The death toll at SeaWorld continues to grow with the loss of another orca who battled chronic health issues. But it isn’t the whale’s death that’s the real tragedy — it’s the life she was forced to live. SeaWorld made the announcement that Kasatka, the park’s matriarch, was euthanized in San Diego this week. According […]
Tag: dolphin
POLL: Should the keeping of dolphins in captivity be banned?
Mexico City has just banned keeping dolphins in captivity, and advocates are hoping the rest of the country will soon follow in putting an end to dolphin confinement and exploitation. The Mexico City Congress, which recognized that dolphins are sentient beings who suffer in captivity, just passed a law that bans the use of dolphins […]
POLL: Should the keeping of whales and dolphins in captivity be banned?
In another tragedy for captive belugas, a newborn calf has died mysteriously at SeaWorld Orlando. Earlier this year, SeaWorld confirmed that Whisper, a 17-year-old beluga who has been in Orlando since 2010, was expecting and due to give birth this summer. Unfortunately, the newborn didn’t survive long after birth. SeaWorld wrote in an update, “Unfortunately […]
Should dolphins and orcas be kept in captivity?
Animal advocates have been arguing for years that Lolita, the lone orca at the Miami Seaquarium, has spent decades living in a tank that’s far too small for her. While the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has historically maintained it’s legal, it looks like the agency might be changing its tune. Lolita was once a […]
84 Pilot Whales Senselessly Slaughtered in the Faroe Islands
Conservationists are mourning the loss of 84 pilot whales who were killed in the first hunt to take place in the Faroe Islands this year, but they’re also working tirelessly to see hunts in this region come to an end. During the hunts that take place in the Faroe Islands every year – otherwise known […]
POLL: Should more countries ban breeding captive dolphins and orcas?
In a historic victory for whales and dolphins, France just passed legislation that animal advocates hope will ultimately bring their captivity to an end. The new legislation bans captivity of whales, dolphins and porpoises, with exceptions for bottlenose dolphins and orcas who are already being held in aquariums, including those at Marineland Antibes, but it […]
POLL: Should Orcas be bred and displayed in Chinese marine parks?
SeaWorld announced a year ago that it would end orca breeding at its parks in the U.S. One year later and nearly 8,000 miles away in China, another such program is just getting started. The Chimelong Group, one of the country’s biggest amusement park operators, revealed that it opened a breeding center for orcas on […]
POLL: Should orca entertainment shows be universally banned?
Orcas will flip through the air and perform high-energy tricks for an audience for the last time in California on Sunday, when SeaWorld puts on its final killer whale entertainment show in San Diego. After years of pressure from animal advocates and fallout from the documentary Blackfish, SeaWorld had announced the closing of the shows […]