Lost Freedom; 10-20

• No name, unknown, died at Seattle Marine Aquarium. 

• Kilroy, captured in 1967 less than 1 years old, died 11 years later at SeaWorld San Diego - pneumonia. 

• Skana/Walter, captured in 1967 at 4 years old, died 13 years later at Vancouver Aquarium - fungal infection. 

• Ramu, captured in 1967 at 4 years old, died 15 years later at Seaworld Orlando - heart failure.

• Orky, captured in 1967 at 4 years old, died 2 years later at Marineland California - pneumonia. 

• No name, unknown, died at Seattle Marine Aquarium. 

• Hugo, captured in 1968 at 3 years old, died 12 years later at Miami Seaquarium - brain aneurysm. 

• Corky, captured in 1968 at 3 years old, died 2 years later at Marineland California - abscess. 

•  Kianu/Clyde, captured in 1968 at 8 years old, died 12 years later at Adventure World Japan - gastrointestinal disease. 

• Orky 2, captured in 1968 at 6 years old, died 20 years later at Seaworld San Diego - kidney failure and acute bronchopneumonia.

SeaWorld CEO steps down!

   
BREAKING NEWS: FEBRUARY 27, 2018. JOEL MANBY STEPS DOWN AS CEO AFTER FALL IN SEAWORLD ATTENDANCE. 

     Since Blackfish was released in 2013, Seaworld has had a massive drop in attendance. Seaworld announced Tuesday morning the news of Manby resigning. Seaworld has lost $200 million just in the fiscal year of 2017. The company is hoping to attract guests with 15 new rides and is cutting $65 million in costs and as of last year, they laid off 350 workers. 

     $eaworld I have questions. 

     1. Where are you getting the money to add 15 new rides?

     2. Where are you cutting $65 million in costs from? Vet care? 

     3. Why expand when you need to cut? 

     Common sense tells me that no matter what you do, nothing is going to bring you back. We want to empty the tanks. 

Source: 

http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/27/news/companies/seaworld-ceo-joel-manby-steps-down/index.html

Is swimming with dolphins ethical?

      Swim with dolphin programs can be found all over the world, they have become extremely popular in the Caribbean for Americans. You may be wondering if it's okay to swim with dolphins or not, and as a dolphin lover it may feel hard to pass up an opportunity like this but you should. Here's why.

     Dolphin holding pens are extremely small and shallow, they have multiple dolphins in small pens together, it's not a natural experience. Many open sea pens do not have any sort of veterinary care and when things go wrong, there is nothing anyone can do. Enclosed pens at marine parks have so much chlorine in them it can sometimes be hard to breathe and it eventually makes the dolphins blind.

     Many dolphins will experience stress and can become dangerous to humans if they become too frustrated. It has even been seen that dolphins in captivity will drown their babies because they don't want them to live a life of stress for human entertainment.

     These programs entail serious health risks, not only for dolphins but for humans too. Swimmers have come out of the water with bruises, scratches, bites and in some cases, broken bones. Diseases can also be spread to dolphins from humans and vice versa. Another major risk is exposure and pollution, for those dolphins living in sea pens, they risk injury from falling debris during hurricanes, shallow waters can become too hot from sun exposure, high pollution levels can lead to death.

     You have to remember these dolphins have no escape, dolphins can not leave when they don't want to be interacted with. Dolphins can collide with other dolphins or humans. Dolphins can also be injured by humans fingernails or jewelry. Most people come out of the program feeling some regret or no satisfaction because what they just encountered was not a natural experience.

     Another popular alternative to sea pens and marine parks is programs that allow swimmers to jump from the boat to swim with wild dolphins, this is extremely harmful. It can lead to the dolphins leaving their homes to find quieter areas. They've also been known to become dependent on humans for food because the program will drop food into the water to coax the dolphins over. Injury to dolphins have been reported as well from being hit by the boats propeller.

     So the question is, will you still swim with dolphins after hearing these non-ethical facts?

Carbon Footprint, what is it and how do I change it?

     A carbon footprint is defined as the total amount of greenhouse gases produced to, directly and indirectly, support human activities. 

      Once you realize the effect your carbon footprint makes on the earth, you can do simple things to change this. It is important to offset the CO2 emissions as much as possible as you can contribute to climate change. 

      Greenhouse gases are compounds that group together and trap heat under the Earth's surface. Greenhouse gases are the growing cause of our global warming issue. This mass problem affects all walks of life from our plants to our animals and oceans. 

    Walking or riding a bike is a way to avoid CO2 emission completely if you can't get to where you're traveling too easily by walking, then carpooling is a great option if applicable. Speeding and hard acceleration also emit more CO2 than needed and runs your mileage down by 33%. 

     When choosing appliances for the home, make energy efficiency a top priority. Turn off lights when you are not using them and replace bulbs with LED light bulbs. Set your thermostat so it can turn the heat or AC off while you are not in the home. Add solar panels to the roof of your home if you live in a mostly sunny area, you could eliminate your electricity bill and reduce your carbon footprint. 

     Eat local produce and organic food. 13% of US greenhouse gases come from the making and transport of food. Lessen your water usage by turning off the water when not in immediate use and make efficient choices when looking for faucets.  

     Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. 20% of greenhouses gases result from the mass production and transport of goods. Buying used products or recycling products you no longer use you will dramatically reduce your carbon footprint. 

     Find out what your carbon footprint is here

History Of Cetacean Captivity

     Since Blackfish came out in 2013 there has been a lot of backlash toward Seaworld (and rightfully so.) But cetacean captivity goes way beyond Seaworld and sometimes I think we can forget that. There are other marine parks all around the world exploiting these creatures for human entertainment. We are going to take a deeper look at the history of cetacean captivity, how it started and why. To further understand how to help empty the tanks, maybe we need to understand history.

