IDA Blog

Marine Mammals

Over the weekend, IDA, along with other activists, joined forces at Pier 39 in San Francisco—home to Aquarium of the Bay—to galvanize public support in urging the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to create and enforce stricter regulations to protect marine mammals held in aquaria for public display.

NMFS is accepting public comments through June 10 regarding the Marine Mammal Protection Act, including the section that permits its public display.  It is critical we continue to attract greater support in driving the NMFS to stop allowing ‘abusement’ parks like SeaWorld, the Miami Seaquarium, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, and other commercial aquaria from exploiting marine mammals under the guise of “education.”  The United Kingdom boasts a progressive marine conservation ethic and there are no marine parks left—a perfect illustration that you don’t need to confine marine mammals in tiny, chlorinated swimming pools, forcing them to perform ridiculous tricks for food amid the din of a crowd and ear-piercing music to provide the public with a quality marine education.

As a first step, Congress must mandate that marine parks stop coercing animals to perform tricks for food, stop captive breeding programs, and ban the live captures of marine mammals for public display.

Please submit your comments to NMFS and share this alert with your family and friends on your social networking sites. The deadline is June 10.

Marine mammals are suffering in captivity and thank you for your help!

You may recall in 2008, IDA reported about a juvenile female whale shark rescued by the Atlantis Hotel off the coast in Dubai.  IDA supporters along with local environmental and animal protection groups called for her immediate release in light of the hotel’s reputation for exploiting animals for profit.  Last Thursday, the Atlantis Hotel announced they had fitted her with a satellite tag and released the juvenile female whale shark known as “Sammy” into the Persian Gulf.

The hotel stated that the reason behind their decision to release her was because of the outpouring of local and international support calling for her freedom.  Her welfare, inability to forage, or thrive in the confines of captivity are among the many reasons why pelagic species (especially the world’s largest fish species) do not belong in hotels or any other captive enterprise. While Sammy is back in the wild, other animals at the hotel are not so lucky.  In 2007, despite wide spread international protest, the hotel imported wild caught dolphins from the Solomon Islands, flew them 30 hours to exploit them in their ever cruel, swim-with-dolphin attraction.

The only circumstance where marine species should be held in captivity is when they are injured or sick and need care in captivity before they can be returned to the wild.  Helping them to heal after their rescue, build strength under rehabilitation and then releasing them back to the region they were found, contributes to the survival of the species in the wild. SeaWorld is a prime example of an establishment that gained credibility by employing scientists who developed a noble record of rescuing stranded, sick and injured marine mammals and rehabilitating them to survive in their natural environment.  This activity was consistent with their mission statement “To work with purpose and passion on behalf of wildlife habitats worldwide, encouraging sustainable solutions through support of species research, animal rescue and rehabilitation and conservation education.” Obviously, they no longer live by this mission and infact work against it by capturing animals from the wild, holding animals captive in cramped, artificial pens and forcing them to perform unnatural stunts for food and for amusement of people and commercial gain.  SeaWorld has 50 venues in Japan alone.

One of Sea World’s worst offenses is their determination to hold on to Tillikum, a wild caught male orca from Iceland. His emotional welfare is so poor he continues to kill people. SeaWorld justifies his enslavement as well as other marine mammals with buzz words like “conservation” and unsubstantiated phrases such as “we are contributing to the conservation of the species” in response to protests from people about Sea World’s use of marine mammals for entertainment and profit.  Rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing animals back into their natural environment works truly towards conservation of animals.

SeaWorld needs to stop capturing marine mammals, and refocus their work back towards fulfilling their mission statement. As a first step, they must immediately discontinue their demeaning circus-style shows with animals. They also need to stop the captive breeding of marine species like orcas because they cannot be held humanely in captivity.  It is paramount that they begin the rehabilitation process of the individual captive animals and prepare for their release back to the regions of the world from they were originally caught.

IDA congratulates The Cove filmmaking crew including Director Louis Psihoyos, Executive Producer Jim Clark, Producer Fisher Stevens, and the Oceanic Preservation Society for creating a winning documentary about the cruel capture, slaughter and consumption of dolphins in Japan.

This is an incredible opportunity to maximize the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition’s (SJDC) efforts to stop the slaughter and urge Ms. Mizuho Fukushima, Japan’s new Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety to make public the health risks associated with eating dolphin meat and institute a ban on it’s sale without delay.

With The Cove set to be released in Japan this year, the primary goal of the SJDC will be to use the film as a medium to convince the Japanese public to oppose the cruel hunt and sale of dolphin meat throughout their country. So far, only 600 out of 126,000 million people in Japan have seen the film and those who did were completely outraged.

Our aim is to prevent the Japanese government from issuing 23,000 permits this fall and with the likelihood that dolphins will continue to be tainted with mercury and other harmful chemicals in the future, an end to the dolphin hunt once and for all.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) has reported the first sea lion trap and kill of the season on the Columbia River. Named “Lionel” by students from Redland Elementary School in Portland, but known to wildlife agencies by the brand “C653,” the sea lion was trapped and killed by lethal injection on Wednesday. Sixty-four California sea lions are listed on the government’s kill authority letter and are at risk of being trapped or shot by wildlife officials. IDA is skeptical about the Oregon and Washington state wildlife agencies’ ability to correctly identify and humanely handle targeted sea lions.

