Orca breeding today

    Hello and thank you to my fourth follower! It brings yet another tear to my eye, so thank you :)

 But first, on Orca Network's Facebook page, a very injured whale has been spotted around Puget Sound. Take a look at the info, and if you know of anything to help, please do it, as it is in a very very bad way.

And also, please can you email the Prime Minister of Iceland, begging for them to reclaim Tilly and order SeaWorld to return him to his home waters. The address is: postur@for.stjr.is

 Thank you!

 

    So, onto the next topic, where I will be talking about how the captive orca industry has shaped and developed orca breeding in this day and age. I will be mainly focusing on and explaining the process of artificial insemination, the use of breeding bulls such as Tilikum, and the problems that may arise with any captive female or male orca who are used for the captive breeding programs in such marine park establishments. I apologise for any information that may not seem quite as concise as the marine biologists out there would expect, but I am just trying to illustrate how demeaning this side of the industry really is.

    Firstly, what on earth is AI and how and why is it used? Well, AI stands for Artificial Insemination, and it is a practice that facilitates the meeting of a sperm cell and an egg without the process of actual intercourse. It is used for humans as well as within a variety of animal industries, such as: dog breeding; horse racing; zoos; circuses; the dairy and meat industry; and of course, marine parks. It is used in the marine park industry as transporting the bull (male) orca from park to park would cause stress on the animal, so it is easier and cheaper for them to just get a sperm collection on-site. However, bulls are still transported from place to place on 'breeding loans', which means that they are shipped to any place that wants a bull who can perform on-site, on-demand and produce calves from intercourse. So surely this defeats the point of AI? As bulls are still taken from their homes and put into new temporary ones, which means they are still stressed and moved about, despite the use of AI being so available, not that AI is any better morally or ethically, which is what I am here to illustrate. It may be a case of the marine parks wishing to proclaim that their pregnancies are natural ones as this will give off a certain image- that they are ethical and letting the orcas chose who they breed with. It is of course very profitable for the park leasing out one of their bulls, which may be what the incentive is.

     However, AI is also used so predominantly in the industry now as it allows for gene pools to be mixed, and also for greater selection over who breeds with who. So instead of natural breeding, where they choose their own mate, they must be trained or sedated for the semen collection process, in order for it to be inserted into any female the park chooses. This semen collection can be done in one of two ways, either by masturbation or electroejaculation. The masturbation method takes a bit of training, as it relies on  positive reinforcement and operant conditioning (which is the modification of voluntary behavior) to get its result. The male orca is first shown and introduced to a receptive female orca, and when he shows some of his penis and becomes receptive to the female, he is taken away from her and expected to ejaculate. It was hard to get a clear and concise version of this training process, despite looking through various papers and articles. It seems as though they want to keep they way they train it on the down-low. But from what I can gather, it seems that they leave it till the male is very receptive and then lead him away and ask him to roll onto his back. They then touch his penis in order for him to ejaculate into a bag, and when he does so he is given the positive reinforcement. This is the operant conditioning that modifies his voluntary behaviour (ejaculation) by using positive reinforcement. After several training sessions, the male will be expected to roll over and pronounce his penis and ejaculate into the bag, and all at only the sight of the bag. His sperm will then be stored in a freezer or inserted straight into the female. A video of this method can be seen here. Notice how pitiful and pathetic this huge bull seems. It is as if he has just thrown in the towel, and thrown away his dignity. He just swims over sheepishly, rolls over, and is assaulted and then has his semen robbed from him. How such a huge, powerful, majestic being can be reduced to a sperm-production unit is beyond belief.

    The female's training is much the same- she will be trained to roll over and accept the insertion of the sperm into her vagina whenever she is mature. This should be at 15 years old, however SeaWorld impregnated a 7 and a half year old Kalina, which was far too young to be having a pregnancy, as she was only half the age she should have been. The female will then be made pregnant every 3 to 5 years. The other way of AI is to use electroejaculation, which involves the male being sedated, while an electric probe is inserted into his rectum, next to his prostate. An electric current is then delivered, which leads to a contraction on the prostate and pelvic muscles, leading to ejaculation. This form of semen collection is not as common, as obviously it raises some huge ethical questions, and quite frankly the marine parks do not want that on their backs. They would much rather say that their orcas are voluntarily producing their semen and they are under no drugs or force to do so. But lets face it, orcas are extremely intelligent and emotional beings, they know when they want to reproduce, as they stay with their young throughout their whole life. So they know that what they are being made to do is wrong. They are coerced into it using food and they are forced to comply or they would not get the 'positive reinforcement' i.e. food, that they so crave. Instead, what this practice is, is effectively an assault. These animals know what they should be doing, they know what  they are entitled to. They are forced to perform on cue using the plastic bag, without any emotional or sexual stimulation from a female orca, let alone one that they have chosen for themselves. This is not ethical, and it is not fair.

   The female orca also gets this same immoral treatment, as all of a sudden, without any knowledge or consent, she finds herself pregnant. This is tantamount to rape, as in the orca world they choose when they wish to reproduce, they choose who they reproduce with and they cherish their offspring just as much as any proud human mother would. So when, after their gestation period which could be up to 18 months, a baby pops out, imagine the shock she must feel? I know she will love and look after her child, but all she must be thinking is: 'where did that come from?' Not only that, but during the whole birth there are various people and experts and vets around, gawping, some even in the water. Surely she should at least have some privacy in the most intimate time of her life?

A baby and her mother with a trainer involved already. Do they get no peace? (Photo from angelfire.com)

    Not only this, but after the birth the calves are expected to be getting accustomed to the trainers and the ways of a captive life- dead fish, training, no natural swimming, no natural ocean sights and sounds, and just a few tank members. Not a proper family pod like they would have in their natural habitat. How is this so widely accepted? To produce baby orcas and whole new groups of orcas, with no consideration for their own family bonds, choices or the fact that in the wild they all stay together for their whole lives? Instead these young ones must be in a tank with just a few random other orcas, not necessarily their sisters, brothers or father. It is not even guaranteed that they will be allowed to stay with their mother the whole time. For instance, Shouka who was moved from Marineland Antibes to Six Flags of Ohio in 2002, away from her mother Sharkan and brother Val, and also away from her father Kim II, with whom she had developed a strong bond. She is now all alone, still at Six Flags, with just 2 bottlenose dolphins for company. This is no life for a young female, who was so close to her family back in Antibes. At least there she could live out her sorry captive life with the support of them, but now she has to go it alone. Another example of family bonds being ripped apart would be of Kalina and Keet, when Kalina was moved away from Keet in order for her to accommodate another pregnancy. Keet was only 1 year and 8 months old at this time, and it is almost unbelievable that SeaWorld would allow for this to occur, as it is known that orca pods and families are matrilineal- meaning the males will stay with their mother for their whole lives.

 

Shouka alone in her tiny pool, with no family members for company or support.

(Photo from theorcaproject.wordpress.com) 

     

     The use of breeding bulls is an unfair and unethical practice too. As I have discussed earlier, the means by which they are trained and used and exploited for their semen is far beyond fair, humane and just- whereas the use of Tilikum for his sperm is even more so. He is an orca that is dying to be free. He needs to be free. He has been trained for AI since 1999, that's 11 years of degradtion. He is constantly objecting to his life in captivity and yet no one will listen. Instead, he is all alone, with no proper orca companionship or interaction, and now due to his 'reputation', no human interaction or stimulation either. He is reduced from a huge, powerful and all-encompassing being, to an on-tap sperm bank. This is not the life he needs to live. It is unfair and so demeaning for such a magnificent animal. 

