The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : Killer Whale The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : Killer Whale
Showing posts with label Killer Whale. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Killer Whale. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Seaworld: Three Other Things the Park Will Stop Doing Now That it’s Ending its Marine-Cruelty Program


Have you heard the glorious news? SeaWorld has finally decided to end its orca breeding program.

Right before St. Patrick’s Day, the marine theme park announced that its current generation of orcas will be its last. In a recent LA Times OpEd, Joel Manby, SeaWorld’s CEO, said the change was made because the park wants to help contribute “to the evolving understanding of one of the world’s largest marine mammals [the orca].”

In addition to ending its orca breeding program, SeaWorld will also cease to produce and put on its “theatrical orca whale shows.”

This announcement is great–and long overdue. So overdue that we feel comfortable poking a little fun at the park’s announcement by listing 3 other things–albeit fictional things–that the park will also stop doing now that it’s ending its marine-cruelty program.

Lower Ticket Prices

There is not a single theme park in the United States that doesn’t expect a ridiculous amount of money to ride attractions that are over in three minutes, or to look at animals that you typically don’t see every day. Well, now that SeaWorld has decided to stop breeding orcas and training them to put on ridiculous stunts for the masses, the park’s entry price will inevitably drop. After all, everyone knows that orca imprisonment is really expensive.

Stop Giving Out Free Marine Pets to Park Guests

It seems only natural that a park that keeps large, magnificent creatures hostage would also be thoughtless enough to give away smaller, but equally wonderful creatures to anyone who enters the park. So, in a groundbreaking move, SeaWorld also will stop giving away precious crabs, fish, and other small types of sea life to the park’s guests. So compassionate…

SeaWorld, as a Whole, is Going to Stop Functioning as a Park and Will Become a Marine Sanctuary

Yes, sea sanctuaries can exist and help marine life in need. SeaWorld has finally seen the light, listened to its most adamant critics, and decided to stop profiting off the backs of sea creatures. One of the park’s biggest critics is John Hargrove, author of “Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish” and former senior trainer. A year or so ago, he said the following about the brilliance of sea pens and ocean sanctuaries:

“I’ve spoken with some brilliant-minded people, and I believe sea sanctuaries are a viable solution. They [SeaWorld] should follow the example of the Ringling Brothers, who recently acknowledged that their customers had shifted in their thinking about having elephants in captivity. So by 2018, all of Ringling Brothers’ elephants are going to be retired to elephant sanctuaries. SeaWorld wants to make it sound like it’s impossible. But we’ve been doing sea pens or sea sanctuaries since the seventies. The U.S. Navy had an open-ocean killer whale in a sea pen years ago…”

While we’re obviously trying to have a little fun with this list, we do think it would be great if SeaWorld did begin to use sea pens. Because if the park really did care about marine life, it would do all it could to make all marine creatures’ lives better.


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Friday, February 26, 2016

Joel Manby, SeaWorld’s CEO, Has Admitted That His Employees Were Ordered to Infiltrate Animal Rights Protests


The chief executive of SeaWorld has admitted his employees were ordered to infiltrate animal rights protests against the company’s alleged mistreatment of killer whales and dolphins in its controversial aquatic theme parks.

Joel Manby, SeaWorld’s CEO, acknowledged on Thursday that the company was wrong to ask human resources employee Paul McComb to pose as an animal rights activist and join Peta protests against the company since at least July 2014.

“This activity was undertaken in connection with efforts to maintain the safety and security of employees, customers and animals in the face of credible threats,” Manby said of the tactics used by McComb, who was exposed as an undercover SeaWorld employee by Peta protesters last summer.

Manby said on Thursday that SeaWorld directors had ordered “management to end the practice in which certain employees posed as animal rights activists”.

Manby’s statement came during a conference call with investors following the release of another year of disappointing earnings. More than $160m (£115m) was wiped off SeaWorld’s market value on Thursday as the company’s shares – which were worth as much as $39 in 2013 – fell 11% to $17.60.

McComb, who posed as an animal rights activist named Thomas Jones, is still employed by SeaWorld. “Mr. McComb remains an employee of SeaWorld, has returned to work at SeaWorld in a different department and is no longer on administrative leave,” the company said in a statement. A spokeswoman for SeaWorld refused to answer any questions about McComb.

Whilst undercover, McComb had urged other protesters to “burn it [SeaWorld] to the ground” and used Facebook and Twitter to incite other activists to “get a little aggressive” and “drain the new tanks at #SeaWorld”.

In the run-up to a July 2014 protest, Jones urged other activists: “Grab your pitchforks and torches. Time to take down SeaWorld.”

Tracy Reiman, Peta’s executive vice-president, said: “SeaWorld’s latest report confirms not only that the company has employed more than one spy to infiltrate and agitate at Peta but also that it values its spies more highly than the executives ... as at least one of the spies is still working at the company.

