in Canada.  Many other organizations and people who've been involved in this deserve all the kudos and credit in the world as well.  It's been a battle that's raged for over 40 years.  According to this article by Paul Watson, it appears these slaughters are finally coming to an end.  You can read his commentary on this here:  The Canadian Seal Hunt is Dead! 

It takes a special class and level of idiocy to not give a shit about what you're doing when you're out on the water in a boat or on a jet ski.  Some people thought it would be a great deal of fun to terrorize a pod of dolphins (with babies) with their jet skis down in Hobart, Australia.   Their self proclaimed ignorance that they were bothering a pod of dolphins is no excuse.  Boating requires one to be mindful and watchful of where you're going and to be careful to not disturb the wildlife.  That's just common sense.

Here's an interesting site that has a page full of varying whale and dolphin links dating back a few years.  Dolphin and Whale News

"It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment." ~ Ansel Adams ~

Saving Our Seas Together

(Artist credit:  Jim Warren)

There's some good news, or at least news that puts us a step in the right direction, regarding marine mammal captivity.  Congress has scheduled a hearing slated for April 27th on this very issue.

For anyone out there who truly believes that parks like Sea World are a great, magical, inspirational, and educational way to witness and to learn about these mammals, please read the Facts of Dolphin Captivity.  I cannot speak to its current accuracy as there is no date given on this page, but I personally do not doubt the heart of it.

I can only repeat what I've said before:  please do NOT support parks such as Sea World, Marine land, or any other related business that holds orcas, dolphins, etc. in captivity by calling it entertainment and education while getting rich doing it.  Parks like this do NOT care about anything but the bottom line, no matter what they say.  If they truly do not care about profits, they wouldn't be doing this in the first place.  If they do care, then they should change from being a for-profit business to a non-profit one with the aim to release these mammals to approved and sanctioned marine sanctuaries for either re-training to be released back into the wild or for retirement while being taken care of.

There are more and more marine sanctuaries being created and developed around the world.  This is a sign of growing activism and awareness everywhere that decreasing numbers of people are supporting captivity and increasing numbers are saying "Enough!"  You can check out a list of sanctuaries at National Marine Sanctuaries.

Let's say whales and dolphins, etal are the rulers of the world and not mankind.  Imagine for a few moments this role reversal scenario.   Now let's say a moratorium on murdering people was in effect a couple decades ago.  Let's say certain countries exploited a loophole that allowed them to continue murdering people for research purposes.  Let's further say that an international committee was set to meet to discuss compromises that eventually lead to the complete banning of murdering humans while setting a quota for a period of ten years before this complete ban took effect.     Never mind that certain countries took advantage of certain loopholes to cheat the rules and the laws for their own nefarious purposes and cried foul when activist groups would protest or interfere.  Never mind that they've been doing it for centuries and say it is part of their culture, their traditions, and their history.  So it's a matter of national pride that they'd continue to do this.  And instead of currently being punished for already having broken the laws time and time again, they are now going to possibly be given permission, within certain enforced guidelines, to continue murdering a certain quota of humans.  But it's okay because after ten years, if this international committee keeps its word and follows through on strict enforcement, it will become illegal in ten year's time to ever murder another human being.

Would this be acceptable to you?

That is basically what is happening right now, with the United States leading the way in discussions on such a compromise when the Int'l Whaling Commission meets in a few weeks.

If this compromise takes effect, we are, in essence, letting countries like Japan, Norway, and Iceland, etc get away with murder.  They have broken the laws for the last two decades and are not being punished.  Instead, if this compromise is successful, they are actually being rewarded.

Read more:  Save the Whales, not the Whalers

Good Deal for Whalers, Poor Deal for Whales

Tell President Obama: No Backdoor Deal at IWC

Is this good news that may twist a knife in the heart of the commercial whaling proposals?  Forensic DNA Blow to Whaling Proposals

Oh the shame of it, this embarrassing the country of Japan.  After all, they've been lying their asses off for years regarding their so-called scientific researching on whaling.  "Tradition and culture" my ass.

Related article:  Show Us the Science

News on The Cove ... Japanese Protesters Target The Cove

Hayden Panettiere's Dolphin Diary

FYI, Oprah Winfrey will be discussing The Cove movie on her Earth Day special airing April 22nd.  If this interests you, be sure to set your DVR's :-)

Imagine if the world had more kids like this:   Saving Our Seas Together

By the way, I haven't yet discussed the Great Barrier Reef Scandal.  I will say this ... this only lends further weight to my argument that offshore drilling should not take place.  Accidents can and do happen.  And when they do, the damage is often irreversible and the effects are devastatingly long term.  What more do people need to wake up to the fact that drilling for more oil is simply NOT the answer?