Tilly all alone in his pool, with no friends or family to support him. I can only imagine what he is thinking and reminiscing about. (Photo from Free Tilly Facebook page)

     This human dominance over the lives, and indeed births, of captive orcas is not without its complications and tragedies. There have been so many countless still-births, deaths of mothers, and premature passings of calves it is a wonder places like SeaWorld can still proudly proclaim that their captive orca breeding program is one of the best in the world. Many mothers have died during labour and child-birth, and many calves have died through complications during birth or soon after. A few examples of such tragedies are: 

- Gudrun, who died in 1996 due to complications with a still-birth.

- In 1998 Sumar was born to Taima, who was her first calf. However, when he was just 6 months old, Taima tried to attack him and bit him during a show at SeaWorld. Which begs the question, why was she performing? They should have both been in a separate pool to the shows, in order to bond under less-stressful and agitated circumstances. The noise of the crowd, the splashes, the silly tricks. He does not need to be around that at such a young age, and his mother needed to be around him in private so they could have some intimate bonding time. No wonder she lost it and attacked, she must have felt so stressed, being a new mother expected to perform instead of bond with her baby.

- In 2005, Kayla gave birth to a female called Halyn. However, Kayla did not take to the calf and did not      know what to do, so Halyn had to be taken away and hand-raised at a special facility. It is thought that Kayla did not know what to do as she had never been around a calf before, and had never seen mothering be done. Of course, if she were in the wild this would never have happened, as she would have had one-hand help from her own mother and pod all the way. A member of the pod would of even been with her at the birth.

- In 2008, Hayln died unexpectedly, aged just 2 and a half. This raises a lot of questions about the success rate of birthing at marine parks- and indeed of hand-raising.

- Sadly, in June of this year, Taima died during a birth, aged nearly 21. She had a still-birth because the placenta was delivered before the calf. This was not the only stress put upon poor Taima while in her short captive life, as not only did she become aggressive to Sumar, she also became aggressive to her other son Tekoa, who was born in 2000. She was swimming with him and Katina when she suddenly lashed out at Tekoa. Katina, who was pregnant at the time, then tried to get involved to protect him, but Taima then turned on her. Katina was so hurt and distressed by the incident that she was very lucky she kept her baby. It is a wonder why SeaWorld still insisted on getting her pregnant, despite two very aggressive and dangerous incidences in which she tried to hurt her own child. This sort of behaviour is very rare in the wild, and again proves how negligent and inconsiderate the marine parks are when breeding orcas. They should have left Taima alone, but instead impregnated her further, which ultimately caused her death.

 - In October of this year, Kohana (who was 8 at the time and so also very young to be impregnated) gave birth to a male calf after a four hour labour. However, she did not take to him and that prompted staff to take him away and hand-raise him.

    It seems as though the captivity industry has not yet showed the compassion that it so desperately needs when regarding the future lives of orcas, as they seem to just impregnate here and there, whoever and wherever and whenever they choose. They have even created hybrid orcas, such as Kalina, who was half Icelandic and half Southern Resident, and Taima who was half Transient and half Icelandic. This would not happen in the wild, and will no doubt have some negative consequences in the near future, as certain gene pools and matrilineal lines will be wiped out. There are also risks of inbreeding, as Kohana's calf was fathered by Keto- her half uncle. Not to mention the use of birth-controls and hormones which are pumping them full of medication and chemicals, and not to mention the fact these parks let young females become pregnant, even if they are too young. There are just too many arguments against captive orca breeding, yet the only argument for it is to restock the empty tanks where they are all dying at abysmally high rates, which to be frank, is not a good enough reason to allow it.

    So that concludes this post, hope it's been informative and highlighted some of the key moral and ethical arguments against captive orca breeding programs. Thanks for reading :)

And if anyone has any more details regarding the topic, please feel free to comment.

 

   

   

Orca Captures in the Past

  Apologies for no posts in a while, been so busy with essays. Got the last one done today though, so will try and keep up to date from now on. Also, check out this amazing website called Cetacean Cousins, its by some uni students from Devon and if you ask me it is one of the most accessible sites for all things cetacean. Really good info on there about pretty much every captive or captured cetacean, be it living or deceased, so its handy for my next post. Kudos to you guys at Cetacean Cousins. :)

  So, today I will be talking about the captures of live, wild orcas that have happened in the past. I will mainly be referring to the Washington State/ British Columbia captures, the live captures in Taiji, Iceland and Russia, and also with much controversy, the capture of Morgan the orca this summer. But first, here is a really great, if slightly strange, video that was posted on Ric O'Barry's wall today, about the situation of the dolphins of Taiji. It may be quite long, but stick with it, its strangely haunting and beautiful, and certainly gives a different perspective. It can be found here. Also, another beautiful thing to have a quick look at- some orcas surfing the waves in NZ, these pictures are so beautiful and conjure up so many emotions within me. Take a look.

  So, back to the post, which to start with I shall be looking back upon some of the first live orca captures, which due to their barbarism and cruelty have gone down in history as the most infamous captures ever seen in recent decades. Firstly, the capture of a female orca in 1961 by Marineland in California, whose head animal collector Frank Bocato saw a lone, mature and sick orca feeding in Newport Harbour. He then corralled her and led her into the shallows, where she was captured and taken to Marineland. Once in her tank, she headed straight towards the wall head-on. Bocato then recalled that the next day 'she went crazy', 'striking her body repeatedly'. It is no wonder that she then convulsed and died, an autopsy revealing she had pneumonia and acute gastroenteritis. Despite this absolute shambles of a capture, Frank was still sent out to perform another live capture just a year later, this time to Puget Sound in Washington. After searching for a month, they came across a male and female, who was focused on hunting a porpoise that was heading straight for the boat, presumably to use it as a shield. Once it had swam past, followed closely by the female, they flung the lasso and caught her. However, as Frank recalls, it was then that 'everything started to go wrong'. She swam out to the end of the line, and as soon as she ran out of room to swim, let off a 'high-pitched screaming', which then led to the male swimming toward her, as if to help. However as if sensing their lives were in danger, they both swam at full speed toward the boat. They charged the boat several times, hitting it with their flukes as they turned around. It was then that Frank decided that getting out his rifle was the best action to take. He shot at the male who swam off, but for some reason persisted in firing 10 shots at the female, killing her. He then towed her to shore, had her weighed, and then had her rendered into dog food. This seems somewhat unbelievable, a pair of orcas fighting to the death to avoid capture, but yet this near-death experience did not deter the aquarium industry.

