Morgan Is Not The Only One Having Problems Hearing!

Loro Parque leads the way with study into the hearing of whales

Thursday, 13 November saw yet another judgment from the Dutch courts on the fate of the young female killer whale, “Morgan," who stranded on the Dutch coast in June 2010 and was rehabilitated by the group SOS Delfijn and employees from Dolfinarium Harderwijk. The animal was deemed unsuitable for release and was moved to live with a group of other killer whales at Loro Parque, Tenerife, Spain in November 2011.

SeaWorld & The Humane Society of the United States: Betrayal of the Zoological Community?

In bed with the enemy? Joel Manby the president and chief executive officer of SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment with Wayne Pacelle, CEO of the Humane Society of the United States on Fox News.

It is not unreasonable to question whether or not the zoological community would feel comfortable in working with an organisation such as SeaWorld when they have decided to affiliate themselves with a known animal-rights group.

On Thursday, March 17, 2016, the SeaWorld group of marine parks announced that they have decided to discontinue its successful breeding programme with their killer whales from immediate effect.  This was announced on their website and in a letter to the Los Angeles Times from Joel Manby the president and chief executive officer of SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment.  Moreover, in a further revelation, it was announced that SeaWorld had also decided to go into collaboration with the animal-rights group the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

This news of the cessation of the breeding programme and the collaboration between SeaWorld and the Humane Society of the United States came as a shock to many supporters of SeaWorld and members of the zoological community across the world.  Although, it is quite clear that this was undertaken as a business decision by Manby and specifically to reassure company stockholders and Wall Street.  This is after all why Manby was placed in the position of CEO less than a year ago with a remit to turn the business around.

Jane Goodall: GMO & Echolocating Dolphins

Her allegation that the sounds the animals produce when using their echolocation bounce back from the walls of their tanks in their exhibits is correct but that is exactly how echolocation works.

Dr Jane Goodall is a scientist who became famous for her research in primatology particularly her work with wild chimpanzees in Africa specifically Gombe in Tanzania when she began her studies in the early 1960s. In 1986,  she published her first major work which was an accumulation of 25 years of original research in The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behaviour. She went on to found the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977 who amongst their mission statements state:

"Improve global understanding and treatment of great apes through research, public education and advocacy"

Not So Scientific American

The article is jaw dropping in its content and one could be forgiven as not to think this was written by Ingrid Newkirk of the animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA).

We live in strange times which have become even stranger if one is to judge by the recent editorial in the journal Scientific American (March, 2014) entitled "Free the Elephants and Orcas in Captivity".

This was an unashamed polemic on 'the rights' of large brained mammals such as elephants and killer whales in relation to their use and display in captive environments such as zoological collections clumsily dovetailed on the back of news of the recent restricting of biomedical testing on chimpanzees in the USA.

Sea Pens: Not the Panacea They Are Perceived.

"Numa" the first purposed acquired captive killer whale being moved in the sea-pen in 1966.

Perhaps one of the most irksome comments that come from the animal-rights community and self-styled marine mammals expert is that of the use of sea pens.   

This has again been muted with the fanciful idea that 'Lolita' -  the killer whale at Miami's Seaquarium - will be given over to animal-rights activists to be moved to a proposed but yet unbuilt sea pen in Washington State - due to her possible listing as an 'endangered' species.  

Blackfish and the Black Arts of Propaganda

"...Blackfish” represents the worst of documentary filmmaking: poorly researched, presenting emotional conviction as truth and assembled for maximum impact over maximum illumination..." 

10 Worst Films of 2013. Jake Cole. Film.com

Morgan - A suitable candidate for rehabilitation and release?

Free Morgan! (Photo credit: wietse?)

On 23 June 2010 a young killer whale was reported to be swimming in the Dutch Wadden Sea; a rare event for this species with the last stranding in Dutch waters in 1963. 

Some interesting information from the North Atlantic Killer Whale ID Project HERE.

The animal was monitored and it became clear the animal was in some distress and with the permission of the Dutch government the cetacean rescue foundation SOS Delfijn and employees from Dolfinarium Harderwijk rescued the animal and took it to a temporary holding pool at Harderwijk for assessment and treatment.