Barbarian Cowards

(Artist credit:  Jim Warren)

Hot on the heels of The Cove winning this year's Oscar for Best Documentary, is a new TV reality docu-drama called the Dolphin Warriors.  What's that?  Well you've heard of the Whale Wars.  The Animal Planet is working in concert with the people from The Cove and filming them for episodes that are projected to begin airing on TV this summer or fall.   Keep an eye out for this one!  Anything that gets more people aware and active on this issue has my full support.

Have you seen Pirate for the Sea?  It is a two hour documentary that focuses on Sea Shepherd's Paul Watson.  It gives a brief history of his time with Greenpeace, how he came to form the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and the things he does around the globe to raise awareness and to get directly involved in saving marine mammals.  A lot of people associate him with saving the whales, but he's also very involved in preventing shark finning and in his ongoing battle with the Canadian government over their annual harp seal cull.

If you have not yet seen this, I highly recommend it.  Be forewarned, however, that there are some pretty awful and graphic scenes showing various marine mammals being slaughtered.   There was a scene showing a barbarian coward seal killer just standing over a helpless harp seal and clubbing it to death.   I'm not a violent person and I abhor violence, but I wanted nothing more, in that very moment, than to reach through the television screen with my own club and bash this coward's head in.  

That's exactly what they are - barbarian cowards.  Words do not do justice in describing the rage I feel in witnessing such horrific acts against our marine friends.  It shows a complete lack of respect for our environment, nature, fellow living beings, and more broadly, our very planet.  It also obviously shows an utter lack of regard for oneself to engage in such an evil and cruel act.  

How would people feel if a harpoon was shot at them while they were minding their own business in the ocean?  Or feeling a knife cutting off your arms akin to the shark finning and then being thrown back overboard - alive.   Or a club being repeatedly bashed against your skull until your last dying breath?  Or being herded into a cove that soon turns blood red as all your dolphin friends, and ultimately you, get slaughtered and bleed out to a slow and painful death?

If you're against the harp seal hunt, you should check out this site:  Harp Seals

Much like Japan defends it's barbaric killing of whales and attributes it to "culture," Canada does the same thing in defense of their cowardly bashing of seal pups.  Only public pressure from around the world and a severe economic loss will wake up the Canadian government.  

Just because there's a possibility there won't be a seal cull this year, doesn't mean the battle is won.  Please remain vigilante on this issue by directly contacting the Canadian PM.   If you are not aware of what this is all about or why the big deal over this, please check out About the Canadian Seal Hunt and read up.

Will Japan ever get their stubborn harpoons out of their asses and finally listen to reason?  Will they ever realize that killing whales for research is not only a bogus lie on their part, but is completely unnecessary in order to conduct said research?  New Zealand is taking a stand that killing whales for research is NOT needed and will be arguing their case at the IWC this June.  Go New Zealand!

Talk has died down quite a bit from the Sea World Orlando incident a couple weeks ago.  I guess a lot of people really just don't care.  If they did, they'd have started boycotting Sea World immediately and the parks would be either completely shut down by now or in danger of bankruptcy.  This is an interesting article:  How Can Sea World Manage Tragedy, Criticism While Maintaining Business Brand?

Excerpt:

SeaWorld executives, he said, “have no interest in creating an environment where animals are not happy and not safe. ... Yes, they are in swimming pools. There’s no question. They’re also in an environment where they are taken care of.”

Color me stupid, but that sounds like an oxymoron.  Putting a 12,000 pound Orca in a swimming pool and say "they are taken care of."   

Another excerpt:

University of Florida professor Robert W. Emerson said he sees no easy way for SeaWorld to alter dramatically its business model in the short term. It would be like McDonald’s or Wendy’s abandoning hamburgers and scrapping their menus because of health concerns about beef.

“It’s difficult to do that without conceding what they’ve done up until now has been wrong,” said Emerson, a legal-studies expert. “If that’s your product, it’s a little hard to go too far away from it without saying there is something wrong with your product.”

Wow.  Comparing live marine mammals being held captive in the tiniest minature replication of the ocean that is possible, to hamburger.  I must be dense.  I don't get it. 

Here are a couple of suggestions on changing their so-called business model.  