  In 1964, despite the previous disasters caused by orca captures, the Vancouver Aquarium sent out a sculptor, Samuel Burich, to go and hunt and kill an orca in order to create a life-sized model of it to fill up its new British Columbia hall. Burich then harpooned a 15 foot orca near Saturna Island, British Columbia- however, it did not die instantaneously despite being shot and harpooned, so he and the aquarium director Murray Newman, decided to tow it back to shore by the harpoon-line through its dorsal fin. Amazingly the orca survived this 20 mile dragging, and was then put in a makeshift pen in Vancouver Harbour. He was named Moby Doll, as at first people believed he was a female. Moby Doll was kept alive in the pen for a surprisingly long period- 87 days, yet still died an untimely death due to the harbour water's low salinity, which caused a skin disease. He was seen as docile, considering people were used to the myth and legend of the 'killer' whale, which then led to a new-found fascination with these majestic, somewhat peaceful animals. It could be argued then, that if it wasn't for Moby Doll's docility, the fascination for orcas would instead be fear, which would have prevented the industry of live captures from ever taking off and developing.

Picture of Moby Doll in his makeshift pen. At least it was bigger than some pools seen in aquariums nowadays! (Photo from Google images)

       So, this leads us onto one of the most hated capture of all anti-caps- the capture of Namu in 1965. It could be argued that it was Namu that truly sparked the 'love' for orcas, which has since led to the capture and premature deaths of hundreds, and ultimately the captivity of orcas as an industry. It was in Namu, British Columbia that the young male was caught by accident in a fishing net, and when he was brought to shore the fishermen wanted to sell him to anyone who made a bid. Unfortunately for Namu, this bidder happened to be Ted Griffin, the owner of the Seattle Public Aquarium, who had a dream of befriending a killer whale and who made that dream a reality by purchasing Namu for $8,000 that day. However despite his successful bidding, Griffin still had the problem of getting Namu (who he named after the place of capture, obviously), to Seattle 450 miles away. Griffin thought that the best way to go about this mean feat would be to create a mobile pen, which would be towed through the ocean for 450 miles, until Namu reached Seattle. During the journey, Namu showed great distress and even started emmitting screams. The pen was followed by a pod of 30 to 40 orcas on the 4th day, and they each charged at the pen, as if to try and break Namu free. After a few hours, most of them swam off leaving just a female and two calves, which followed Namu in his pen for 150 miles. It is without a doubt that she was his mother, and it seems to reflect an almost beyond-human family tie- the fact that she would travel that far in order to stay with her beloved son is something most mothers could relate to.

 Namu's floating pen on his arrival at Rich Cove. (Photo from Google images)

    Once he arrived at Seattle on the 28th July, Namu's pen was put in Rich Cove, and on the first Sunday there, Namu attracted more than 5,000 people. Griffin's main ambition was to not only befriend this orca, but to prove to people that these 'killer whales' were not really killers at all, and he wanted to do this by being with Namu in his own environment- in the water. In order to do this, he went about studying and observing Namu's every move, behaviour and characteristic, before the day came that he decided to get in the water and stroke Namu with a long-handled brush. Namu did not flinch, so Griffin felt confident enough to get on him. All this happened within just a month of Namu being at Rich Cove, and yet the pair had already developed a special relationship, with Griffin proclaiming: 'it was as if my every conscious wish became the whales command'.They performed together for eleven months, gathering huge crowds every day. However, Namu soon developed a bacterial infection from the dirty harbour water which affected his nervous system, causing him to crash head-on into the side of his pen and thrash around violently. He then died.

Photos of Namu performing in his pen in Rich Cove, and of Ted swimming with him. (Photos Google images)

   During Namu's short captive life, Ted decided upon getting him a pool companion in order to keep him company. This led to the capture of Shamu, a young female orca from Washington, in the October of 1965. During the capture, her and her mother were harpooned, but managed to evade capture. A few days later though, they were seen again and caught, yet by this time the mother had drowned herself by closing her blow hole, due to the harpoon injuries that had punctured her lung and pushed her to suicide. The little female calf was then taken and put in with Namu, and named Shamu, which is basically She + Namu = Shamu. However, due to the fact they were from totally different family groups, Namu and Shamu didn't get on which led to Ted selling her to SeaWorld San Diego for a hefty sum of $75,000. Apparently, she was also aggressive towards both Ted and Namu, which is probably what pushed him to sell her on so quickly. SeaWorld had only just opened and saw Shamu as a perfect opportunity to create a whole new show and play on the success that Namu had. They then trained Shamu to perform with people in the water, which of course was a huge success, and also a surprise considering her brutal and traumatic capture at such a young age. However, her aggression was still a problem, and there is a rather shocking video of her with her trainer, in which she takes off around the pool at high speed and then grabs onto the trainers leg. It is a wonder she didn't bite it off or worse, drag her under, as it is clear to see how angry and frustrated she is. This is no surprise when looking at the size of the tank, I can honestly say I have been in bigger children's pools. In fact, I don't know what is more shocking, the frustration she shows (which is later shaken off as 'highjinks') or the size of the bath tub.

      Despite all this, Shamu lived in captivity till 1971, when she died of septicemia and pyometra, an infection of the uterus. It was quite an achievement to have kept her alive in a pool that long, especially back in the 60s, but ultimately she still died at an incredibly young age- she was only 9. But her legacy lived on and sparked the 'Shamu' phenomenon throughout the globe which is still alive today- SeaWorld still uses the name Shamu as a show name for their performing orcas, despite the fact that at the time they never told the public the real Shamu had died.

 The 'Shamu' Show at SeaWorld. (Photo from Google images)

      Despite Ted's friendship with Namu and positive attitude to orcas, he still went on to form an alliance which is responsible for some of the most barbaric orca captures of all time. After Namu's death- and somewhat disillusioned and driven by fame and fortune- he began a partnership with Don Goldsberry, a fellow whale capturer. It was together that they developed a new method of capturing orcas- following them into a cove or shallow inlet, then ambushing them and trapping them in with nets. The youngest can then be selected, usually by coralling them with other nets. It was common practice to use explosives called seal bombs to drive the pod into the cove. Another method was also developed- following herring fishing boats or dumping herring in front of a large pod in order to distract them, then setting a seine net around them, slowly drawing it tighter and tighter, until they float on the surface accepting their fate. It is then that the younger juveniles can be picked out. During this partnership, from November 1965 and August 1977, Don and Ted were responsible for the capture of around 200 orcas, most of which were juveniles and sent to SeaWorld. A year after Namu's death, Ted and Don went out to try their new methods, and ended up capturing 5 young orcas, but 3 of them drowned during the traumatic capturing process. It was in the February of 1968 that Hugo was captured, along with another orca. As he was only 3 at the time he was a prime candidate for the performing orca business, and was transferred to Miami Seaquarium and put into what is now the manatee tank. Which, may I add, was no bigger than a child's swimming pool.

     It was on the 8th August 1970, in the Puget Sound waters of Penn Cove, Washington, that the most notorious capture took place. The capture that was known as 'Namu, Inc' and was responsible for the death of 5 orcas (4 being only calves), and the capture of Tokitae, who is now known as Lolita. She was one of 80 orcas from the Southern Resident community trapped in the cove that fateful day, 7 of which were sent to marine parks around the world. Lolita of course, ended up at the Miami Seaquarium, where she remains today. The capturers wanted no one to know of the barbarism that took place that day, so in the evening the hunters slit the bellies of the drowned, filled them with rocks, chains and anchors, and dropped them to the bottom of the sea. Despite their best efforts to hide the bodies, they were washed to shore on Whidbey Island on November 18th. This footage can be seen in the film Lolita- Slave to Entertainment, which can be found in parts on youtube.

