Sunday 28 September 2014

Wild Orca Orders now being taken.

 
photograph by Russian Orcas


 Sad news that the Russian TINRO  Center had advertised a public procurement order to capture and deliever young killer whales captured from the Sea of Okhotsk.

PrimaMediaRU reported (translation below)

Cub "killer whale" bring in Primorye

Captured orca scientists will study TINRO Center

Beijing, September 26, PrimaMedia. Calf orca or "killer whale" bring in Primorye. Mammal order to catch that put TINRO Center, scientists will study, told Trend. RIA PrimaMedia press service TINRO Center.

Recall Pacific Research Fisheries Center (TINRO Center) posted on the website "Public procurement" order to capture and delivery of a young killer whale. For this service TINRO offers 8 million rubles.

According to information, the performer must organize catching one killer whales in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. The length of the captured mammal should be 3-4 meters, and age - 3-4 years.

- After catching orca transported into the bay in the Khasan district of Central. There is an oceanarium, where scientists will study the mammal - said the agency interlocutor.



They also reported that  8 million rubles,  $204329.760 
 would capture a 3 to 4 year old orca from the  Sea of Okhotsk and that payment would include -
The cost of services includes expenses for the capture, insurance, taxes, customs duties, fees and other mandatory payments

Small "killer whale" wants to imagine TINRO Center in the Far East

For capture and delivery orca scientists suggest 8 million rubles
Beijing, September 25, PrimaMedia. Order capture and delivery of a young killer whale, also known as "killer whale", posted Pacific Research Fisheries Center (TINRO Center) on the site "Public procurement". For this service TINRO offers 8 million rubles, RIA PrimaMedia.
According to information, the performer must organize catching one killer whales in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. The length of the captured mammal should be 3-4 meters, and age - 3-4 years.
Note that the average life expectancy of killer whales close to 35 years for males and 50 years for females. From this it follows that TINRO Center decided to catch myself cub ferocious mammal.
The documents posted TINRO Center, also said that a small whale should be taken to fully intact: the performer must use tools capture, excluding injury and death of a mammal.
Why Research Centre needed a baby "whale killer", the date of publication could not figure out. However, we can assume that after the capture of orca transported in Khabarovsk aquarium, as the place of delivery for the orcas designated Nikolaevsk-on-Amur.
For this work TINRO Center offers 8 million rubles. The cost of services includes expenses for the capture, insurance, taxes, customs duties, fees and other mandatory payments.


TINRO Center participated in the justification adjustments on killer whales for 2014 and as a result catches were allowed again. They received the quota for beluga whales in 2012, and they own the base near Nakhodka, where Narnia was kept.


It was reported too that,  regional administration of the North Okhotsk subarea in Primorye delivered a killer whale, 32 beluga whales, 10 ringed seals. In addition, from the East Sakhalin subarea Okhotsk Sea from the island were brought Seal 10 northern fur seals, and of Chukotka — eight walruses.

 Seaside Dolphinarium is located in the Bay City Hotel Nakhodka, Primorsky Krai. Its main function - research. Dolphinarium in collaboration with foreign scientists specialists Pacific Research Fisheries Center (TINRO) implementing a program of study of the biology of marine animals and their breeding in captivity. Dolphinarium also open to visitors.

Although this is a ''research'' centre all the above were taken from the wild and put on display.

 Ceta Base Reports

Captures of killer whales occurred in Russian waters in 2012 & 2013.  Currently two whales are located at the All Russian Exhibition Center in Moscow, two whales were exported to China to Chimelong's Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai.  The remaining six whales are most likely held at the sea pens in Nakhodka Bay (TINRO Center/Primorye). The whales were reported captured by Sochi Dolphinarium which is part of a collective/group of companies. They are: "White Sphere" (builds dolphinariums)"White Whale" (captures animals) "Aquatoriya" (operates dolphinariums). There's also "Sochinskiy delfinariy" (http://www.sochi.delfinary.com), a subsidiary of "Aquatoriya", which was a formal capturer and owner of Narnia.  Its is commonly called just "White Sphere" in Russian for short hand but that may refer to any of the three groups not specifically White Sphere.

White Sphere list on their website 

Items of our technical and administrative management:

   
Water park, "Sudak", Sudak, Crimea;
    Water Park "Goluboi Zaliv” (Blue Bay), Yalta, Crimea;
    Dolphinarium “Aquatoria", Yalta, Crimea;
    Dolphinarium in Sochi;
    Dolphinarium in Hurghada, Egypt; (Taiji dolphins)
    50-meter swimming pool and two swimming pools, a Jacuzzi in "Ukraine" hotel, Moscow.

Dolphinarium in Hurghada is the owner of Taiji dolphins!

They also list their partners here 

It is a sad day for those orcas when a research institution advertises for whale catchers. Those whales will be held here just as Narnia was until the accept dead fish




 





















 

Friday 26 September 2014

Awesome Ocean blown out of the water AGAIN!




 Once again Erin McKinney writes a load of unproven ''facts'' for Awesome Ocean, the site set up with Seaworld's money. 

Lets look at the FACTS and PROVE these facts this time, as this is just getting ridiculous and is presented as a factual report when really it is the presumption of one person only.


In order to testify in court as an "expert," you must first offer your qualifications to the judge and jury.
This is very true so we will look at their qualifications
And contrary to what you see on TV, staying at the Holiday Inn Express does not actually make you an expert.
No one said it did!

So, let's set the table a little here - watching “Blackfish” doesn’t make you an animal behaviorist any more than watching “Top Gun” makes you a fighter pilot, people.
Many activists have said over and over if Blackfish is such an issue to you ignore it and look at the real facts. Have you?? No instead you continue to block anyone with a differing opinion, anyone proving you wrong and you continue to provide material that can be shredded with FACTS in minutes. 
  here  , here, here , here, here, here

In the same way that you state you cannot take Blackfish as a reference point then I say neither can you take Seaworld's website as a reference either. They are fighting to keep their business alive and are not going to say anything that may turn even more people away are they?   You don't need either as the proof is all there in official documents.

When it comes to the marine mammal captivity "debate," thinking people look toward experts and facts.
Exactly so lets look at them, as I see you have provided NONE yet again!!

Though there has always been a vocal (and often radical) minority that speaks out against marine mammals in captivity, recent books like “Death at SeaWorld” and the endlessly debunked movie “Blackfish” have brought the issue into the court of public opinion. Unfortunately, otherwise well-meaning people have been duped into demanding that SeaWorld “explain” themselves.
Duped by the people who told you milk causes autism. 

Once again you try to tie everyone to PETA, they are just one voice fighting the anti captivity campaign, but I guess they are the easiest option for you as it aids you in avoiding answering real questions as all the people who Stand with you, say exactly the same thing, so as they are a separate organisation and we are looking at Seaworld FACTS lets take them out of the equation too.

Thus, SeaWorld now has to defend their Shamu show and other programs against the allegations brought on by the filmmakers, authors and disgruntled former employees - all with activist backgrounds.
 Garbage in, garbage out.

