Animal Rights Blog

Have you seen Blackfish? Curious about orcas in captivity? Want to know more about how it affects them? Here is a comprehensive list of the bulk of the issues, from both pro-captivity and anti-captivity perspectives, to satisfy your thirst for knowledge about this controversial issue:

ANTI-CAPTIVITY SOURCES

General Overview of Orcas in Captivity:

What IS so Bad About SeaWorld?

Killer Controversy: Why Orcas Should No Longer be Kept in Captivity 

Killer Whales Don’t Belong in Captivity—and Here’s Why

The Case Against Killer Whale Captivity

Blackfish: How Captivity Affects Killer Whales

Killer Whales Should Not be Held Captive

The Debate: Anti-Captivity Views

Blackfish Director: Killer Whales Don’t Belong in Captivity

Captures of Wild Orcas

The Penn Cove Orca Captures

Rounding Up Shamu with Don Goldsberry

Orca Stories—Penn Cove—Don Goldsberry of SeaWorld Inc.

The Heartbreaking Real-Life Capture of Orcas

North Eastern Pacific Captures

North Western Pacific Captures

Icelandic Captures

Impact of the Captures Between 1962 and 1973 on the Southern Resident Killer Whale Community

Orca Pod Destroyed in Japan

Russian Orca Capture 2003

Russian Orca Captures: The Inside Story

Two Orcas Taken in Illegal Capture in Russia

Corky Hears Her Family

Heath Problems/Injuries/Unnatural Deaths in Captivity

The Hidden Cost of Captivity: Orca Health of Killer Whales Exposed

Dorsal Fin Collapse in Killer Whales Explained

Winnie the Orca Ingests Coins, Tiles, and Other Objects 

Kotar’s Skull Crushed by Gate

Captive Orcas and Mosquitoes 

Killer Whale Captivity: Is Shamu Stressed?

SeaWorld Orca Missing Huge Chunk of Chin

What’s Eating Keet, SeaWorld’s Captive Killer Whale?

SeaWorld’s Killer Whales Doped Up on Valium to Deal With Captive Life

Keto and Tilikum Express the Stress of Orca Captivity

Wild Orca vs Captive Orca Lifespans

Life Expectancy of Orcas in Captivity

Survival Rates in Captivity

How Long Do Orcas Live?

Everything Wrong With SeaWorld’s Claims About Orca Lifespan

SeaWorld Talks Killer Whale Life Expectancy and Fails Miserably

103-Year-Old Killer Whale Roaming the Canadian Coast

The Truth About Wild Orca Lifespans

NOAA Statement on Wild Orca Lifespan

Do Killer Whales Live Longer in a SeaWorld Tank or the Ocean?

Stereotypical/Abnormal Behaviors in Captivity

When the Orcas Aren’t Performing

Keet Blowing Bubbles

Keet Blowing Bubbles Part II

Kalia Lies Motionlessly On Slideout

Tilikum Floats at Surface with Mouth Hanging Open

Kamogawa Sea World Orcas Throw Themselves on Slideouts

Ulises Floats Motionlessly

Ikaika Lying on Bottom of Tank

Corky in a Comatose State

Gifs and Videos of Abnormal and Stereotypical Behaviors

Statements from Wild Orca Scientists

Kenneth Balcomb on Captivity

Eva Saulitis on Captivity

Dr. Ingrid Visser Speaks on Orcas in Captivity

Orca Expert (Paul Spong) Provides Insight

Ken Balcomb and Lolita (end of video)

Info/Statements from Ex-Trainers

Ex-SeaWorld Trainers Speak Out Against Captivity

Kim Ashdown, Former Trainer

Blowing the Whistle—Ex-SeaWorld Orca Trainers Speak Out

Jeff Ventre, Former Trainer

Former Trainer Says Killer Whale Captivity Causes Attacks

Samantha Berg, Former Trainer

Blackfish Backlash: Former SeaWorld Trainer Carol Ray Speaks with Latin Times About Movement Started by Controversial Film

Exclusive Interview: Former SeaWorld Trainer John Jett PhD Talks Tilikum

Captive Orca Attacks and the Deaths of Trainers

List of Attacks in Captivity

The Debate: Dangers to Trainers

Kasatka Attacks and Nearly Drowns Ken Peters [Video]

Brian Rokeach Bitten and Held Underwater By Orkid [Video]