The capture. Notice in the last photo, the ropes round their flukes, dragging them in. (Photos from Google images)

    It was in 1976 that they pushed it too far- Don Goldsberry captured 6 orcas for SeaWolrd in Budd Inlet, Puget Sound. He was seen using explosives and even aircraft to herd the orcas into the inlet, enraging the residents of the area, and indeed the whole State of Washington. He was then sued for violating the terms of his capturing permit, and forced to let the 6 orcas free. It is hard to believe that even now the vision of SeaWorld is of an organisation that cares for its animals, that puts conservation, education and care first, and that indeed has the best interests of its orcas at heart. It seems almost funny that people can believe that, despite knowing that just 30 years ago they used force and brutality to get their commodities where they wanted them. They are the same organisation that used explosives, bombs and harpoons to catch their orcas all those years ago. The way they obtain orcas may have changed over the years, but their aims and interests remain the same- they are a profit-driven company, a business, nothing more. However, Washington dropped the charges as Don and SeaWorld promised to never capture in Puget Sound again. It was around this time that any captures in the Washington/ British Columbia area were highly opposed to. For instance, in 1982 Bob Wright of Sealand, British Columbia had a permit to obtain more orcas from the area. However he was harassed so badly at sea and on land by local residents and activists that he left and went to get his 3 orcas from a place which was less stressful and not surrounded by red-tape- Iceland.

    Before this Icelandic orca revolution, SeaWorld first looked at getting orcas from Alaska. They had a permit to get 100 orcas from Alaskan waters, 90 of which would be for temporary research purposes, and the other 10 for actual use in the SeaWorld parks. However, there was so much uproar from the Alaskan community and activists that SeaWorld was forced to leave without any captures. A 3-year court battle followed, with SeaWorld trying to get the permit to be upheld. However, there was too much controversy and opposition surrounding the case and the capture of the orcas, so the permit was lost.

   This then led on to the Icelandic orca captures, as it was so easy for marine parks to get the permission of Iceland to take the orcas, which was because it was seen to be a good way of generating money and keeping the fisherman and captors happy. During the years between 1955 and 1972, over 300 orcas were taken from the Icelandic waters for marine park establishments. However, it soon deemed too difficult for the USA establishments such as SeaWorld to obtain permits for the transfer and purchase of the orcas, which led to many orcas being kept in warehouses for long periods while they waited for their fate to be decided, some even died during their stay in the holding tanks.

     For the first of the captures in Icelandic waters, SeaWorld did not want to be directly linked to Don Goldsberry, especially after the Puget Sound incident. So he agreed to work along with both the zoological director of the Dolfinarium Harderwijk in Holland, and also the director of Saedyrasafnid, an aquarium in Reykjavic. They worked together and captured two young orcas in the herring season of 1976, who were both shipped to Holland. One ended up being transferred to SeaWorld after 6 months. The three men then went on to capture another 6 orcas the following year, and in 1978 Don and the director of Saedyrasafnid caught another 5. About 21 orcas were captured during those 3 years, 9 of which ended up in SeaWorld.

Some famous orcas that were captured in these waters include Keiko, who was lucky enough to return home and spend the last years of his life in his home waters. In 1983, a 2 year-old Tilikum was captured and sent to Sealand Pacific, which closed soon after the incident involving him and his two female tank-mates which resulted in the death of a female trainer (this, along with more on Keiko and Tilly, will be discussed in more detail in later posts). He was then moved to SeaWorld Orlando in 1992. In 1989 the last capture occurred in the waters of Iceland, resulting in the capture of 4 orcas, due to pressure on the government from various organisations, including Britain's very own WDCS.

      After the end of Icelandic orca captures, the live-capture industry was beginning to thin out, due to public pressure and people getting more involved in the conservation of orcas. This was highlighted in the uproar from the public regarding film-footage that was taken by a man called Hardy Jones which exposed the barbarism that was the Japan drive-fishing business. This public pressure then helped to end the drive-hunts for a while, but did nothing to stop the live-capture industry from booming in Japan, which came to peak in the mid-80s. In 1993 however, Marine World Africa USA caused controversy over their purchasing of live false killer whales from the hunts. Their permit was refused by the National Marine Fisheries Service as they had violated the terms of their permit, which was due to the fact that under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, it was required they had proof that the cetaceans were caught humanely and that during the capture an associate of the park was present. They of course had no proof, and could not have ever got any either, as the drive-hunt was not a humane capture. This didn't stop the Japanese industry from taking off though, as in 1996 in Futo fishing port, fishermen rounded up about 200 bottlenose dolphins and 50 false killer whales and began selling them off to aquariums and also butchering them there and then and selling them for meat. However, soon after the sale of of the cetaceans, some of the establishments were forced to release or resell them due to the fact they had no official permit for them. 

    It was in 1997 though, that this industry had finally moved on to the live-captures of orcas, using the drive-hunt method. In February, a pod of orcas were herded into the cove in Taiji, 5 of which were taken to marine parks across Japan. After the youngest and most attractive were chosen and captured, the remaining family members would not leave the cove without them, so had to be forced out, one of whom reportedly had an injury. Each of the orcas were sold for around $250,000. Two of the orcas died within months, and the other three all died within 7 to 9 years. 

An orca during the capture of the Taiji 5- notice how the water has a bloody tinge to it. (Photo from orcahome.de)

    In July of 2002, Russia let out a statement that it was granting permission for marine parks to capture 10 orcas from its waters, who would possibly be sold to Japan, Canada or the USA. They would reach up to $1 million each. The news article can be found here. A disturbing video of a capture of some Russian orcas can be found on youtube here.

   

    So, on to the last segment of the post, which is a relief as my hands are aching now. In June of this year, a young female orca was captured in the Dutch waters of the Wadden Sea. She was apparently struggling and looked weak, so staff from the Dolfinarium Harderwijk helped to catch her and transport her to their facilities. She was apparently fighting for her life and in a very bad way. However it seems so odd that she was on her own at such a young age, where were her family? No attempt was made to find her pod at the time, instead they took it upon themselves to act as God and take her from her own waters and her own habitat, rather than treating her there or setting up a temporary sea pen. The director of the Dolfinarium stated that they wanted to keep her there for around 6 months, for observation and for her to gain about 100kg in weight. However, she is still there and this has caused lots of concern over her future due to the fact that SeaWorld are reportedly interested. A statement by the Dolfinarium has explained that 'all possiblilities' will be considered, depending on what they think is best for her. This all seems a little too non-committal, they should get her healthy and let her go, as they first promised. Or this could turn into an illegal live-capture, under the guise of a 'rescue'. A good article on the story can be found here.

Morgan in her tank in Holland. There are many petitions to sign that will help ensure her release and her freedom, so please sign people! (Photo from Google images)

    Well, that's it for today, as its been a long one and to be honest I ran out of steam towards the end. It will hopefully act as a good all-round history to the development and downfall of the orca live-capture industry. Until next time, thanks for reading. :)

Dolphin (including Orca) intelligence

Today I will be talking about dolphin, and orca, intelligence. But first, BREAKING NEWS.

Ric has been over in Taiji waiting to attend a conference with the Taiji Mayor, to openly discuss the dolphin hunt and the threat of mercury poisoning to the Japanese people due to the sale of the dolphin meat. The conference was meant to be a open and free place to discuss concerns on both sides, and was also meant to have free media. However, the questions that were due to be asked to the Mayor ended up having to be submitted and certified a week in advance, and there were also very rigorous restrictions on the press and media coverage. The meeting was due to take place on the 3rd Nov, but Ric released a statement late on the 2nd explaining the corruption and cover-ups within the conference, so he instead boycotted the meeting and went back to the Cove to make a stand against the Mayor and indeed all those involved. You can see the statement at his blog.