LETS GET THIS CLEAR BEFORE MOVING ON AS WE GO OVER AND OVER THE SAME THING. 
ACTIVISTS ARE NOT PROTESTING BECAUSE OF BLACKFISH, DEATH AT SEAWORLD OR FORMER EMPLOYEES, THEY ARE PROTESTING BECAUSE OF SEAWORLD THEMSELVES. Now we have that straight we can move on with the real TRUTH AND FACTS!!


In other words, if you start with a fundamentally skewed or corrupt premise, everything thereafter is fatally flawed.
That’s not how this court should work
You are correct so now we have everything out of the way, we can look at those facts.

The fact is SeaWorld has evolved dramatically throughout its 50 year history. On their own, they have continually improved their facilities and programs. They are a consistent model within the industry and across the globe. The fact is, real experts look to SeaWorld to learn how to take care of marine animals.
They have multigenerational cetaceans. They have performed shark C-sections, penguin cataract surgery and birthed twin sea lions.
They even preformed surgery on a fish - a fish!

Again you need to separate why people protest from what Seaworld does.You as supporters seem to have missed what Seaworld is trying to tell you. They know why people protest. After Blackfish Seaworld started to change their websites for example.

These are the old Seaworld websites, featuring their star attraction.
 



This is the new website 


Notice anything missing???

Seaworld tried and still try to switch the focus from their orcas to their rescues. As people protesting are not stupid, showing picture after picture of rescued manatees and turtles although fab, does not change anything for those captive orcas. Why on earth would people protest rescues??? Seaworld now where the problem is the only people who seem to be missing that fact are people like yourselves.

To back up your statement above, could you also list what people look to Seaworld to learn how to take care of marine mammals. Are they other marine mammal keepers??




 SeaWorld existed BEFORE governmental regulations of marine life facilities, and since the standards have come into existence, they have not only met them, but far exceeded them. They also exceed Association of Zoo and Aquarium regulations as well. If you haven't had your fill of facts, SeaWorld goes far beyond governmental standard in conservation and education. SeaWorld operates both the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, and the SeaWorld Busch Gardens Conservation Fund.
Basically, SeaWorld blows governmental standards and regulations out of the water (pun intended).

This is where you start to lose your credability again, they HAVE NOT far exceeded the governmental regulations since they came into existence at all. 

Firstly there is the most well known $75000 fine and 3 citations for the death of Dawn Brancheau. Seaworld also lost the appeal. 

Click here to read the full 35 page decision by the court of appeal 

Then 3 years later they were fines again and have been labelled repeat offenders see here 

Seaworld were fined for polluting Mission bay in 2012, with the California Regional Water Board stating
   
Since April 13, 2005, there have been numerous violations of effluent limitations at the facility, including three exceedances of Ammonia, six exceedances of Enterococcus, and one exceedance of Total coliform.
"Furthermore, there have been multiple months in which required sampling was not reported.
"The constituents not sampled have included pH, Total coliform, Fecal Coliform, Enterococcus, and Total Residual Chlorine."
See the full report here  
There are historic violations but as they are historic the current ones are more relevant but as they are noted as being repeat offenders, both in safety and water standards the documents prove that
SeaWorld DEFINATELY DO NOT blow governmental standards and regulations out of the water

 They also contribute more to science and research in a day than all of the manipulative activists combined.

This again proves that you have researched absolutely nothing other than that which fits your own agenda

I recently went over and sent you a response to your last post about the research Seaworld have on their website. If you look through it there are numerous articles on live capture techniques, articles on how to identify young in a pod, surveys that were required prior to capture and numerous for the diseases those captives died from, not done as a prevention, done after the fact. To save going through them all again you can see them here . There are 48 publications in total less than one per year.

Compare that figure to say - the Marine Mammal Center who are also rescuing marine mammals, and they have released that number in the past 2 years!! See for yourself here

The links I have provided so far are actual FACTUAL documents, even where they connect up to my own blog, the links to those disputing facts are there too. As you said yourself ''thinking people look towards experts and facts''.


Those are the facts, but the main point is this:

Not a single expert body on the care and keeping of animals has brought a charge against SeaWorld.
And in return if all they say are lies and misinformation why has Seaworld not sued any of them or taken them to court? 
All of the accusations come from disgruntled employees and animal rights extremists like PETA and HSUS.
Really well lets look at those you call animal rights extremists, and disgruntled employees.

These are the scientists, you have labeled animal activists. SEE THEIR CREDENTIALS HERE  
In short

Ken Balcomb does studies for NOAA, he is deemed good enoughfor NOAA but not for you.

Lori Morino is the author of over 80 publications on dolphin and whale brain anatomy and evolution, comparative intelligence and self-awareness in dolphins and primates, and the ethical dimensions of human-nonhuman relationships, including dolphin-assisted therapy and swim programs, as well as elephant-assisted therapy.

David Duffus, has more scientific publications published than Seaworld

Naomi Rose -  is a member of the International Whaling Commissions Scientific Committee. She has published popular and scientific articles and lectures at several universities. She participates in task forces and workshops at International, National and State Level. She received her PhD on the social dynamics of killer whales in 1992 from the University of California in Santa Cruz.

Jeff Ventre also had peer reviewed publications out on the captivity issues. See here

John Jett has peer reviewed publications out too here

If by saying Samantha Berg and Carol Ray were not experienced enough to speak on the issue of Tilikum or didn't work with Tilikum, then surely that is confirming what they say. Whether they worked with him or not, Seaworld state everyone was issued with a special protocol for working with Tilikum as part of their training. 
They also say it takes a long long time to become a Shamu trainer and they have to be competent before being allowed in the water with them, so if you say these 2 people were none of the above, are Seaworld lying about their training then?

 John Hargrove was employed twice by Seaworld and was the last to leave, if they didn't think he was up to scratch would they have employed him again?

Lastly there is the anti captivity person turned pro captivity and writer for yourselves Bridgette Pirtle.

 Regardless whether she had a falling out with Blackfish or not, when she left Seaworld she blamed Seaworld themselves for that stating: 
''SeaWorld has an opportunity right now.  They can spend the money to fight to preserve the appearance of the fallacies they have been built on OR they can spend that money on the animals that deserve it.  I spent too many years watching decisions made to spend money on show elements, playgrounds or barbeque restaurants.  Now is the time to let actions speak louder then words.''

'' Ultimately, the same concerns voiced as a result of Dawn’s accident had been voiced after incidents in the past. Lessons not learned and continually disregarded. Many of those taking care of the animals are fighting for less responsibility to be placed upon their ever-drooping dorsal fins. Show schedules, public interactions, and dining obligations create a strain on animals already in a highly stressed environment. They are proudly introduced as “ambassadors” but they are simply work horses for a profit hungry industry desperate to remain relevant in a society that has already begun to recognize we have moved past such a trite necessity. Until parks like SeaWorld exhale their dying breathe, tighter regulations and stronger accountability for adhering to such guidelines is a given.''
Why would someone say those things about Seaworld?? Did she lie back then or is her support for Seaworld now, a lie as one of them is?  See the full interview here.  
As I always try to find the truth, I have asked her many many times, if this is truth or lies, as her Nat Geo interview said the same as did her book launch, and in typical fashion there is no reply.