(1)  Release the orcas and dolphins to sanctuaries.  It may not be the vast ocean but it's certainly better than swimming pools.  If the mammals were once wild, they could possibly be re-introduced back into the wild over time.  If they were never wild (hence, Sea World might actually cease supporting the slaughtering and capturing of dolphins around the globe and being sold to the likes of Sea World for their greedy purposes) then take care of them in the sanctuaries.  Who foots the bill?  Sea World and their subsidaries.   They created this mess, they should pay for it.

(2)  Educate people about our marine mammals and marine environments via hologram performances, big screen productions (like IMAX Theatres,) eco-friendly whale/dolphin watching tours, sales of DVD's, books, and other related materials that promote education and awareness, etc etc.

Anyone have any other suggestions or ideas?  I'd love to hear 'em.

Another excerpt from the above article:

“One more incident like this and the brand really would be in trouble,” Connor said. “You don’t want to cross your fingers and hope it doesn’t happen again. You can’t afford to do that.”

Well golly gee whiz.  Wasn't one incident enough for people to wake the hell up and stop buying tickets to Sea World?  Guess not.   The executives at Sea World are still raking in the bucks and the public continues to help them get richer - at a far greater expense to these mammals and ultimately our planet, than they'll ever fathom. :: shaking my head sadly :: 

"We share the Earth not only with our fellow human beings, but with all other creatures." ~ Dalai Lama ~

I couldn't have said it better myself.

IWC Debates Legalizing Murder

(Artist credit:  Jeff Wilkie)

How does anyone or any country compromise on the murdering of sentient beings?   Such is the situation at the IWC talks currently taking place down in Florida.  The two countries battling it out the most are, to no one's surprise, Australia and Japan.

Japan is basically still whining that whaling is part of their culture and they want a return to unlimited whaling.  

Australia wants ZERO whales killed.

Neither is willing to compromise nor meet each other half way.

Meanwhile, the coward in this game?  The good ole U.S.A. for abstaining, so far, on any decisions.

Politics - ain't it grand?  

Meanwhile, whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles, manatees, etc do not play the game of politics.  They are simply trying to live their lives in their rightful homes - the ocean, and to have the right to be free of human egoism and greed.  

Links to articles discussing the latest IWC talks on the fate of our planet's whales:

Whaling Compromise Reaches a Dead End

PM Set on Suing Over Whaling

IWC Draft Document Promotes Regulated Whaling

Danish Whaling Request Postponed

Lots of articles out there on the IWC talks, just put "IWC" in your favorite search engine.

If you're against whaling, you may want to send a message to President Obama and let him know how you feel.  I've personally sent an email a couple days ago.  Does this sort of action work?  I don't know, but at least I'm speaking up for a species that has no voice.  What are you doing?  :-)     Contact President Obama at the White House.

There's still a lot of talk out there about the Sea World incident and about keeping wild animals in captivity and/or for the purpose of entertaining us dumb humans.  This one article is short, sweet, and right to the point:  Best to Allow Wild Animals to Stay Wild

Another related and just as short and sweet:  Skip the Zoo, and Sea World

Sea World doesn't give a crap about their whales and dolphins.  They do give a crap about money.  Money talks people.  Please do NOT support Sea World in any way and any other park like it.  Imagine the power of people NOT buying tickets to see the shows and NOT buying the merchandise?  People fail to realize just how much power they have over corporations.  The common language we have with the greedy corporations is MONEY.  They want it, you don't have to give it to them.

The battle between the whales and the military rages on and looks like it will continue to do so for some time to come.  As with any battle, there are victories and there are defeats.  This article gives us a mixture of both:  Whales vs Navy: NOAA May Limit Sonar Tests

Are you planning to tune into the Academy Awards?  As you know, The Cove has been nominated for best documentary.  I normally do not watch awards shows, but will be checking for updates on the internet to see if they've won :-)

If you live in Australia, you may be interested in this site:  Save Our Marine Life    Having less than 1% of the marine life protected is a pretty sorry number wouldn't you say?  Get involved!

Site spotlight:  Earth Island Institute

Be sure to check out Sea Shepherd for their latest updates.

As new age'y and hippie'ish as this sounds, we are all connected on this planet.  This isn't about being a tree hugging environmentalist.  This is about caring about your world and all that live on it and in it.  Saving the whales and the dolphins, etal, and caring about the fate of our oceans could result in you saving your own life.  Otherwise, we're all just committing a slow and agonizing suicide.

The choice is ours.

Mahalo,

Dolphin

Sea World Sucks

 (Artist credit:  Christian Lassen)

Apologies for the lapse in posting.  Life's been busier and my partner just had major surgery.  