My best wishes to Ric and Linc, and indeed all those who are over there trying to make a difference for dolphins, the people of Taiji and the people of Japan, good luck to you all at this difficult time.

     So, onto todays' topic- dolphin intelligence. This is quite a large topic again, but I am only going to go over it briefly, as quite frankly I am no scientist. To begin with then, how smart are dolphins? And why are they so smart? Well, this is the part of the argument that deals with the 'sciency' bit, so I shall get it out the way first. In February of this year, there was a conference held by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), in which a couple of dolphin experts spoke on behalf of dolphin intelligence. One of these experts was Dr. Lori Marino, from Emory University, who put forward the argument that dolphins are on par with primates, both in brain size and capacity. She explained how she had performed MRI scans on dolphins and found that their brain size was second in mass to the human brain, when regarding the body size/brain size ration. In other words, the dolphin's brain is five times larger than is expected for their body size, whereas a humans is only two more than that, at seven times bigger. This is quite a revelation, as the fact is that many still refer to dolphins as 'cute' and 'smiley', when in reality they are so much more intelligent than anyone has ever imagined. Dr. Marino also discussed how dolphins have a larger neocortical volume than humans, and an abundance of 'spindle cell' nerves, meaning that their emotional and intellectual connections are hugely similar to primates and indeed humans. They are highly self-aware and sophisticated, and also form intricate and complex bonds within their family group, and their own kind. Dr. Marino explained the results of her 2001 study, which showed that dolphins can recognise themselves in a mirror, proving that they have self-awareness just like we humans do. 

       This awareness of themselves and their surroundings makes it hard to believe how much they feel and understand when they are watching and listening to their family and friends getting slaughtered in their own habitat. They must understand, apprehend and dread their impending death, something which is truly horrible to comprehend. The argument of self-awareness is one that is verified by Ric O'Barry, who explains that Cathy used to watch herself on TV, and even recognise when it was another dolphin being shown. Another speaker was Dr. Diana Reiss, who is from the Hunter College, City University of New York. She showed some videos of dolphins seeing themselves in a mirror, as well as using symbols on a large board to receive specific objects that they wanted. She also explained that baby dolphins could recognise themselves form one year, whereas our beloved domestic dogs and cats cannot. Dr. Marino also went on to explain just how dolphins got to be so intelligent and intellectually developed, the first reason occurring 39 million years ago, when odontocete's (cetaceans) brains began to develop in size. Then 15 million years ago, another change, which occurred due to the need for survival- the dolphins' communications capacity developed further, due to change in their social ecology. So, it seems as though their species has advanced and intellectually developed just as much as our own. Which begs the question, why do we still insist on keeping them in captivity?

Dolphin brain size. (Picture from Google images)

A good video about dolphin intelligence can also be found here.

     Captivity has about a million arguments against it, both ethically, morally and scientifically. Yet for some reason they are never enough. So here I will be discussing a mere selection of the arguments against the captivity of cetaceans, on the basis of their advanced intelligence. The captivity of cetaceans is widely questioned, yet more recently it has not just been about the guilty conscience or the moral difficulty that it puts upon us humans, but the actual scientific implications and consequences of captivity that has sparked the most controversy. It was argued at the AAAS conference by Dr. Marino that the mental strains put upon dolphins in captivity is 'potentially psychologically harmful' and that the captivity itself 'presents a misinformed picture of their natural intellectual capacities', in other words, even the best captive conditions in the world are still nothing like their natural habitat and that going to see a dolphin show does not do their immense natural intelligence justice. The boring, confined and lonely conditions are one of the main problems with keeping cetaceans alive in captivity, as they can often develop stress-induced disorders which can lead to death. An example of this would be Hugo the orca, who ended up killing himself by banging his head against the pool wall, and also Poncho the dolphin, who got so bored and distressed he would eat footballs whole and pop them in his mouth to swallow them. When he passed away suddenly they examined his stomach and found several balls, amongst a whole plethora of other objects. This vice could only have been picked up out of stress and boredom, proving that the habitat Poncho was forced to live in did not provide him with enough intellectual, emotional and physical stimulation. There are a whole selection of cases like this, as the emotional starvation and lack of psychological stimuli takes its toll on these sensitive creatures. 

        

       As I have previously quoted in the Captivity topic, Randall L. Eaton argues: 'For the most curious, exploratory, mobile, playful creature on the planet, an aquarium must be very boring indeed.' From the same book, The Animal Ethics Reader, another academic Mark Simmonds explains that the bottlenose dolphin may in fact be one of the 'most sophisticated non-human imitator, suggesting that their ability to remember certain verbal and non-verbal characteristics and imitate them is a 'seemingly unique combination of abilities among non-human animals'. In other words, it is impressive enough that they can imitate each other's behaviour, let alone a humans. He also explains that dolphins have a talent of manipulating objects, despite obviously having no fingers or thumbs. An example of this are the dolphins of Sharky Bay in Australia, who are often seen carrying sponges in their mouths when looking for food on the sea bed, in order to protect themselves from the spines of sea urchins. This type of behaviour is not only extremely logical, but also very resourceful, further proving the immense intelligence of these clever creatures. Another more famous example of this manipulation would be the bubble-blowing that is seen underwater. The dolphin needs to use self-monitoring techniques in order to manipulate and produce the desired type of bubble, which shows that they are capable of forward-planning, and thus reasoning.

 A dolphin playing with bubble rings, often a type of play and escapism. (Photo from Google images)

    However, the most important argument Simmonds addresses is that of the cetaceans emotional intelligence- that even though it would be easier for certain people to believe they 'can't have feelings', they are in fact just like us, and feel pain, stress, love and sadness. He points out that they feel, and show, parental love, altruism and grief, probably the most 'human' feelings that could be felt, by animal or human. The fact that orcas, and indeed dolphins, stay in their family groups throughout their lives is not unknown, and  the case of the two male orcas who swam to the spots they used to frequent with their older female companion (thought to be their mother), in order to grieve really hits home, as it is such a common way of dealing with grief in the 'human world'. He also explains that they are capable of showing parental love and joy, as exhibited by orcas and proven by N. A. Rose, an experienced field scientist. Another quite beautiful finding was that of the false killer whales in 1977, who rallied round their injured group companion in order to protect him from a shark that was swimming nearby. Every time the shark approached, they would 'flail their tails' to warn it off, and despite the risk of sun exposure and stranding, they kept that way for three whole days until he passed away. Another key instance of this protective behaviour is the capturing of the orcas of Puget Sound in 1970, the capture in which Lolita was taken. 

    There have been many reports on the drowning of mothers who were thrashing about so much in order to protect their babies from captures that they drowned themselves. These acts of kindness and devotion are surely what every person can relate to. To sum up and indeed strengthen all these findings, Simmonds warns of the 'interspecies communication problems', i.e. the fact that cetaceans in captivity are so ignored and misunderstood, that their displays of stress, anxiety and aggression are totally pointless and go unheard. An example of this would be the case of the dolphins who display 'humping' behaviour, which I discussed in the Captivity post earlier. This thought that cetaceans are 'self-aware' is the argument for their right to life, as discussed by Paola Cavalieri in the Animal Ethics Reader. In her essay, Whales as Persons, she describes how their self-awareness and self-consciousness should grant them a right to life as they can understand and dread their 'discontinuance' on this earth.