Those accusations are echoed by a mouthpiece with no standards - that's been caught lying before.
You need to do as I do when reading articles as anyone can post an article to the dodo, but the one Eric posted by Melissa Cronin is listed above as a complete manipulation of the truth, go look that up too.

The charges levied against SeaWorld by “Blackfish” and others are serious allegations of animal abuse, misuse, neglect and cruelty. So why are no credible sources standing up to make these accusations?

They have, have you forgotten AB2140?

Check the lastest data here 
This report collates scientific evidence which includes
  • Previous analyses using data through 1992 showed that captive orcas have higher mortality rates than wild orcas; new analyses examining data through 2010 confirm that the situation has not improved in the past 18 years, and in fact has worsened. Captivity is, in essence, poor habitat for orcas, causing early death.
  • Captive female orcas give birth too young and too often, leading to both high adult and high infant mortality.
  • The most common cause of death for captive orcas is infection. Chronic stress may be an important factor in weakening the animals’ immune response.
  • Captive orcas have poor dental health compared to wild whales, which may be another factor in their susceptibility to fatal infections.
  • Orcas in captivity are more aggressive toward each other than in the wild. Females also behave abnormally toward their calves more often than in the wild.
  • Since captive orcas have been publicly displayed, they have seriously threatened the lives and safety of dozens of people, and four people have been killed. However, wild orcas have injured only a handful of people — none seriously — and there are no records, at any time in history, of them killing anyone.

It is their responsibility to bring in hard, conclusive and undeniable information that makes their point.
They cannot.
They have over and over again, but you choose not to see it, you choose to look for reasons it cannot be so and then look for reasons that the people presenting the evidence must have some agenda. The agenda is that science is proving that it is wrong to keep these animals captive. 

Taking YouTube videos out of context is not proof. A disgruntled, terminated, ex-employee's story from 20 years ago is not proof, especially when more relevant and direct witnesses directly refute the claims.
Where are the more relevant and direct witnesses refuting the claims? Where are their scientific documents showing that those presented are incorrect? 

There is no data point that proves marine mammals are unhappy or abused in zoological facilities. In fact the data shows SeaWorld’s animals are provided for physically and mentally with the top teams in the world attending to their well-being. Individuals with knowledge of marine animals and behavior go to SeaWorld and see well-fed, engaged animals participating in top tier training.
 Experts in the eye of the court - if you will.
Many of those experts have also written against the captivity of these creatures, but again you don't cite any and only choose to see what you want to see. In the recent debate, even Seaworld vets agreed that collapsed dorsal fins are caused by captivity, there isn't enough water pressure or activity to keep them upright. He also said that the Seaworld website WAS misleading as they had used data by Ingrid Visser who studies New Zealand orcas to state the rate in the wild is 23% collapse, when in reality it is only 1%. That poor man had to stand up in the debate and admit Seaworld had done that, if they hadn't have lied and mislead people in the first place that wouldn't have happened.

The allegations of abuse and neglect are coming from those with an agenda. An agenda to make you a pawn. A pawn to raise money. A pawn to achieve political ends. A pawn to increase power and influence. It's an age old story.
I have no money to raise, those protesting Seaworld outside have no money to raise, the scientists on Blackfish who you call activists but whom I have proven to be actual scientists have no money to raise. So where do you get that idea from?? On the other hand, from this side of the fence, is Seaworld going to tell you 45 orcas have died in those tanks, are they going to show you their orca profiles, showing over 100 incidents between orcas and trainers, are they going to admit why they breed hybrid orcas with no conservation value what so ever, and are still doing it today with Kalia?? No of course they're not as they do want your money, as they are going under fast.

And as for the supposedly expert “former trainers,” each comes prepackaged with their own stories of conflict, egos and self-serving attitudes to prove their interest in SeaWorld’s downfall stems much more from self-interest than a noble quest to help animals.
Why did they leave then and how does their stories differ from those of Bridgette Pirtle who you have writing for Awesome Ocean. They have stuck to the same story over and over again, has your heroine? 

The bottom line is that the statement “but orcas CAN’T be happy in tanks, I just know it!” carries no more weight then “but he HAS to be the murderer, I just know it!”
It's textbook logical fallacy and bad lawyers use it all the time to try and trick a jury.

No one I know has said that, everyone I know has done exactly the same as I do, they are not supposed to be in there because of ........ Tilikum reacts to stress in his environment aggressively , Seaworld say so here . Daniel Dukes had injuries consistent with being pulled into the pool by Tilikum, here is the evidence etc etc.

Most people supporting Seaworld do exactly as you have done here and provide absolutely nothing to prove what they are saying. where in this whole article have you put, the trainers said ''quote'', the science is wrong because ''quote''

TO QUOTE YOU YOURSELF - THINKING PEOPLE LOOK TOWARDS EXPERTS AND FACTS. 

Well start to provide some as once again this is just your opinion supported by nothing in an attempt to win support from the people on Stand with Seaworld. It is not those sheep you need to convince, there is no point preaching to the converted, if you want to convince people like myself that everything is brilliant at Seaworld than start to provide factual evidence to do it. I have NEVER blocked my blog, my facebook or my twitter, it is always open to anyone who wants to debate something, maybe you should start to extend the same courtesy in return. You may not always like the answers but a FACT IS A FACT which ever side of the fence it is on.

Are you that gullible?
Read through the FACTS, look in the mirror and ask yourself that question!

Monday 15 September 2014

Taiji Winds of Change.



Whilst researching the drive hunt and its so called tradition, I came across this written in 1979 by CJ Nichols.

C.W. Nicol, the renowned environmentalist, author, whaling expert and Japan Times columnist, recently made an M.B.E. by Queen Elizabeth II, witnessed the Taiji dolphin slaughter while living there in 1978. Speaking last week, he said: "It's been a cancer in my gut ever since. It's no good to kill an animal inhumanely, and to do so is not to the advantage of Japan."

 This article explains what the traditional whalers did, what they were like, what their beliefs were and what their sayings were. These sorts of traditions would be known by the whole of the town, the horrors in the Taiji whale museum prove tradition has not been followed.

See how vastly different times were then compared to the horrors of the drive hunt today. 

Taiji is a little town huddled against the southerly hills of the Kii peninsula, the largest peninsula of the main island of Honshu, Japan. It is a whaling town, and has been for eight hundred years or so. For a long time it has been extremely difficult to get to Taiji overland, and the Taiji people looked always to the sea for their livelihood as well as for their means of transport. Now, of course there is an efficient rail service, and a road, yet still Taiji looks out to sea, and one is never long out of sight of the broad Pacific.

