Great Video From Save Japan Dolphin Day, 2011

Thanks to our friends at Save Misty the Dolphin! They have put together a great video showing pics from events all over the world held on September 1st for Save/Celebrate Japan Dolphin Day.
Detroit is represented in the first (yahoo!) pic, and also at about 3:15 (with the large red banner). Check it out!

You can also check out Save Misty the Dolphin's blog/webpage here! (they are on blogger!) You can also search for them if you are on Facebook, by putting "Save Misty the Dolphin" right into the search bar.

Until Next Time.....

And So It Starts......

This week starts the trial of SeaWorld vs. OSHA, resulting from the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau last year. After Brancheau's death, the park was issued 3 citations and fined $75,000. (Mike Schneider, www.bostonglobe.com). The trial is scheduled to last all week, with a ruling from the Judge to come about 10 days after the end of the trial. 

In addition, according to OSHA's website (www.osha.gov) it was stated that, "In addition to the history with this whale, the OSHA investigation revealed that SeaWorld trainers had an extensive history of unexpected and potentially dangerous incidents involving killer whales at its various facilities, including its location in Orlando. Despite this record, management failed to make meaningful changes to improve the safety of the work environment for its employees". You can find the full link to the article talking about OSHA's citations against SeaWorld, here. 
 
So many news articles are coming out about the trial this week, it's hard to keep up. Experts on news channels talking about whale behavior... people talking about pros and cons about captivity. In my own opinion, since this is my blog, this is how I feel.

Captivity kills. It's as simple as that. Captivity kills whales and dolphins, because research has shown that captive sea animals such as these large animals live a much shorter life span than their non-captive family and friends. Those whales and dolphins who are in the wild live a life that is double, if not MORE than that of one that is in captivity.
Captivity also kills humans. It's a sad fact that this is not the first time a human has been killed by a orca, or another wild, captive animal. And, even worse- it won't be the last. In fact, for Tilly, the whale that was involved in Brancheau's death- this was his 3rd death of a HUMAN that he was involved in. THIRD.

So, I guess what we really need to ask ourselves is this.... How many more dolphins, whales, and HUMANS need to die before we see the light that captivity isn't the answer?
My heart goes out to Dawn's family during this difficult time. I'm sure reliving the time of her tragic accident is not going to be easy for them.
SeaWorld, shame on you. Shame on you for not only holding animals captive, but for allowing yet another death to occur. This time, a human life was lost.

R.I.P. Dawn Brancheau

If you would like to see the copy of Brancheau's autopsy's report, please click here, thanks to autopsyfiles.org.


Until Next Time....

Playmobil Teaches Captivity to the Most Captive Audience

So, I'm walking through a well known toy store chain the other day, and I am looking through the "educational science section" and BAM... I see it on the shelves, and I almost fall over. I can't even believe what I'm seeing! It's actually a toy, where kids can play "captivity"! The set comes compete with 2 "happy" dolphins, a trainer and her hoop, and some dead plastic fish treats. Sick!

I stared at this thing for a good 15 minutes. Here's a closer pic of the trainer with her dead fish treats.

Not knowing what to do, and being alone in the store, I did the only thing I could think of at the time. I took the 3 boxes off the shelf, and hid them in the store, hoping some kid wouldn't find them. It just made me sick to my stomach. If I had a child with me, my actions would have been different. I would have discussed the toy with the child- but being alone, I just felt sickened.

Upon coming home, I did a little research on "Playmobil". I came to find out that although this particular store only carrier this one box, the maker actually has quite a few sets of dolphin/trainer/captivity toys. There's one with just a trainer/hoop/ and a dolphin... one that's a bit more elaborate, called a "dolphin zoo" that you can even fill with water. To see the images of these toys, I suggest going to either Amazon or Google Images, and just typing in the words "Playmobil dolphin" together. The toy images should pop up.

I am urging you, and others who feel like you do, to please join me in contacting Playmobil. Please ask them to remove these toys from their shelves, as it teaches children from a very young age that captivity is okay... and even a happy thing. Take a close look at the toy... the trainers, the dolphins, and even the dolphin on the flag on have on that smile... the look that dolphins have, that makes them appear as though they are always happy. How about a playset for children with marine animals in their natural habitat? That would be a LOT more educational, could include more animals, and wouldn't be teaching our young ones that captivity is a happy place for dolphins to live.

Children are our most captive audience.
Their minds are like sea sponges, soaking up knowledge.
Let's teach them early about sea life captivity, and how in the end, the best homes for dolphins are in the ocean.

Contact info for Playmobile is:

Address:	Playmobil Malta Ltd. HF80, Industrial Estate, Hal Far, BBG 3000, Malta, EU.
Telephone:	(+356) 2224 2445
Email:	info@playmobilmalta.com

Until Next Time......

Save/Celebrate Japan Dolphin Day, 2011- Detroit.

Words can't describe my feelings after today.

Driven- my drive to continue this fight has only just begun.

Supported- the community of friends I have made in the dolphin community who share the same love I do is amazing. I can't thank these individuals enough. There was so much support from all the event coordinators all around the world in planning the events for today, it was amazing. Also, all the amazing organizations around the globe who are out there every single day offering us and the dolphins support-from the folks at Save Misty the Dolphin, Save Japan Dolphins, Earth Island Institute, Sea Shepherd and the World Animal Awareness Society (especially the WA2S-MI)- today would not have been possible.

Sad, yet more so Anger- I know today marked the first day of yet another hunting season for dolphins in Taiji, Japan.

Proud- Of every single person who stood up today in Detroit for the dolphins. And everyone who was with us in spirit, due to circumstances that prevented you from being at today's event. I got emails from people saying they were wearing their shirts at work, school or wherever they were today with pride- informing people of the Cove. YOU are our heroes. Continue to educate yourself. Continue to educate others. Our fight isn't over, and it won't be until the water in the Cove runs clear. But you, my dolphin loving friends... pat yourself on the backs. Awesome job. Look for some sweet links coming soon as pics/video/radio links start to filter in.

For the dolphins!

Until next time.... I will leave you with a few pics from today.