A pod of orcas, baby in tow. (Photo from Google images)

    The differences between a captive life and a free life are too many to even list, and there is no denying how detrimental captivity is to cetaceans. And now we understand their ability to feel, to love and to hurt, surely it should mean the end of captivity? Of whaling? Of capturing them from their homes, away from their families?

No. As usual, human interests come first. That is profit to me and you. They mask it under 'research', 'education', 'pest control', but these animals are smart enough and sensitive enough to suffer at the repercussions of those interests. And what gives us humans the monopoly over other animals? They feel as we feel, and that means they should be shown the same compassion, mercy and sensitivity that we wish to be shown.

Lesser Known Slaughters

Today I will be talking about two slaughters in particular, the dolphin slaughter in the Solomon Islands and Peru, and also the pilot whale slaughter in the Faeroe Islands. These have not been as publicised as the Taiji hunt, but are nevertheless just as barbaric and unnecessary.

    I shall first start with the Solomon Islands slaughter, which mainly occurs on the island of Malaita. Spanning over 450 years, dolphin hunting has long been tradition for the local peoples, using their catch to share out between the households, as well as use the teeth as local currency and jewellery, and even bridal dowries. However, due to the ever-flourishing demand for live dolphins to fill the more and more new parks being built, it has become a whole lot more lucrative. But not necessarily for the local population, as western dealers have begun to operate on the islands, buying and selling the live dolphins to the industry, for a huge profit. It is also unknown how many dolphins are actually killed each hunting season, which runs from December to April when the dolphins come closer to shore. They use traditional drive hunt methods, using sticks and stones on the water to drive the dolphins into the shallow waters, where the attractive ones are chosen and taken to a holding pen, and the others are left to be butchered. The dolphins that are hunted tend to be spotted and spinner dolphins, along with the (Indo- Pacific) bottlenose which is the ideal candidate for the dolphinarium industry.

    A bottlenose being caught in the Solomons. (Photo from Google images).

    In 2003, 200 bottlenose dolphins were captured and held in holding pens, and in July of that year 28 were shipped over to Cancun, Mexico, in order to fill up the Atlandida facility in Parque Nizuc. The facility offers swim with dolphin and 'how to be a trainer' programs. This shipment caused huge controversy as the Indo-Pacific bottlenose is listed as endangered in Appendix II of  the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and this urged the Solomon Islands to reconsider. What caused even more controversy is that within a month one dolphin had already died, and then over the next 5 years 11 more followed. Mexico then reacted by imposing a ban on all imports and exports of live cetaceans for the entertainment industry. The Chairman for the Committee of Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries even released a statement urging other countries to avoid live imports from the Solomon Islands. The live export was then banned in the Solomons in 2005 in order to protect their multi-million dollar tuna industry, and in 2007 they became a member of CITES. However, despite this, they still sanctioned the live export of 100 dolphins a year, something that could only have been caused by the impending opening of the Atlantis resort in Dubai. This was of course to have a huge aquarium within it and also a dolphin complex, and needed filling with dolphins. The Solomons provided and shipped 28 bottlenose dolphins over in October of 2007, which cost over $100,000 US dollars in government tax. Ironically, the resort even has a 'dolphin education' centre, in order to educate the visitors who wish to swim with the dolphins. No surprise that the origins of the dolphins they are feeding and handling are left out of the educational talk.

   So, why this huge demand in the Solomon Islands? It does seem unlikely that a small and relatively un-westernised place can be so lucrative when it comes to the multi-billion dollar dolphin-trafficking racket. Well, that's because it is, it isn't run by the local population at all, and in fact they hardly see a penny from the sale of the dolphins they catch. This is because it is run and controlled by a middle-man, a ruthless and exploitative dolphin dealer. There are many who work in the Solomon Islands, paying off the local fisherman to catch them a nice-looking bottlenose, then selling for up to $165,000 each to any facility that is in need of fresh stock. A list of all the facilities which use Solomon Islands dolphins can be found here.One of the most infamous dolphin dealers is a man called Chris Porter, the man who once trained the just as infamous orca, Tilikum. For the last ten years he has been living over in the Solomon Islands, setting himself up as some sort of 'dolphin chief', living among the locals and doing deals with the fishermen in order to meet his quotas for live dolphins.He has in fact exported 83 dolphins throughout this time. He keeps the dolphins in small holding pens, often just old swimming pools, before they are bought and shipped over to any far-reaching countries in need of fresh dolphins. An interesting clip can be found here, showing him in his element with the locals, wearing dolphin teeth and showing Linc O'Barry what the dolphin trade is all about. The clip is from the series 'Blood Dolphins', in which Ric and Linc O'Barry set out to expose the live dolphin trade. It is in this series that Ric finally meets Chris for the first time and also manages to change his perspective on the dolphin trade. A moving clip of Chris breaking down whilst setting free some of his dolphins can be seen here. After this revelation, in which the death of Dawn Brancheau played an influential part, he has since pledged to free all his captured dolphins and even started a project, Free the Pod. This aims to release the remaining pod of 17 dolphins back into the wild, while also striving to develop a sustainable alternative for the local people of Gavutuhere.

   However, there is some bad news to equal it out, and this comes in the form of another dolphin dealer called Francis Chow. He has reportedly got 8 dolphins trapped in a tiny pen, near his seaside property, and is merely 'trying to make business'. So, despite the huge successes that have been experienced in the Solomon Islands lately, the business is still being kept afloat by the demand from parks for live dolphins. However according to Mr. Chow, the price of a dolphin is now just $50,000- so one can only hope that the business shall soon dry out altogether.

   So, onto the next subtopic, the slaughter in Peru, which if I am honest I have only come to know about very recently, as it has hardly any publicity at all. It was first introduced by Italian settlers in the 1960s, who begun to eat the dolphins who were accidentally caught up in fishing nets, it soon expanded and was at its worst during the 1980s and 1990s, in which about 20,000 dolphins were being killed annually for their meat. The most common to be targeted is the Dusky dolphin and bottlenose. However, it was prohibited by Supreme Decree in 1990, and completely outlawed in 1995, along with the eating and selling of any dolphin meat products. This prohibition didn't stem the hunting though, as even now up to 3,000 dolphins are slaughtered illegally along the Peruvian coast, then sold on the black market and at fish markets. There have been several sightings and reports from tourists and locals, who claim to have seen fishing boats surround a whole pod and then harpoon them, drag them aboard and club them to death. The NGO Mundo Azul (Blue World) runs education programs for local schools and businesses, and even training for the police force along the coast. they also operate under-cover operations in order to directly infiltrate dolphin hunters and dealers. Their very informative website can be found here.