Yesterday protesters from IDA and the Sea Lion Defense Brigade confronted wildlife officials responsible for the lethal removal of the protected sea lions, to voice concerns and ask questions about a plan that is misguided, has not met the criteria set forth in Section 120 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, fails to accurately identify specific sea lions as required by law, and will do nothing to resolve issues that endanger salmon populations.

Fishing quotas for salmon on the Columbia River this year were raised to 16 percent from last year’s 13 percent, while sea lions at the Bonneville Dam are being killed for eating what will likely be only about one percent of the 2010 spring run. These wildlife agencies are not making sound, biology-based decisions regarding salmon recovery. And the agencies’ track record has been abysmal, with multiple incidents of malfunctioning traps and seven sea lions who have died unintentionally in state custody.

Please join marine mammal supporters, IDA, and the rest of the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition to see whether The Cove wins Best Documentary. You can check TV listings for your local channel or watch the Oscars live online at www.livestream.com/academyawards . The presentations will begin Sunday, March 7th, at 8 P.M/EST.

We couldn’t buy better exposure for our campaign to stop the slaughter, consumption, and live capture of dolphins in Japan. A billion people, including media outlets around the world, are slated to tune into the event that will undoubtedly create a surge of pressure directed at the Japan Fisheries Agency to stop allowing dolphins to be slaughtered, and their mercury-laden meat to be eaten by Japanese citizens.

We are so thrilled that The Cove will be released this year in Japan, because combined with the exposure through the Oscars, the Japanese government will no longer be able hide the issues behind media blackouts.

Whether The Cove wins Best Documentary or not, this is a critical victory for getting the information to the Japanese public!

Thanks to your letters to the European Parliament concerning  the seal hunt in Canada last year, the European Union (EU) responded with a  landslide vote to prohibit the sale of seal based products.  The great  news is it goes into effective this year!  With that measure in place, we  must now continue our focus on flooding Canadian Ambassadors or High  Commissioners with letters supporting the Harb Bill, which would end the  seal hunt in Canada.  The Canadian government must continue to hear  how much we still want the seal hunt to end.  In order to help push this  bill along, we need to make a concerted effort to educate others to take  similar action as well.

We have the unique opportunity to maximize our  efforts this year as there are other significant factors helping to reduce  overall incentives for sealers to kill.  The price for pelts last year  was terrible ($14/ each) and proved to be reason enough for many sealers to  stay home.  Ice conditions were also poor and provided less than optimal  conditions necessary for sealers to run around beating seals.  Under  similar circumstances this year, if sealers are really interested in the hunt,  they will have to spend more money on fuel to travel further north in order to  find more seals and suitable conditions to slaughtering them.  On top of  those factors to consider, they also now have to contend with an EU ban on  seal products, so there aren’t going to be too many buyers for seal skins.

This year, ice conditions are reportedly lower than they  have been in decades.  While this will deter many sealers from going out  to kill animals, poor ice conditions also have a negative impact on seal  populations.  Harp seals require compacted ice in order to give birth and  nurse their young.  Without ice in their normal birthing range, seals  have to travel farther north to find suitable habitat or give birth on beaches  that can be easily accessible by man.  Others may not have time or the  physical capacity to make an extended journey and will be forced to give birth  underwater where the pups will die.

The majority of Canadians are in  favor of the seal hunt ending, as are so many others compassionate  people around the world. The Canadian government must continue to  receive pressure both from within Canada as well as the international  community if the hunt in Canada is ever to end permanently.

For  more information on how you can help, please go to:  http://www.idausa.org/marine_mammals.html

IDA is delighted to report The Cove is now an official runner for an Oscar award for Best Documentary!  As a result, we can expect the next month leading up to, and including, the March 7th Oscar presentations to expose billions of people around the world to the Save Japan Dolphin Coalition’s passionate work to stopping the cruel capture, slaughter, and consumption of dolphins in Japan. The global spotlight on The Cove will also bring necessary pressure on the Japan Fisheries Agency to make public the calamitous health risks, including mercury poisoning, associated with eating dolphin meat. This is especially true for residents in Taiji, the small fishing village where the documentary is based, and the focus of our greatest efforts to ending the slaughter.  University of Hokkaido Professor Tetsuya Endo just revealed the alarming results of a study that conclude residents in Taiji have 10 times higher mercury levels than average Japanese citizens.

The government in Japan will not be able to shield the fact that it has been allowing the poisoning of Japanese people who readily eat contaminated dolphin meat to occur. Moreover, it will no longer be able to cover up the barbaric dolphin slaughter with routine media blackouts on the issue. We hope to use the momentum of the Oscar Award nomination and potential victory to enlighten the public in Japan, so the hunting and consumption of mercury-contaminated dolphins will end, once and for all.

Special thanks to The Cove filmmaking crew, including Director Louis Psihoyos, Executive Producer Jim Clark, Producer Fisher Stevens, and the Oceanic Preservation Society for creating a winning documentary!