Kyuquot Attacks Steve Aibel *note: video is incorrectly labled as Dawn Brancheau*

Original Shamu Attacks Annette Eckis [Video]

Attack at Marineland France [Video]

Orca Lunges at Trainer at Japanese Aquarium [Video]

Orkid and Splash Attack Trainer Tamaree and Break Her Arm [Video]

Lolita Snaps at Guests [Video]

Killer in the Pool (comprehensive report of the deaths of Keltie Byrne, Dawn Brancheau, and Daniel Dukes)

Blood in the Water (Death of Alexis Martinez)

Aggression Between Captive Orcas

The Death of Kandu 5

Killer Whale Bled to Death After Breaking Jaw in Fight

Do Orcas at Marine Parks Injure One Another?

Trials of Tekoa

Strikes, Bites and Blood: The Graphic Case for Releasing Morgan, the Wild-Born Orca, From Captivity

Gudrun Attempts to Drown Daughter Nyar

Shamu Cam Aggression [Video]

Kalia Raking Ulises

The Issue of Lolita the Orca

A Day in the Life of Lolita, the Performing Orca

Lolita’s Life Before Capture

Lolita’s Capture

Lolita Today

Lolita: Slave to Entertainment

Liberating Lolita

From Washington State to Miami, Florida: Lolita’s Story

Lolita the Orca—Caught, Bought, and Betrayed by the Hertz Family

Is There Hope for Lolita, the World’s Loneliest Orca?

Lolita the Orca: Facts, Legal Issues, and How to Get Her Home

Lolita’s Retirement Plan

Kiska, Canada’s Loneliest Whale

Marineland Conditions for Killer Whale Still Substandard

Marineland: Killer Whale Bleeding for Months, Trainer Says

The Life of Kiska

Marineland In Depth: Kiska Suffers at Marineland

Free Kiska: The Loneliest Killer Whale in the World

It’s Time to Relocate Kiska, the “World’s Loneliest Orca”

Marineland Killer Whale is Ill

Argentina’s Only Captive Orca: Kshamenk

Sam Simon Says Kshamenk is ‘Most Abused Orca in the World’

Kshamenk History

Kshamenk Needs Humans to Help Him, Not Exploit Him

Free Kshamenk

Kshamenk—Not What We Thought, Something Bigger

Legal Battles Involving Orca Captivity

SeaWorld vs OSHA

Court Denies SeaWorld Appeal of OSHA Citations

Here’s All the Places Around the World That Ban Orca Captivity

NY “Blackfish” Bill to Ban Orca Captive Orcas Approved by Senate Committee

"Blackfish" Inspires California Orca Bill

California Bill Would Ban SeaWorld Orca Shows

Bill to Ban Captive Orcas Put on Hold in California

PRO-CAPTIVITY SOURCES

(Please note: I do not agree with nor endorse any of the articles below, but I included both sides of the argument for the sake of fairness. In addition, I know this list is small, but please understand that it is extraordinarily difficult to find orca-specific articles from a pro-captivity point of view that actually focus on orcas alone. If you know of any more articles, please message me and I will gladly include them on this list.)

Statements from SeaWorld

Truth About Blackfish

Health and Daily Care

Lifespan

Research Publications at SeaWorld

FAQ

Social Structure

69 Reasons You Shouldn’t Believe Blackfish

SeaWorld Responds to Questions About Captive Orcas

Pro-Captivity Articles/Vidoes

Pro-Captivity Views

A Stronger Case for SeaWorld

Zoologist Explains Benefits of Orca Captivity

SeaWorld Expanding Killer Whale Tanks

Interview with Mark Simmons, Former Trainer

Former Trainer Responds to Blackfish

For years, the National Football League Foundation, formerly known as NFL Charities, has quietly funded horrific and deadly sports-injury experiments on dogs, mice, rats, and other animals at Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of California–Los Angeles, the University of Notre Dame, and other schools and private laboratories.