     And here we are onto the last subtopic, that of the slaughter of pilot whales in the Faeroe Islands, also known as The Grind. Whaling in the Faeroe's has long been tradition, having being recorded and practised since about 1584. The method of the hunt has hardly changed, except for the use of motor boats and the use of gaffs (sharp hooks) being discouraged. The hunt has always been tradition in the 17 populated islands, and it is a community event where everyone can get involved, even children, though the killing is primarily left to the males of the household. The hunt mainly focuses on long and short finned pilot whales, although white-sided dolphins and bottlenose whales have also know to be caught. The Faeroese use the meat from the hunt, which is freshly butchered on the harbour side, and is then share it out about the community. However, the hunt has caused huge controversy in recent years, due to its cruelty and the fact it is deemed unnecessary. The hunt itself is just like any other drive hunt, where the whales are driven onto the shore using a wall of sound created by the boats and sticks and stones. Once on the shore, they are hooked in their blow holes using a gaff (or blunt gaff), and then dragged further inland to be killed. The method of killing may take up to 4 minutes, as it depends on the skill and strength of the hunter, who must slice into the blubber on top of the whale and cut the arteries and spinal cord. All this is going on with the whales family members at his side, looking on in terror. The water turns blood-red as the whales splash about in shear pain and panic. About 1000 are killed this way each year.

Above: a man using a gaff while the blood flows. Below: a typical cut, right through to the spinal cord.

(Photos from Google images)

  Despite the international pressure to stop the hunt, both from NGOs and governmental organisations such  as the EU. This is because the Faeroe Islands are still a Danish Protectorate, and Denmark is a member of the EU who has signed the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, which lists the pilot whale as 'strictly protected'. So basically, the Faeroese have refused to become a part of Denmark and the EU in order to protect their whaling industry. This can be read in full here. The hunt is considered so barbaric by organisations against whale hunting, even more so since the Sea Shepherd released their undercover photographs of the hunt, showing dead pilot whales with foetuses still attached to them, simply ripped from their womb. This type of savage murder has to be questioned, especially when considering the argument of 'tradition'.

A baby whale still attached to its dead mother by the umbilical cord. Truly tragic. (Photo Google images)

    Another cause for controversy is the question- do they actually eat all the meat? And more importantly, why? Well, to answer the first question, no they do not. A report has been done by the Sea Shepherd that shows a 'grave yard' of corpses, some still whole and untouched, just off one of the main hunting beaches. The report can be found here. So as for the meat debate, well it is now a well known fact that the mercury levels in the meat are far beyond dangerous, so much so that in 2008 even the Faeroese government and health ministry warned not to eat it, as it is no longer safe for human consumption. This supports the argument that it is not only dangerous, but also totally unnecessary in today's times. There are so many other food options available to the Faeroe Islands now, so surely it can't be worth the health risk?

However, there has been much support from the Sea Shepherd on this issue, who have created the Grind Stop operation, uncovering truths and trying to prevent further slaughters. A video compilation of a typical Grind slaughter can be found here.

 So that ends today's topic, sorry if it has been a bit dry. I am tired and if I am honest am just really looking forward to getting onto the captivity issues, as it really is a minefield of contradiction, corruption and cruelty, and there is so much to write about! Till next time. :)

Plan for post topics, and Dolphin Captivity

I was having a think last night and have come up with a rough plan of the topics I will be covering, and in what order. I think this will be best:

1. Taiji

2. Dolphin captivity and implications

3. Lesser publicised slaughters

4. Dolphin and orca intelligence

5. Orca captures in the past

6. Orca breeding today

7. Orca captivity and implications

8. Mortality rates in captivity

9. Famous cetaceans

10. Navy use of dolphins and whales, and dolphin therapy.

11.Whaling and the IWC

12. Current campaigns

13. List of dead, killed and living captive cetaceans

14. Shark finning, and shark product industry

15. Galapagos Islands

16. Current shark campaigns

17. Key cetacean and shark breeds

  And before you say 'hey sharks are not cetaceans!'- yes I know, but I think that their welfare and the issues surrounding them at the moment are just as relevant to any cetaceans. And to be honest I just really like sharks too, so thought I would include them to help get the word out about shark finning.

 So onto the next topic, dolphins in captivity and its implications. This is such a huge topic and deserves a huge post, so here goes. At the moment there are thousands of dolphins in captivity, in all the far reaching corners of the world. There is such a demand for them nowadays, and people just cant get enough. There are swim with dolphin programs, therapy, shows, you name it. Its as if every little girl now wants to be a dolphin trainer, or an orca trainer, and it is so sad to know how little they really know. This craze seemed to have started when the Flipper show was being aired on TV way back in the 1960s. It portrayed dolphins as intelligent, happy creatures that craved human contact and would risk their lives to save them. Like a cetacean Lassie almost. The role of Flipper was shared between several dolphins, but the main dolphin used was a female called Cathy. She and all the other 'Flippers' were trained by Richard (Ric) O'Barry, who back then was an aspiring young trainer based in Miami Seaquarium. He soon became a very famous trainer and was at the top of his game, that was until the death of his beloved dolphin Cathy. It was after the last series had finished that Ric had begun to notice she was looking depressed. It was then that she committed suicide in his arms. As he explained to Oprah Winfrey: 'She was really depressed... You have to understand dolphins and whales are not [involuntary] air breathers like we are. Every breath they take is a conscious effort. They can end their life whenever. She swam into my arms and looked me right in the eye, took a breath and didn't take another one. I let her go and she sank straight down on her belly to the bottom of the tank.' A heart-felt interview with Ric about the incident and about his work on Flipper can be seen here. It was from this point that he became a dolphin and whale activist, releasing and helping to liberate countless other captive dolphins. The argument that dolphins can commit suicide may indeed seem a far-fetched one, but it is not unknown that their emotional and indeed intellectual capacities are not far off our own, so suicide may in fact be a viable explanation for several incidences involving dolphins, and other cetaceans. 

       Recently there has been the story of the false killer whale jumping out of its performance tank in Japan. It attempted the leap once and failed, and then succeeded on the second try while his pool companions watched on in horror. It is safe to point out that the false killer whale was obviously aware of the implications of his actions- he could plainly see there was no water on the other side of the glass. So why did he try and escape? Ric argues that it was a suicide attempt, and it is one opinion that I would agree with. You can see the video of the incident here. Another interesting article on the idea of dolphin suicide can be found here. Another important point to raise here would be the story of Hugo the captive orca. He was originally captured in 1968 and was taken to Miami Seaquarium. He was used to keep Lolita company (more about her in the Famous Cetaceans topic), yet began to behave aggressively in shows. He eventually went into a very traumatised and depressed state, continuously banging his head on the tank wall, resulting in several serious injuries. He eventually had a brain aneurysm that caused his death in 1980. More on Hugo here.

Hugo being lifted after his death. (Photo from Google images)

So, captivity- what exactly are its implications on the dolphins it holds onto? Well, lets start with the living conditions for these dolphins. According to US regulations, a dolphin tank needs to be at least 30ft by 30ft, and 6ft deep. So that means in order for a dolphin to swim the length it does in the wild everyday, up to 50 miles, it would have to swim around the tank about 1700 times. Also, when you think that two or more dolphins may be sharing the tank at any one time, it makes the guideline size look like a swimming pool. The chemicals used in the tanks are also incredibly harmful, as they are difficult to keep clean and sanitary. The mental implications these small, boring tanks have on captive dolphins are extremely detrimental, and will be discussed later in this post. 