     Cetacean captivity has been around far longer than any marine park will admit. In order to admit to this secret, these parks would be discrediting themselves, hiding the violent acts behind their past. Capturing cetaceans started all the way back in the 1860s and 70's when beluga whales and dolphins were captured to be shipped to marine parks across the US and Europe. Marine Studios, now known as Marineland Of Florida was the first park to house a captive bottlenose dolphin in 1974. This dolphin was the first captive-born ever.

     The 1960s is when whaling blew up as there were little laws protecting the capture of wild marine life. Between 1970 and 1971 ten orcas were captured off the coast of Puget Sound, Washington state. Five of these captured whales were sent to Seaworld, one (Lolita) was sent to Miami seaquarium and the rest were sent off to various parks around the states. All the captives besides Lolita died prematurely. For 15 years after, 307 whales were captured, 13 died during the capture process and 55 were sent to aquariums.

     In 1969 the Taiji dolphin drives also began. These dolphins are wrangled into a small cove where the best looking ones are captured and sent to marine parks while the others are brutally murdered for food. However, it is now illegal to send wild-caught dolphins into the U.S.

     In the mid-1970s people began questioning the ethics behind the captive industry. In 1972 the Marine Mammal Protection Act was set in place as an effort to protect animals from the live capture industry. But in 1994 the industry found a way around this law stating that if the captured is used for education or conservation purposes then they can breed without legal repercussions.

     In 1976 Washington state banned the capture of wild orcas within their state. However, Seaworld pioneers the captive and captive breeding industry, they opposed this legislation in Washington state and made it once again, internationally legal to capture whales and sell them into captivity. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species can regulate the trade of cetaceans but most cetaceans being captured are not on the "endangered species" list, their trade can not and will not be controlled.

     In 1992 the federal government blocked the trade of Taiji dolphins from being sent to Six Flags Discovery Park. In 1993, three Pacific White-Sided dolphins where captured off the coast of California and this capture set off a lot of controversy making these three dolphins the last US caught captives. This leads now into the problem of the captive breeding industry. However, in other parts of the world the capture and captivity industry is booming and marine parks are looking to expand outside of the US where people are less likely to care about marine captivity.

Article about Seaworlds opposition on legislature
Source for timeline

Orca Facts;

     Orcas are easily the most magical creature of the sea, there is so much we can learn about Orcas and before I begin my new monthly posts "Lost Freedom" I want everyone to understand fully what Orcas are, how they live and their way of life when free in the sea.

Basics. 
       Orcas are often called Killer Whales they get this name from being the top apex predator of the sea. However "Killer Whales" are actually part of the dolphin family and get their name from the fisherman who witnessed them kill whales larger than they are. Orcas have never been documented to hurt a human being in the wild. Orcas are known for their large dorsal fin and black-and-white coloring.

Habitat.
     The orca has a wide range of living spaces, they live in oceans close to coastal countries. Orcas will live in any climate from the equator all the way to the poles. The orca pod will never stay in the same area very long so it is very hard to document their movements. An orca can swim up to 33mph and travel 99 miles in a day.

Behavior. 
     Orcas live in pods, they are very social animals, most pods have up to 40 members. There are two different types of pods. The resident pod and the transient pods. Resident pods are less aggressive and like to fish. While transient pods are aggressive and work together in groups to take down large prey. Members of the pod will also help take care of the young, often females will help the mother orca care for her calf. Orcas use echolocation (location of objects reflected by sound) to talk among themselves.

Diet. 
     The orca is at the top of the predatory chain so they will prey on anything under them. Orcas will mostly feed on sea birds, squid, octopus, sea turtles, sharks, stingrays, seal, sea lions, and fish. The only exception is the river dolphins and manatees. The orca may beach itself on land to catch a seal or use techniques in big groups to catch prey. Orcas are actually very picky eaters and once their pod decides what they eat as a family they won't switch their diet.

Offspring.
     A female orca will give birth every three to ten years to one calf at a time. The pregnancy of a female orca will last around 17 months and an orca calf is born at about 8 feet and around 353 pounds. Calves will nurse for 5 to 10 seconds multiple times in an hour. Orcas will live for 50-100 years.

Sleep.
     Orcas have to remain conscious of sleep, unlike humans. The orca does not breathe automatically so they need to make the conscious decision to breathe. If an orca were to sleep like a human they would suffocate and drown because they are not present to make the choice. Orcas will only allow one part of their brain to sleep at a time, while the other half stays awake to breathe. They will only close one eye when they sleep. When an orca is asleep they will swim very slow and very close to the surface.

Threats. 
     Orcas face many threats such as fishing net entanglement, encounters with toxic waste, pollution ingestion, and boat collisions. In parts of the world, the orca is still endangered of whaling where they will be targeted to be killed for food or captured for captivity.

Illness and death. 
     The lifespan of an orca is dictated on a few factors, one being habitat. If the orca is living in a highly-populated area then they can be struck by boats, ingest pollution, be separated from their pods which leads to stress and essentially death. Their diet is another factor, are they eating healthy or contaminated food, and is the food an abundant source for them or is it too sparse leading them to malnutrition? The level of endangerment is another factor in orca deaths. If the pod is sparse and has fewer males to mate with, that can cause the eventual death of the pod. Whaling activities is another large reason for orca deaths as they are often killed for food or sold to captivity where they die sooner than expected. It is very rarely seen that an orca will die of illness in the wild unless it is genetic.

Conservation status.
      The orca population is unknown.