“SeaWorld’s finances continue to flop as animals continue to be found dead in its tiny tanks, with one death every single month since November. If SeaWorld had business savvy or common sense, it would modernize its business with coastal sanctuaries and virtual reality displays instead of building more roller coasters and dolphin prisons. The tawdry orca sideshows and despicable spying tactics are sinking SeaWorld’s ship.”

SeaWorld on Thursday said its 2015 earnings fell 2% to $361m as sales dropped by $6.8m to $1.37bn.

The company, which has been under intense public pressure since the 2013 release of Blackfish, a documentary cataloguing the alleged mistreatment of whales, dolphins and their trainers, said attendance increased by 0.3% to 72,000 but this was only possible due to “increased promotional offerings”.



Facing consumer backlash fanned by celebrities including Harry Styles, Cher and Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee, SeaWorld has said it will put an end to “theatrical killer whale experience” – but only at its park in San Diego, California, where the drop in attendance has been most acute.

Manby said the company will replace its Californian Shamu show – in which whales dive, jump and splash guests to the demands of their trainers – with “an all new orca experience focused on the natural environment [of the whales]” by 2017.

“We are listening to our guests, evolving as a company, we are always changing,” Manby said as he unveiled a new corporate strategy in November. “ 2016 will be the last year of our theatrical killer whale experience in San Diego.”

He said the decision to end the orca shows in California was in direct response to customers, who he said had made it clear that they want less of a theatrical experience and would rather see the whales in a more natural setting. Attendance at the San Diego park is falling fast. Visitor numbers dropped 17% in 2013 to 3.8 million, according to city authorities.

As part of its strategy to move away from circus-style performances, SeaWorld last week replaced two top executives in charge of animal safety and theme park operations. “The leadership changes we announced last week are another important step on our roadmap to stabilization and growth,” Manby said on Thursday.


Paul McComb posed as ‘Thomas Jones’ and infiltrated Peta at least as early as July 2014. Photograph: Facebook/Peta.


Tweets by activist Thomas Jones, who is allegedly Paul McComb, a SeaWorld employee. Photograph: Twitter

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Sunday, January 3, 2016

Animal Rights Activists Have Demanded that SeaWorld San Diego Free its 11 Killer Whales


There will be no "Free Willy" happy ending for the killer whales at SeaWorld San Diego.

Since the 2013 release of a documentary that accused the company of neglecting and abusing its orcas, animal rights activists have demanded that the San Diego theme park free its 11 killer whales.

But marine biologists — including SeaWorld critics — agree that the whales probably will never be released to the open seas.

Even if the whales don't spend the rest of their lives in the theme park, performing for capacity crowds, the closest they'd get to freedom would be retirement in ocean coves separated from open water by netting. There, they would be fed and cared for by humans for the rest of their lives.

"They are not good candidates for release to the wild, either because they were born in captivity or because they have been in captivity for a very long time," said Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist for the Animal Welfare Institute.

We can put a man on the moon, surely we can move an animal out of a concrete life.
- Ingrid Visser, founder, Orca Research Trust
No enclosed sea pens exist to hold all 11 whales, either as a group or individually. And the cost of building such pens could reach $5 million each, with staffing costs of up to $500,000 a year for each pen, Rose said.

Although animal rights groups have pushed the idea of moving SeaWorld's whales to sea pens, the discussion may be merely academic because SeaWorld Entertainment Inc., the parent company of the San Diego theme park, has rejected the idea of giving up its whales, saying they are safer living in the parks' concrete and glass enclosures.

"They would not be better off in sea pens than where they are now," said Chris Dold, the lead veterinarian for SeaWorld Entertainment. "We would not ever feel comfortable putting our whales into that setting."

Dold and other SeaWorld supporters say sea pens could expose whales to ocean toxins, viruses and harsh weather that long-captive whales can't withstand.

"There are so many reasons why sea pens are not a panacea," said Kathleen Dezio, executive director of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums, an international accreditation group.

The call to release the whales has grown louder since the 2013 release of the documentary "Blackfish," which charged SeaWorld's parks with abusing and neglecting its killer whales.

SeaWorld Entertainment has 23 orcas in three parks across the country. (An 18-year-old orca died at SeaWorld San Antonio in December after a months-long illness.) Miami Seaquarium has one killer whale.

Facing customer blowback from the documentary, SeaWorld San Diego proposed a $100-million plan last year to double the size of its whale enclosure, under a project called Blue World. The project won the approval of the California Coastal Commission in October, but the panel added the condition that SeaWorld end its captive breeding program and halt the transfer of its whales in and out of the park.

SeaWorld has put Blue World on hold and has filed a lawsuit challenging the commission's authority to impose the no-breeding conditions.

During the commission hearing, SeaWorld critics waved banners calling for the release of the whales. Animal rights activists said the captive whales are tortured and driven insane by their concrete enclosures, insisting that the whales would be happier in sea pens.