Taiji has many sayings and superstitions, two of which have stuck in my mind. The first is easy to understand - "A whale on the beach means wealth for seven villages."
In the old days, the best cuts of meat were sent by ship to the Imperial Court in Kyoto, to the Shogun's Palace in Edo, to the Tokugawa castle at Wakayama, and to Lord Mizuno, Daimyo of Shingu. Meat was also sent to the busy markets of Osaka, Nagoya, and Ise. Neighboring villages also bought or traded goods for the valuable delicacy of whale meat, and still there would be enough meat left over to feed the seven hundred or so men and their families who were employed by the whaling business of Taiji when it was at its peak.
Meat, for human consumption, was the most valuable portion of the whale, but nothing was wasted. As in the West, blubber was rendered into oil, the uses of which were many indeed. Whale oil lighted the lamps of Japan too, but besides lamps, the oil was mixed with vinegar to make a highly effective pesticide for use in the rice paddies. This oil-vinegar mixture was perfectly biodegradable, and killed off only harmful pests, with no ill effects on the edible loaches and small clams that abounded in the rice paddies of Tokugawa Japan.
Oil-rich bones were sawed up and cooked. After this first cooking they were smashed into pieces by hammers and cooked again. These bones provided excellent fertilizer, and more oil. This fertilizer was of such great value that merchants came from distant parts of Japan to make bids for its purchase.
Sinews were carefully cut out from the bone and meat, and when dried they were sold to instrument makers, armor makers and so forth. The baleen (erroneously called 'whale bone' in the West) found even more uses than it did in fashion-conscious America and Europe. It was used in myriad ways, from the tips of fine fishing rods, to beautifully polished plates, and the springs that worked the mouths of the 'bunraku' puppets.
Even the entrails were cut, washed and boiled, and were used in miso soup, or broiled on charcoal. Absolutely nothing was wasted.
In Japan, where the killing of four-legged animals was forbidden by religion, the rich red meat of the whale was a prize indeed. 
 
For a period of some three hundred years, the Taiji men hunted whales with the aid of huge rope nets, designed to entangle the whale and slow it down enough for the harpooners and lancers to kill it. In those days, their principal quarry was the right whale, the humpback whale, the grey whale and the sperm whale. The Taiji men hunted other species too, but like their American and European counterparts, they could not take the fin and blue whales.
Taiji whaling was highly ritualized. Most positions were hereditary, and the industry and hierarchy was extremely complex. Each boat of the whaling fleet was brilliantly decorated with various motifs, and banded with distinct colors so that even at a distance they could be identified. Each boat had its position and function in the fleet. The fastest and most beautiful were the high-powered 'seko-bune' or chase boats, slender vessels with their black hulls lacquered for extra speed, and manned by fifteen men. At the height of the Taiji whaling there were as many as twenty-five 'seko-bune'. Then came the heavier 'ami-bune' or net boats, whose job was to lay the double semicircle of nets in the path of the whale. The broad-beamed 'moso-bune' were used for the final securing and lancing of the stricken whale, which, once dead, would be towed to shore between two of these boats, secured by ropes under the belly and suspended from two stout beams of wood slung from boat to boat. There were also small boats which would retrieve pieces of equipment lost in the water during the hunt.
The fleet was directed from lookout points on shore, which were also in contact with the beach-master. They relayed his orders, as well as the sightings and movements of whales, by the means of various pennants, by signal sticks (a kind of semaphore), by smoke signal and by the notes of conch shell trumpets.

One signal was of great significance. The hoisting of it would means a whale sighting, but no hunt. It was a three-pennant signal, each pennant being black with a white stripe in the middle, and it signified a female right whale and her calf. I had said earlier that there are two Taiji sayings which stick in my head. The first was "a whale on the beach means wealth for seven villages" - the second sayings is "Even in a dream, look not upon a right whale and her calf." Why? Well, firstly, there is a wealth of stories in Taiji to indicate that they held the female whale, especially a pregnant or mother whale in great awe. Even the whaler's song show this.
 The second reason is that the whalers were fully aware that little whales needed their mothers, and would die without them, and that to kill small whales was foolish.
The third reason was that a female right whale, normally a docile creature, would fight with fury if she had a calf. Besides, in the seventeenth, eighteens, and in the early part of the nineteenth century, whales were plentiful around the shores of Japan. Only inclement weather and the unfavorable shifts of the great warm current which was the highway of migrating whales had any real effect on the catch. So the Taiji whalers could afford to let a female right whale and her calf go unharmed, and it seems that they always did so.

During the best period of net whaling in Taiji, they took about a hundred whales a year, enough to keep the village flourishing, but certainly not enough to make a dent in the whale population.

However, things were to change. Following reports of a merchant vessel captain who had been en route from Shanghai, the first Western whaling ships, the 'Maro' from Nantucket, and the 'Enderby' from Britain, soon filled their casks with oil. By 1822, thirty ships were whaling off Japan. By 1846, together with Russian, British, Dutch and French ships, as well as the big American whaling fleet, there were seven hundred or more vessels hunting off Japan, killing right whales, humpback whales, grey whales and sperm whales in great numbers. However, unlike the shore-based Japanese, the foreign ships had no use for meat or bones, and certainly not for entrails. They killed for oil, baleen, and what little ivory came from the sperm whales. To the Japanese, the wastage of those years is a horror story.

Whaling was big business. In 1846, the peak year of the American whaling industry, in the United States alone some 70,000 people were employed in the whaling business, and it was pressure from this business that brought about the lobbying which caused the eventual dispatch of a powerful American naval expedition to Japan, headed by Commodore Perry. This expedition, which took place in the years 1852, 1853 and 1854, was the point of the wedge which opened Japan to the rest of the world. I'd like here to quote from the official Narrative, published by order of Congress in 1846.
"Whales of several varieties abound in those parts of the ocean lying between the Bonins and the coast of Asia, and are in greater numbers in the neighborhood of Japan. Until the establishment of a treaty with that singular empire the masters of whaling vessels were cautious not to approach near to its shores, under a well-founded apprehension of falling into the hands of the Japanese, and suffering, as a consequence, imprisonment and cruel treatment. These fears should no longer exist, as the stipulations of the treaty (the Treaty of Kanagawa, the first treaty Japan ever signed with a foreign nation. Brackets mine.) make provision and offer guarantees not only for kind treatment to those Americans who may approach the coast, or be thrown by accident upon its hitherto inhospitable shores, but allow all American vessels under press of weather to enter any of its ports for temporary refitment; and the ports of Hakodadi (Hakodate) and Simoda (Shimoda) are open for all purposes of repair or supplies.