Lots has happened since I last posted!

Sea Shepherd had quite the season down there in the Southern Ocean.  Rather than rehash all that went on, I'll just encourage you to check out their website for updates and if you are on Facebook, you can also check them out there.

I'm sure it'll come as no surprise to anyone that I would like to write about the recent events at Sea World Orlando with the trainer being killed by the Orca, Tilly.

I've written not too long ago about my views on marine mammals in captivity.  This latest tragedy only serves to reinforce my views on this issue.  While I am deeply sorry that the trainer was killed and I extend my sympathies to her family and loved ones, it is unfortunate that it takes a tragedy like this for people to start thinking and talking about whether or not it's truly beneficial for these mammals to be held ransom in the manner that they are. 

If you've been keeping up on this story, no doubt you are aware that there is discussion that the trainer is to blame for what happened.  I'm gonna be pissy about this and say this as succinctly as I can ... WTF are they thinking, blaming the trainer??!?!?   It is my ever so humble and passionate opinion that Sea World is to blame for this tragedy, NOT the trainer and more than that, NOT the whale.  Are people truly that thick in the head?    In addition, I find it truly unbelievable that Sea World was considering euthanizing Tilikum for what happened.  Well golly gee whiz, if I had been held captive for 30 years and was living a life of basically forced slavery, I'd be pretty damn frustrated too and likely to snap myself.

These creatures weigh well over 10,000 pounds and belong in the ocean with hundreds and thousands of miles at their disposal to explore.  It is not in their nature to be held captive to satisfy the greed of humanity.   "We have them here for research" is one excuse used.  Research?  What research?  Trainers are surfing on the backs of Orcas and having dolphins fly through hoops and do somersaults in the air.  "People come away with a greater appreciation for our marine species."  Sure, as entertainers, not as species in their natural habitats and on their own terms.   What's wrong with appreciating our non-human friends just as they are, where they are, and who they are on their own terms in their own worlds?  What right do we have to yank them out of their worlds and thrust them into ours and basically say "Jump in the air Tilly!  Do a flip for us and splash the audience!"   How happy can these mammals be being stuck in a perverted and tiny version of what places like Sea World assume to be natural and healthy for them?

It's not natural for people to be enslaved.  What makes us think that it's natural for mammals to be? 

I suppose it would be fun for us to be restricted to say a bathtub .. and in order to receive food, we would be trained and required to do tricks. People will buy tickets and come away feeling like they were really educated on what a human being does in a bathtub.  All the while, someone higher up is getting rich and they only look at you as a commodity.  They also look at you to possibly provide offspring to continue further generations of performing in bathtub captivity and they continue to believe you are actually doing a public service, acting out of the goodness of your heart, doing research on humans in captivity, and providing an educational experience.   But one day you snap and bite the finger off of your "trainer."   The trainer will be blamed for doing something wrong but not the owner of the bathtub park. Things will shut down for a few days out of respect for this amputation'al tragedy and then the show must go on!  And the morons out there who love to watch humans doing tricks in bathtubs will line up to buy more tickets to more shows, all the while simply shaking their heads at the "isolated incident" and yet not learning a damn thing from it.  Yup.  That's the kind of life we'd LOVE to have! 

Excellent reading:  Orca Resistance at Sea World  and  When Orcas Strike Back

They show a clear pattern of calculated aggression by confined Orcas toward Humans, whereas, in the wild, you can scuba dive with these predators without ever being in danger of your life. These animals are HIGHLY intelligent. There is no conceivable way that they “mistook” their trainer for a toy, or that they did not comprehend that they were doing her harm. (Source:  A comment left after Killer Whale Tragedy Illustrates Moral Difference Between Humans and Animals article.)

Ric O'Barry wrote this latest posting on Save Japan Dolphins:  Time for a Federal Investigation into Sea World's Negligence 

Animal Activists Call for Changes at Sea World    

One writer shares Tilly's perspective:  Tilikum Speaks About Sea World Attack

This bears repeating:

No aquarium, no tank in a marine land, however spacious it may be, can begin to duplicate the conditions of the sea. And no dolphin who inhabits one of those aquariums or one of those marine lands can be considered normal. ~ Jacques Yves Cousteau ~

Captivity is cruel.  Please do not support the likes of Sea World in any way, shape or form.  Money talks and money is a powerful incentive to corporations like Sea World.  If no one supports them financially in any way, then Sea World will be forced to either change their ways for the betterment of our marine friends, or go bankrupt.

Mahalo,

Dolphin