A petition on change.org has collected more than 220,000 signature, calling for SeaWorld Orlando to release a whale featured in "Blackfish," Tilikum, to a sea pen.

The most often cited example of a captive orca released to a sea pen is Keiko, the whale featured in the 1993 Warner Bros. movie "Free Willy."

Keiko was captured off Iceland in 1979 and trained to perform at theme parks. After several years at a theme park in Mexico City, the whale was transported to a sea pen in Iceland in 1998. Experts disagree on whether the move was a success.

Caretakers say they spent up to $300,000 a month to care for and attempt to train the whale to feed itself in the wild.

During a short swim outside of the pen, accompanied by caretakers on a ship, Keiko swam away and turned up in a deep inlet in Norway where he was found cavorting with children and fisherman along the shore. The whale died a few months later of acute pneumonia.

Mark Simmons, a former SeaWorld trainer who was hired to assist with Keiko in Iceland, said the Keiko experience showed that sea pens are not a safe environment for whales.

Simmons said storms and strong currents in Iceland damaged Keiko's sea pen, creating so much noise and vibration that it likely unsettled the whale.

Dold, SeaWorld's chief veterinarian, said sea pens can also expose whales to viruses passed on through other fish in the pens or toxins and oil spills that wash in with the tide.

"It's very hard to eliminate all of those threats that exist out there," he said. "They are particularly dangerous to a precious group of killer whales born in a zoological setting such as ours."

Animal rights activists say critics dismiss the idea as expensive and problematic because they don't want to consider an alternative to keeping the whales captive.

"They are blindsiding it because they don't want a solution," said Ingrid Visser, founder of the Orca Research Trust, a New Zealand-based nonprofit dedicated to education and the research of orcas. "We can put a man on the moon, surely we can move an animal out of a concrete life."

David Phillips, executive director of the Free Willy-Keiko Foundation, which helped fund Keiko's sea pen and care, said the Keiko sea pen was a success because it taught experts how best to build a sea pen for a whale.

New pens for SeaWorld's orcas can be built, he said, by enclosing a bay or a cove with netting.

"It wouldn't be tremendously difficult," he said. "If we have the orcas, we will find the place and we will do it right."

If captive whales were transported to a sea pen, experts say, the animals wouldn't be allowed to breed to eliminate the need to care for the offspring. But no long-term contraceptive exists for whales; experts say male and female whales would have to be separated in sea pens, at least for some periods.

"No legitimate wildlife sanctuary in the world allows its animals to breed," Rose, of the Animal Welfare Institute, said. "The production of more captive orcas must stop, as they suffer regardless of their origin."

The cost of moving long-captive whales to a sea pen would be high because the animals would have to be hand-fed and monitored for the rest of their lives.

Howard Garrett, founder of the Washington state-based Orca Network, has an idea of what such an operation would cost.

He filed a lawsuit against Miami's Seaquarium in hopes of getting a judge to order the release of its only orca, Lolita. He has argued that the whale is an endangered species and needs special protection.

Garrett helped draft a 17-page plan that outlines how to transfer Lolita from the park to a protected cove in the San Juan Islands, north of Seattle.

The move would require a giant stretcher hooked to a crane to lift the whale from its pen. Then, a flat-bed truck with a specially made cradle would haul the whale to Miami-Dade International Airport, where it would be loaded onto a commercial carrier or military aircraft such as a C-130 Hercules.

The transportation cost alone would be up to $200,000, according to Garrett's plan, plus as much as $1.5 million to care for the whale for the first year. The transportation costs could be reduced, he said, if a shipping company such as FedEx or UPS donates the use of a cargo plane.

Seaquarium General Manager Andrew Hertz said Lolita is in good health.

"It would be reckless and cruel to treat her life as an experiment and jeopardize her health and safety in order to appease a fringe group," he said in a statement.

Simmons, the former SeaWorld trainer, and SeaWorld representatives argue that the money proposed for the lifetime care of whales in sea pens could be better spent saving many more endangered animals such as elephants that are being slaughtered by poachers in Africa.

"I don't accept the premise that there is a problem," he said. "They are in a much better environment where they are."

Sea pen advocates counter by saying that money needs to be raised to protect captive killer whales as well as other endangered animals.

"It's not an either-or proposition," said Lori Marino, executive director of the Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy, a nonprofit group based in Utah. "I don't think if we focus on this, we are saying, 'To hell with everyone else.' "




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Friday, October 24, 2014

Watch: Drones Monitor Killer Whales For First Time


For the first time, researchers are using unmanned drones to study killer whales in their natural habitat.

The Vancouver Aquarium, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries are trying to figure out how killer whales without enough food to eat are surviving.

To read more on this story, click here: Watch: Drones Monitor Killer Whales For First Time









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