"As, therefore, the obstacles to a free navigation of the Japan seas no longer present themselves, our whaling ships may cruise in safely and without interruption as near to the shores as may be convenient, or in the seas lying more to the eastward. But to render this part of the ocean in all respects convenient to our whaling ships, something more is wanted, and that is a port of resort, which shall be in all respects free for them to enter and depart without the restraints of exclusive laws and national prejudices; for though, as before remarked, the ports of Hakodadi and Simoda, in Japan, to which we may add Napha (Naha), in great Lew Chew (Ryukyu, i.e., Okinawa), are by treaty open to American vessels, a long time may elapse before the people of those ports divest themselves of the jealousies which they have hitherto entertained against strangers, and it is well known that the crews of whaling vessels visiting the ports of the Pacific are not remarkable for their orderly behavior or conciliatory deportment."
Commodore Perry then continues to argue for the establishment of a base in the Bonins, which was quite clearly Japanese property.
However, despite Perry's remarks that the masters of whaling vessels had been cautious not to approach near to the coasts of Japan, by the time the black ships of his squadron had bullied their way into the ports of Naha and Shimoda, and into Edo bay, there had been thirty or so years of intensive whaling off the coast of Japan by foreign vessels, eager to brave storms and typhoons for the riches of the seas. The Kanagawa Treaty made things easier for them, but already the whales, especially the slow-moving and valuable right whales, were in decline.

In Taiji, a village whose only wealth came from the sea, things were getting hard. There were no rice paddies, and precious little ground suitable for yams and vegetables.
The coming of the foreigners brought a wake of strife, assassinations and civil war. The government of the Shogun was overthrown and the Emperor Meiji reinstated as the head of government. It became harder and harder to take the big whales, and the smaller cetacea, like the black pilot whales, gained in importance as a food source, although their meat did not fetch as a good price as that of the larger animals. The great prosperous era of net whaling was drawing to an end.

 But the worst was yet to come.

As the year of 1878 dragged into winter the beach-master or 'ami-moto' was getting desperate. At that time there were two hereditary leaders in Taiji. One was Taiji Kakuemon, who ran the business operations, and the other was his relative, Wada Kinemon, the advisory head. On December 24, 1878, after a bleak, poverty-ridden period of poor catches, a big female right whale and her calf were spotted by the lookouts. The triple black and white pennant was raised and the whalers momentarily relaxed, for the whalers knew that a female and her calf were not to be hunted. It was late afternoon, and for a successful hunt, a whale would have to be killed and secured before nightfall.

At the beach in front of the shrine of Asuka, the two leaders argued. Kakuemon insisted that the village needed a whale, and needed one before the New Year. Kinemon said no, it was not their custom to hunt a female with calf, and that it drew late, that bad things would befall them if they broke this rule.
Nevertheless, Kakuemon gave the order to hunt, and as the red signals went up and the conches blew from the lookouts, the surprised whalers jumped to their long sculling oars and the gaudy, sleek boats darted forward. The whale was enmeshed and harpooned, but she fought with great fury, and dragged the boats out to sea. Cold winds were blowing from the shore and the men became cold and exhausted. It got dark. By morning the fleet was scattered, and no matter how hard the men in the boats attempting to tow the whale struggled at their oars, the winds, current, cold and the sheer size of the whale was too much for them. Finally, in tears, they cut the whale loose. The storm grew worse. 
 Within a few days, the cream of the Taiji whalers, and the best of their boats, had been swept far out to sea and had died from exposure or drowning. Some drifted as far as the seven islands of Izu. Estimates of the death roll vary from 111 to 130 men killed. Only a handful survived.
Taiji Kakuemon, in his grief, gave his entire family estate to the bereaved families, and eventually left Taiji for good. The village was plunged into an awful depression, and many young men left for foreign shores, for Hawaii, California, Canada, Mexico. Many of the dances, skills and sea lore of the whalers died with those men who chased the taboo female, and although there were attempts over the next two decades to rebuild the net whaling fleet, they had small success.

One Taiji man, returning from the United States with learned skills as a gunsmith, developed a five barreled harpoon gun for hunting small whales. This gun, still used today in Taiji, was then developed to a three-barreled gun, and was found to be quite effective. The village survived.

In 1905 the Imperial Navy fought the Russian at the Battle of Tsushima, winning the greatest naval victory ever. Japan had become a mighty naval power, with iron-clad battle ships and impeccable naval discipline.
One small result of this battle was that Taiji got a small Russian warship, the 'Nikolai'. She was refitted, and a 90-millimeter Svenn Foyn whaling cannon was mounted on the bow. Three Norwegians, Larsen, Bungen and Olaf, came to live in Taiji and hunt the blue and fin whales. By now the Norwegian methods of whaling had spread all over the world. Indeed, their techniques had been very successfully employed at Senzaki since 1899. Taiji saw new life in whaling.

By 1934, when Japan entered the Antarctic to whale, using an ex-Norwegian factory ship which was renamed the 'Tonan Maru', it was Taiji men who made up a large part of the expedition members. But other writers have written about the rise and fall of the Antarctic whaling. One or two have been unbiased. However, from Taiji men I hear first-hand stories of great hardship, of loneliness and courage, of parties and jokes and mishaps, of depression and suicide. The one thing that all of them stress is that they hunted for whale meat to feed Japan, and that they were proud to do so, and that the ocean for Japan was what the prairies are to Canada or the United States. Nobody, they say, has greater respect for the whale, greater reverence for the whale, than men of Taiji.

Now Japan has one Antarctic fleet, and a few land stations. The demand for whale meat is still great, and best cuts of 'O-no-mi' or tail meat reach around the $ 40 (US) mark per kilo. Taiji men still go off to the Antarctic and North Pacific to hunt whales, and it is still dangerous. Only this winter, a hundred years after his ancestors had died in the great accident of 1878, a Taiji man was killed abroad his catcher when a cannon exploded at the breech.

News of anti-whaling demonstrations and statements causes great resentment. Taiji men are fully aware of the need for conservation. It wasn't the whalers of Japan who decimated Japan's coastal stocks of whales, and they grow angry when they hear that Japan's whalers are being called 'barbaric' in the West. North Americans on average eat four times the amount of animal protein per capita as do the Japanese, and they also feed incredible amounts of valuable sea proteins to their pets. I hear more and more angry statements from whalers, who are, among anybody, tough and tenacious. The anti-whalers create monologues, and will eventually make it difficult for serious conservationists to function. Perhaps it would take a Taiji man to truly understand the two sayings? "A whale on the beach means wealth for seven villages" ... "Even in a dream, look not upon a female right whale and her calf."
C.W. Nicol
February 1979
Taiji, Japan
_
 I believe it is time the men of Taiji also remembered the two sayings. Where there was pride that they were feeding their village and then their country, there is none as it is claimed to be only for science, and the drive hunt has never been a part of this tradition.

Regardless who decimated the stocks of whales, now only Japan, Iceland and Norway kill whales, all the other countries realised what they had done and many many whaling towns like Taiji closed that part of their business. These towns still flourish, many have started different trades, many now run successful tourist business's showing people the whales and dolphins rather than killing them. Taiji is no longer cut off from the world so saying this is need to sustain the town is no longer true.