These projects, many of which are ongoing, are crudely designed to recreate injuries on the football field. They have involved inflicting severe knee injuries on dogs, after which the animals are killed and have their legs cut off; repeatedly slamming heavy weights into rats’ heads to create brain and spinal cord injuries and skull fractures; and cutting open the heads of mice and delivering crushing blows to cause traumatic brain injuries. Many animals have even died during the studies because of the severe injuries that they sustained. In addition to these experiments being cruel, studies have shown that they do not accurately replicate the complex injuries sustained by football players, and data and treatments derived from brain-injury experiments on animals have repeatedly failed to help human patients. Following the NFL’s $765 million settlement with former football players who suffered head injuries during their professional careers, the league announced that it is allocating $10 million for “research and education.” But continuing to bash in animals’ heads and cripple dogs won’t help prevent and treat injuries sustained by NFL players. It’s time for a new playbook when it comes to advancing the science of treating traumatic injuries. Please CLICK HERE to send polite e-mails to NFL officials urging them to stop funding cruel and wasteful experiments on animals and instead support more humane and relevant non-animal research methods, such as in vitro and in silico studies and clinical research with current and former NFL players.

https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=5019

This 144-Year-Old Wisteria In Japan Looks Like A Pink Sky

These stunning photographs, which look like a glorious late evening sky with dashes of pink and purple, are actually pictures of Japan’s largest wisteria (or wistaria, depending on whom you ask) plant.

This plant, located in Ashikaga Flower Park in Japan, is certainly not the largest in the world, but it still comes in at an impressive 1,990 square meters (or half an acre) and dates back to around 1870 (the largest, at about 4,000 square meters, is the wisteria vine in Sierra Madre, California). Although wisterias can look like trees, they’re actually vines. Because its vines have the potential to get very heavy, this plant’s entire structure is held up on steel supports, allowing visitors to walk below its canopy and bask in the pink and purple light cast by its beautiful hanging blossoms.

A twitch is often claimed to be a humane way to help a horse calm down, but it is a negative tool not a positive one - it causes pain, which is felt immediately but then releases endorphins, causing the horse to calm down. The fact it is designed to ‘calm the horse through use of endorphins’ by causing pain initially, is really problematic.

The horse twitch is attached to the soft, sensitive upper lip. As a result of the intense pain the twitch initially creates, the brain releases a surge of endorphins that act as natural pain killers and puts the horse in a euphoric state. 

It was once considered to be a good (and cheap) alternative to sedatives, but in my opinion it should not be considered humane/ethical because of the pain it relies on to produce this effect, but more recent studies during this decade have led many vets to disprove the use of a twitch.Using a twitch can cause a horse to become head shy as well. 

An alternative and kind solution is to massage the lip area and the gums above the upper row of teeth. Another option is to massage the tips of his ears. These three sites will release the same endorphins as a horse twitch and will calm your horse without the unpleasantness. I can’t understand why so many ‘horsey people’ use negative punishment devices on their animals when perfectly kinder alternatives exist. How the fuck can causing so much pain to your supposed best friend until his body decides to release chemicals to calm him down from it all, be an accepted thing??

ANYWAY.

Robert Smalls was born into slavery in 1839 and at the age of 12 his owner leased him out in Charleston, South Carolina. He gravitated towards working at the docks and on boats and eventually became the equivalent of a pilot, and in late 1861 he found himself assigned to a military transport boat named the CSS Planter.

On May 12, 1862, the white officers decided to spend the night on land. Smalls rounded up the enslaved crew and they hatched a plan, and once the officers were long gone they made a run for it, only stopping to pick up their families (who they notified) along the way. Smalls, disguised as the captain, steered the boat past Confederate forts (including Ft. Sumter) and over to the Union blockade, raising a white sheet his wife took from her job as a hotel maid as a flag of truce. The CSS Planter had a highly valuable code book and all manner of explosives on board.

Smalls ended up serving in the Union Navy and rose to the rank of captain there. He was also one of a number of individuals who talked to Abraham Lincoln about the possibility of African-American soldiers fighting for the Union, which became a reality.

After the war, Smalls bought his owner’s old plantation in Beaufort and even allowed the owner’s sickly wife to move back in until her death. He eventually served in the South Carolina House of Representatives (1865-1870), the South Carolina Senate (1871-1874), and the United States House of Representatives (1875-1879) and represented South Carolina’s 5th District from 1882-1883 and the 7th District from 1884-1887. He and other black politicians also fought against an amendment designed to disenfranchise black voters in 1895, but it unfortunately passed.

Smalls ended his public life by serving as U.S. Collector of Customs in Beaufort from 1889-1911. He died in 1915 at the age of 75.