IDA Blog

Posts Tagged ‘SeaWorld’

Killer whale Taima, bottom, nudges her newborn calf toward the surface of the water for her first breath at SeaWorld on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2000, in Orlando, Fla. Taima died in child birth on June 6, 2010. ( (AP Photo/SeaWorld, Chris Gotshall, HO))

IDA is deeply saddened by the death of Taima, a long-suffering 20-year-old captive killer whale who died prematurely and unnaturally while giving birth to her stillborn calf yesterday at SeaWorld in Orlando. Her life was as upsetting as her death..

Captive breeding of killer whales by SeaWorld or other commercial aquaria does not contribute to meaningful conservation of the species since any surviving calf would not be released back into the wild. Instead, breeding programs simply replenish the population of imprisoned killer whales who normally die decades before their wild counterparts.  SeaWorld’s bottom line is to profit financially by using killer whales to entertain the public, not to protect wild killer whales and their habitats.

The father of Taima’s stillborn calf is Tilikum, the six-ton killer whale also held at SeaWorld in Orlando. Ever since he killed his trainer in February, he’s been stuck in yet a smaller tank where he floats listlessly at the surface because of the lack of space he has to barely turn around. Since he is not participating in any shows for the time being, his main worth to SeaWorld is his semen, which is taken from him to breed more animals and make more money.  Katina, a 32-year old killer whale also at SeaWorld in Orlando, is currently carrying his calf and is due in late October. 

What You Can Do:

Even if you have already responded to our previous requests for public comments, please do so again. Urge the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to phase out marine parks and, until then, create stricter regulations and oversight for facilities with public display permits, and prohibit any further captive breeding or captures of marine mammals from the wild. Please commemorate the death of Taima and her stillborn calf in the official public comment record. We must use this opportunity to urge NMFS to stop any further dolphin captive breeding programs including killer whales, the largest species in the dolphin family.

Please submit your polite comments on or before this Thursday, June 10 at 5:00 p.m., EST.

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!