Demand for whale meat is not great anymore. It was removed from school dinner menu's, the government issued warnings to pregnant woman about avoidance due to the mercury content and now there is the additional hazard of Fukushima which has leaked into the ocean. Is this ''tradition'' worth the risk??

Anti whalers are also tough and tenacious, the world knows that the Taiji fishermen capture dolphins for the aquarium industry not for meat for the town.

Proof this is not for traditional whaling it is for captivity - 

 An admission came from Seiji Ohsumi, director of the Institute of Cetacean Research, who said in a Japan Times opinion piece ‘Whales and dolphins are kept healthy in Japanese aquariums, as they receive great care from trainers and veterinarians. The reason these undertakings have been successful is the dolphin drive fishery, which supplies living whales and dolphins to aquariums internationally as well as domestically. The fishery has thus contributed to the welfare of people in countries where whales and dolphins are kept in aquariums.’

 The Japan Fisheries Agency included the Pacific White-sided dolphins in the catch-quota of the drive hunt in 2007 and this still stands today.
As a reason for adding this species, the notification cites “a strong request from fishers in recent years to allow their capture.” With the generalization ‘fishers,’ they are referring to the small group of dolphin killers of the Isana Union in Taiji.

The true request for capturing Pacific White-sided dolphins came from the Japan Cetacean Conference on Zoological Gardens and Aquariums.
An internal communication unearthed by Elsa Nature Conservancy, sent on August 16, 2006 by this ‘Conference’ to the directors of zoos and aquariums, noted that Pacific White-sided dolphins were hard to obtain, and that not all aquarium directors who desired to obtain these were able to do so. The letter states, ‘Permission has not been granted to take Pacific White-sided dolphins at Taiji, and therefore drive fisheries for them are not allowed. But if the capture of Pacific White-sided dolphins becomes possible at Taiji, it will benefit aquariums with cetaceans, and fishers.
This was a successful attempt by the organized aquariums that desired Pacific White-sided dolphins, to influence Taiji Town officials and the Fisheries Agency to add this species to the drive hunts.
The memo was from 2006. The drive hunt for Pacific White-sided dolphins got the green light in 2007.
The resulting known captures are:


  • 2008: 21 total animals caught, 5 killed & 16 live captured.
  • 2009: 14 total animals caught, 1 killed & 13 live captured.
  • 2010/11: 26 total animals caught, 2 killed, 21 sold to aquariums & 3 released.
  • 2011/12: 2 caught as live-capture.
  • 2012/13: 32 caught, 8 killed, 24 live-capture.
  • 2013/14: none yet, but there is a quota for 134 animals.


On September 29, 2005, a 13-person delegation from Taiji Town, including its mayor Kazutaka Sangen, Mr Mihara, Chairman of the Council of Taiji Town and Mr Lin Keji curator of the Taiji Whale Museum visited the Beijing Aquarium.
Katsutoshi Mihara

 In an October press release, the Beijing Aquarium proudly announced their friendship with Taiji and ‘the two sides plan to build a platform to archive the imported marine mammals in the aquariums all over China’ and to ‘have negotiations on the import of killer whales’.

Also stating 'the Taiji Whale Museum formerly became a friendly sister of the Beijing Aquarium'

 Almost all Cetaceans in Beijing come from the wild and the Beijing Aquarium also serves as a holding facility for dolphins entering China on their way to other parks.
China is the biggest importer of dolphins from Taiji with a staggering 117 dolphins purchased in just the 3 years of 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Mr Mihara also cast his opinion on the Cove   despite the Taiji town liking the film.

Mr Mihara is an avid whaling fan, which is probably one of the reason the hunt continues in defiance. His IWC statement can be seen here

One of the other collaborators in the mix in Mayor  Kazutaka Sangen
Kazutaka Sangen
.
 Mayor Kazutaka Sangen of Taiji, Japan could care less about the effects of mercury and methyl-mercury on the brain. Sangen-sama is building a specially designed slaughterhouse just for dolphins. He wants to kill more of them, he needs a market for the flesh, and the government seems to be quite willing to buy his dolphin meat for the school lunch programs as a very cheap source of protein for growing children. Yes, protein for strong muscles, with mercury thrown in for a weakened brain. Maybe that is what the government wants-weak brained labourers and future dolphin killers. Who knows? What we do know for certain is that deliberately feeding poisoned meat to children in Japan is seemingly okay with the government. They are doing nothing and do not wish to know anything about it.
Mayor Sangen is stifling dissent with threats of violence. When two courageous Japanese Councilmen, Junichiro Yamashita and Hisato Ryono, spoke out publicly against the feeding of mercury-contaminated dolphin meat to children. Read about what the said HERE
Sangen-sama's threats quickly shut up Ryono-sama, who now refuses to mention the issue. Only Yamashita-sama remains with the courage to continue to condemn the dark schemes of Mayor Sangen, the dolphin butcher of Taiji. The dolphin meat WAS taken off the school lunch menu.

Sangen also wants to start a marine park with black whales, bottlenose dolphins and larger whales - see here

In response to Caroline Kennedy's condemnation of the hunt he said '"There always are the people who say it's wrong and it's right, but what we have to see is if fishermen are hunting endangered species or not. They don't. We are fishing under the permission just like the US does." The rest of the report is here

Lastly there is Miyato Sugimori, administrative chief of the Taiji Town Fisheries Association who said ''We have no intention to stop hunting dolphins,”  “Westerners eat cows, Australians eat kangaroos,” Sugimori said. “Japan, including Taiji, is surrounded by ocean, so we eat things from the sea which include fish, whales and dolphins. There’s nothing wrong with that.”  Report here

The statement that stood out to me though was this one -  Sugimori said if dolphin hunting was banned, young people may choose office jobs that pay more rather than join his association, which has an average age of 68. The association filed for bankruptcy and was restructured in February 2007.

Nothing like lining your own pocket, keep them fishing so they stay in your union.


Respect your traditions and sayings people of Taiji, but be true to yourselves and that history and admit the drive hunt is not one of them.











Saturday 13 September 2014

Awesome Ocean - Eric Davis - Absolute Bullies and Factually Incorrect Again!



I think this time Awesome Ocean have completely stepped over the mark. 

Whether Seaworld are panicking, Eric Davis is panicking or whatever the reason to attack someone like this over what they believe is really out of order. 

The other side of this is, for some reason Eric seems to believe that people protest at Seaworld because Ellen says so, how wrong can someone be lol. 

His closing statement is  
Welcome to the world of the people who brought you the movie Blackfish. The people who say anything to get you to conform to their world view.It is time that we stop listening to radicals and start listening to reason. While she is out screaming and handing out thousands of pounds of literature, places like SeaWorld are donating millions to save the Southern Resident Killer Whales and other marine animals and personally rescuing tens of thousands more.
So who's telling the truth?
Who's the real animal hero?