       The other important thing to consider when discussing captivity is of course the mortality rate, which is beyond justification. Dolphins die at an unbelievable rate when in captivity, from disease, depression, the squalid conditions, performance accidents, the list goes on. They are merely expendable commodities, their deaths do not matter, just as their lives do not matter. They can be replaced in a number of days and they are completely expendable. Some examples of deaths and causes of death are collisions during performance, one of which resulted in the death of 30 year old Sharky at Discovery Cove in 2008. They were performing a trick in mid-air and collided, resulting in the death of Sharky. This is purely unacceptable, to die whilst performing a trick for the public? It is immoral and beggars belief as to why they continue these shows. Anyway, I shall try and keep my rant to a minimum and just deal with the facts. Another death that was insignificant to the dolphinarium industry, yet so important to those opposing it, was the death of Poncho the dolphin at Miami Seaquarium in 1982. They found an array of objects in his stomach and it is a wonder her survived as long as he did, as they had obviously been in there for some time. A picture of this can be found here. It is no wonder why they wanted to keep that one hidden. More recently however, has been the deaths of four dolphins in the dolphinarium called Sealanya in Turkey. They all died within a week of each other, the reason yet is still unknown I believe. Although it will be surprising if any reason comes out at all, as it is in the interests of the park that they stay quiet. A very good news report on the full story can be found here. It is important to point out that these dolphins, and the others still at the park (and indeed all throughout Turkey) are from the drive hunts in Taiji. As quoted in the news article, 'They died psychologically while heading for Turkey'. A more successful story is that of Misha and Tom, two bottlenose dolphins trapped in a tiny 11m by 22m swimming pool in the middle of the Turkish town of Hisaronu. The conditions were appalling and they had endured 5 years of being fed frozen fish and floating on stagnant water before being brought to the attention of the Born Free Foundation. They have now been rescued and are currently living in a sea-pen. It just goes to show what public pressure can achieve. It is also important to include the recent death of Kalina the orca too, which unsurprisingly has not had a full explanation yet. She died at Seaworld Orlando on the 4th of October.

 Dolphins quite literally jumping through hoops at Sealanya. (Photo from Google images).

      When considering captivity, it is often a common assumption that these dolphins and orcas live in lovely, clean, bright blue waters, with the best health care and experts on hand. This is not always the case, especially in countries with lesser implicated animal rights, such as Egypt, Dubai, Korea, and as discussed earlier, Turkey. One of the most infamous places at the moment is Egypt, where there has been the case of the Taiji Four. At the end of September, four dolphins had been transported to Hurghada in Egypt from Taiji. They are to be the main attraction at a new oceanarium being built there. Note: it is no where near completion. They were being held captive in someones back yard swimming pool, which was green with waste and must not have been any bigger than your average kids' swimming pool. The dolphins must be an a terrible condition, both mentally and physically, and it is a wonder how they expect them to survive long enough to be moved to the oceanarium, let alone be trained to perform there. Fortunately, Ric O'Barry and his son have been out there trying to free them, or at least get them moved to a proper enclosure. You can follow the updates by looking on the Save Japan Dolphins blog, or follow this link to the first part of the story.

      So the question you may be thinking now is, why captivity? Why allow it? Well, apart from the immense profit for all those involved, from the hunters, breeders and trainers, all the way up to the owners of the oceanariums and dolphinariums, there is always the argument that it is for education and conservation, and when regarding dolphin therapy, therapy and rehabilitation. This of course is nonsense. All of it. And I am ashamed of those who believe that by paying for a ticket to a dolphin show they are getting some eductaion, that they are experiencing a real dolphin, and worst of all that they are helping to preserve them. The claims that the parks make about them providing an educational service to the public is absolute nonsense. They are in it for profit. They make millions upon millions of dollars a year profit and it is all because of the uneducated public buying a ticket thinking they will learn something from dolphins if they see a show. The behaviour shown by dolphins, and indeed orcas, in a show are a million miles away from their natural behaviours. How can they be expected to represent themselves and their species when confined in a space that is not even 1% of the size of their natural habitat? How can the paying public even think that by watching them perform tricks and sing and dance and jump through hoops, that they are watching a real dolphin? Or orca? All they are watching is a trained, submissive circus animal. They are trained not because they are happy to do the work, but because the trainers use negative reinforcement and food deprivation techniques to get the required results. These animals are just puppets that have been dominated and broken down, to the point where they have had to do drastic things in order to communicate their despair. Here I am obviously talking about Tilikum the orca at Seaworld Orlando, who in his captive life has demonstrated his unhappiness several times, leading to injury or death of the people involved. Yet still the show goes on, as the incidents were of course only described as 'horse play'. A good article on training dolphins can be found here, it has a good few insights from Ric, who trained at Miami Seaquarium. And of course, lets not forget Turkey here, as in the article I posted earlier it quotes: 'There are 11 dolphinariums in Turkey, but the number of dolphin experts is quite limited'. Thus proving that it really is all about profit. 

    The 'swim with dolphin' programs offered so widely are also just as bad, but not only for the dolphins. Studies have shown that being in the water with the dolphins puts people at risk from various bacteria and microorganisms. The full facts can be found here, as well as the full report on the hyperlink in blue. There have also been reports of dolphins trying to 'hump' people in the water, which may just seem like  innocent high jinks, but in fact may be very dangerous, especially if the person is a child or lesser-able bodied,  and the dolphin weighs up to 1200 lbs.  In fact, there is a video of such an incident on youtube. Note that it seems to be trained to perform such an action, as do the other dolphins in the other videos. Its appalling enough that any trainer would encourage that behaviour, let alone train it in the first place.The issue regarding 'dolphin therapy' is a complex one, and will be discussed in the later post- navy use of dolphins and whales, and dolphin therapy. So, back to the claims of education and conservation. Claims which are so ungenuine they are almost laughable. A few points to note here then, firstly the fact that the dolphins caught in Taiji who are sent to the Japanese oceanariums (in particular Taiji Whale Museum) to perform, are accompanied by their dead family members who are packaged in the restaurant for the paying visitors to eat during show intervals. Secondly, the Miami Seaquarium who claims to be educating the public about killer whales, and in fact has not got a clue. Their educational poster is totally incorrect, the 'false eye patch' does not exist.

Also, the other poster explaining 'natural' behaviour is laughable. The 'behaviour' seen in the show is trained and totally unnatural.

(Photos from Orca Network, Peter.P, 2007)

   I shall now briefly go on to explain some academic arguments against captivity, from the book The Animal Ethics Reader, 2nd edition, ed. Susan Armstrong and Richard Botzler. He argues against captivity for cetaceans, due to the mental and emotional consequences it has on them, and also the difficulty in keeping the facilities well managed. When talking about dolphins, he explains that 'for the most curious, exploratory, mobile, playful creature on the planet, an aquarium must be very boring indeed' (page 498). He also explains the morbidity of the life expectancy of captive dolphins and orcas, when compared to their natural life expectancy in the wild. He also stresses the need for social interaction for dolphins and whales in captivity. The human-dolphin relationship when under 'captive conditions' is so 'incredible' that is may prove how desperate the dolphins are to have a family-like bond and feel loved. It seems so meagre that they have to settle for the love and companionship of the paying customers and not their own kind.

  On that note, I end todays' topic, as I have so much to do and it is so late. I hope its been informative and I hope it wets your appetite for more. Believe me this is just the tip of the ice berg for captivity as a topic!! Good night. :)