I think it is about time someone told Eric why people protest Seaworld and seeing as Blackfish is such a massive issue to him, I will ignore it altogether.
The reason people protest Seaworld is because of Seaworld themselves, some of those reasons are below. Remember Blackfish won't be mentioned at all so it takes it completely out of the equation so people like him cannot use it as a divertion from what people know has gone on in those tanks, Blackfish wasn't thought about until after Tilikum killed Dawn and came from that incident, people however have been protesting Seaworld long long before then.

Firstly all these incidents have happened between trainers and the killer whales, all prior to the incident in 2010. As you can see Seaworld's own animal profiles are linked to them, the incidents where it says bumped etc, are not passed off as nothing, they were deemed serious enough to be recorded by Seaworld themselves on their own Animal Profiles. These incidents were not recorded by activists they were recorded by Seaworld including the one with Tilikum and Dawn.
See them all with their links here 

Next, Seaworld has and still does collaborate in the wild caught industry. In 2012 they applied for a permit to import a Japanese dolphin. Last year they took a pilot whale called Argo from the same park. This is not ancient history as Seaworld would have you believe this is current.
 In 2001, SeaWorld Orlando supplied Ocean Park in Hong Kong, China with California sea lions and Harbor seals. Ocean Park HK buys dolphins from Taiji and has been linked with the recent Russian captures.
They are also named as recipients in the Georgia Aquarium importation of Belugas, taking more of the Belugas than any of the other parks. This is also current.

On this link you can see the Taiji drive hunt has never been tradition and Seaworld collaborated with these people at that time. Worse still is that they thought the lie that they were 'rescuing' these creatures from slaughter would suffice, when in reality everyone knows that it is the captive industry keeping this drive hunt alive, if it wasn't for the captive industry there would be no hunt. Seaworld were not rescuing them at all they were perpetuating it.

Old newspaper reports also show that Seaworld played down or tried to hide the incidents happening in their parks. Daniel Dukes was passed off as a drunk drug fuelled vagrant who jumped into the wrong tank. This too was far from the truth and Seaworld still maintain they do not know Tilikum's involvement. Daniel Dukes autopsy report shows a completely different story, it shows both pre and post mortem injuries, his scrotum was completely torn off and on reporting about his parents lawsuit against Seaworld the press stated ''The lawsuit contends that puncture wounds on Dukes leg and foot are consistent with him having been pulled into the pool by Tilikum''. Many years later Tilikum once again pulled a someone into the water, so this could actually be the case, but no transparency has been forthcoming from Seaworld.

Next there is the gene pool. In the wild it has been proven from DNA sampling that a transient and a resident orca have never interbred, nor have members of differing groups, i.e. Icelandic and Southern Resident,  the only cross breeds like this are in Seaworld tanks. As an institution who supposedly promote conservation, why would they breed animals with no conservation value what so ever as they have no equivalents in the wild. These animals are condemned to a life of captivity as they can never be released into the open ocean for fear of them contaminating the wild gene pool.
As we know Kalia is currently pregnant as Seaworld have a research team there, why would they allow that as Kalia is also a hybrid orca.

Seaworld's orcas - 
Katina             -wild caught Icelandic
 
Tilikum            -wild caught Icelandic

Kayla              -HYBRID - mother  Keanu (Icelandic W) Father Orky 2 (A5 Northern Resident)

Trua               - Icelandic - mother Takara (Icelandic C) Father Taku (Katina, W Tilikum both Icelandic W)

Nalani            - INBRED Icelandic mother Katina (Icelandic ) Father Taku - (Katina, Tilikum both Icelandic)

Malia            - 2nd Generation HYBRID C - mother Taima (Gudrun Icelandic/ Kanduke Transient) Father Tilikum

Makaio         - Icelandic C - mother Katina(Icelandic W) Father Tilikum (Icelandic W)

Corky 2       - Northern Resident wild all 7 calves deceased


Kasatka       -  Icelandic wild


Ulises           -  Icelandic wild caught  1 calf by AI to Wikie in France


Orkid           - HYBRID - mother Kandu V (Icelandic wild) Father Orky 2 (A5 Northern Resident wild)

Keet           - 2nd Ge HYBRID - mother Kalina C (Hybrid KatinaW/WinstonW) Father Kotar (Icelandic)


Shouka        - Icelandic Captive - mother Sharkan (Icelandic wild) Father Kim 2 (Icelandic wild)

Nakai         - Icelandic - mother Kasatka (Icelandic W) father Tilikum (Icelandic W)


Ikaika         - Icelandic C - mother Katina (Icelandic W) Father Tilikum (Icelandic W)


Takara      -  Icelandic CAPTIVE - mother Kasatka (Icelandic W) father Kotar (Icelandic W)
 
Kalia          - HYBRID - mother Katina (Icelandic W) Father Winston (Southern Resident W)

Makani      -  HYBRID - mother Kasatka (Icelandic W) Father Kshamenk (Unknown pod W)

Kyuquot    - Icelandic C - mother Haida 2 (Icelandic W) Father Tilikum (Icelandic W)

Unna         - Icelandic C - mother Katina (Icelandic W) Father Tilikum (Icelandic W)


Tuar          - 2nd generation HYBRID C - mother Kalina C(Hybrid Katina/Winston father Tilikum W

Sakari      -  Icelandic - mother Takara,(Icelandic C)  Father Tilikum (Icelandic W)

Kamea    - HYBRID - mother Takara (Icelandic C) Father Kshamenk (unknown pod W)

Skyla      - 2nd generation HYBRID C - mother Kalina C(Katina I/Winston SR) father Tilikum W

Kohana   - Icelandic C - mother Takara C (Icelandic) Father Tilikum (Icelandic)

Tekoa     - 2nd generation HYBRID C - mother Taima C(mother Gudrun Icelandic, father Kanduke Transient) Father Tilikum

Keto     - 2nd generation HYBRID C - mother Kalina C(Katina I /Winston SR) father Kotar (Icelandic W)

Adan    - 3rd generation INBRED HYBRID C - mother Kohana (Icelandic C) Father Keto, Hybrid C

Morgan  - wild caught




Disease - Seaworld state their facilities are free from Pathogens, Bacteria, Diseases found in the wild. This is also NOT TRUE. The necropsy reports for their deceased orcas show a totally different picture. Fungus infections, abcess's, stress ulcers, Viral  Leptomenigitis, Candidiasis, numerous deaths from pneumonia, Zygomycosis. The links to the necropsy reports can be see here
Recent reports state
Most cases of marine mammal pneumonia have significant bacterial involvement, and most organisms cultured from terrestrial species have been identified in marine mammals. Pneumonia often can be considered the result of mismanagement. Here

So as you can see it is NOT TRUE that those tanks are a better environment for those orcas at all.
  
When Dawn died Seaworld were adamant and pretended to be upset that they were being accused of blaming Dawn for her own death. When copies of court transcripts were made public, this is what was said. 
Jeff Andrews BLAMED Dawn for her own death!! 



In 2006 Seaworld sent 4 'excess' orcas to Loro Parque. What made Skyla, Keto, Tekoa and Kohana, 'excess'? Whilst trying to do some recent damage control Seaworld had Wendy Rameriz release a video stating, 'why would we do that' when discussing the separation of Takara, Kasatka and Kohana. Well why would you do that as the physical evidence is there for all to see Takara lives in the USA and Kohana was sent to Spain???
Seaworld gave excuses for Tilikum, but what excuse is there for Keto killing Alix Martinez, he is a Seaworld orca born and bred, Alex had been for training at Seaworld San Diego, he was under the supervision of Brian Rokeach, competent Seaworld trainer and Julie Scardina said Seaworld supervised every second of the day at Loro Parque so what reason does Seaworld have for his death? It wasn't until the death of Dawn that people started really looking into it, it was swept under the carpet and had Seaworld taken the trainers out of the water as they did after Dawn's death, then Dawn would still be here, so what is the excuse? The events of that day and leading up to his death can be read here

Babies having babies and separation
No matter how hard Seaworld protest, the physical evidence of mothers being separated from their offspring is there for all to see.
Scientists have researched and documented that
Females typically gave birth to their first viable calf at 14.1 years of age (SE=0.050; range 10-21 years) and those that survived produced a total of 4.7 calves at mean intervals of 4.9 years (SE=0.18; range 2-11 years) over a reproductive lifespan typically lasting about 24 years.So why do Seaworld orcas to be pregnant  at only 6 years old??? 
The videos Seaworld released trying to address this issue were absolute lies, you can see why here

The list of reasons people protest could go on and on, but as you can see none of them have anything what so ever to do with Blackfish, they have to do with 45 dead orcas in 50 years, 243 dead dolphins in 50 years, orcas being named the same thing so as to deceive the public when one died, Canuck, Canuck2, Nootka 1 to 6, Orky 1 and 2, Corky 1 and 2 etc and that is the reason all the orcas are called Shamu as the deaths were so regular and in the early days the paying public could not tell when one was replaced. I would dare say that today, some of the day visitors wouldn't be able to tell from a distance either. As for the dolphins, they are more alike than the orca's and no one could tell how regularly they were being replaced the numbers show an average of 5 per year.  It doesn't matter whether they were reported to the officials or not, the deception was for the public not for those working with or being reported to. 
The previous trainers -  taking the Blackfish trainers out of the equation again there is this from former trainer Bridgette Pirtle (now Davis) In this article she states  

This from a trainer who writes for Awesome Ocean, and who Seaworld supporters trust and like. She may well have fallen out with Blackfish the movie, but this statement isn't about Blackfish it is about her feeling towards Seaworld' itself and states many of those taking care of the animals are fighting for the same. 
As you can see from the picture here people have been protesting since the days of Namu. In the UK dolphinariums closed in the 90's due to pressure from activists and scientists were listened too and they knew way back then that this wasn't the right environment for these cetaceans.


Seaworld and people like Eric has kept the focus on Blackfish, not the activists, that movie was just the catalyst for those who didn't know before. Seaworld know what the issues are as they have changed their visuals away from the orcas who used to dominate their websites, to rescues. This again is another diversion tactic as although rescues are to be commended no one has ever protested them and they have nothing what so ever to do with the plight of those captives.

Then there is as in this article Eric has written about Ellen, the attacks on anyone who tries to put forward scientific or researched information. As you can see here, every one of these people have been called activists or extremists. They are proven scientists and whale researchers, unlike Seaworld when Blackfish asked them for their opinion they gave it, had Seaworld done the same when they were asked would they also be activists then??? 


Lastly lets take a look at some of the things Eric has done, this also involves Ellen below.

On his Stand with Seaworld facebook page he organised the Protest the protestors event
This was the result of that once again you can see Ellen here with the policemen.
Ellen being abused by one of his protestors
and again

ellen with police whilst watching the protestors continue their abuse

Even the police couldn't hide his amusement at this idiot.


This was the culminating video, those who frequent Stand with Seaworld will recognise the people involved
Eric Davis at the protest the protestors event.
I think it is ridiculous for Eric to be calling Ellen who at the end of the day organises peaceful protests, when his two attempts at organising protests to protest her have ended up with abusive behaviour like this. Are these the sort of people Seaworld support??

Along with the event above and the bullying below, Is this really the sort of person you associate with.

Once again Blackfish the movie hasn't entered into any of the evidence provided as people like me don't need it, as we know there are hundreds of reasons people protest and people would still protest if the film had never been made. The people who do need Blackfish are people like Eric so they can use the film as a diversion tactic, find people to try to discredit and try to blind anyone who did support Seaworld who now wants to find some facts of their own. Those facts are in Seaworld's own animal profiles, their own necropsy reports, in autopsy reports and court transcripts and I hope you take the time to read them above even if it doesn't change your mind, an informed decision is much better than a blind one.

As Eric said himself 
''So who's telling the truth?''
Check out the links to all the documents above and find out for yourself!! 

Featured
140911_AwesomeOcean_PETA
The leader of the anti-SeaWorld movement in San Diego.
Want to get to know who's behind the protest at SeaWorld San Diego each week? Want to know who will say anything to convince you of her crusade?
Meet Ellen from San Diego. If you live in the area, you may recognize her from TV. She has perfected screaming in righteous indignation. She has the all important bull horn - a staple in the activist tool bag. She's the leader of the protests in front of SeaWorld San Diego.
She'll do anything to force her world view on you.
Why would someone engage in that kind of activity? The better question is, why would you follow this person?
While sympathizing with Ellen in the wake of viewing the movie Blackfish may seem easy, the truth behind her activism may prompt more regular people to reconsider her version of the truth.
You see, like most of the activists feeding misinformation to the public about SeaWorld, it's not really just about one righteous cause.
It's about forcefully seeking to change the way everyone lives because she knows better.
Ellen spends her weekdays hassling train riders who eat foods she doesn't approve of. She plasters stickers and radical vegan pamphlets all over stores like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. Her zealous passion is at best frightening because she demands all others adopt the lifestyle she adopted in 2011.
Does that sound like someone who would let truth or objectivity stand in the way forcing you to change your behavior? For radicals, the ends always justify the means.
Obey.
So aside from SeaWorld, we want to share with you the most likely places you would encounter Ellen and her radical gang:
Joan Rivers died? Eh, good riddance 
Picture (Device Independent Bitmap) 1
You will find her outside McDonald's
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You will find her outside KFC
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You will find her outside the San Diego Zoo
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You will find her inside In-N-Out Burger
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You will find her outside Wal-Mart
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You will find her on the train
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You will find her at a Trader Joes
Screen Shot 2014-09-10 at 11.42.03 PM
You will find her outside a Farm
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You will find her outside a Movie Theater
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You will find her outside a Circus
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You will find her outside a Department Store
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You will find her outside the Horse Tracks
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Ellen and her radical group are not content with people making their own choices, they will only be satisfied when everyone complies with their lifestyle, their world view, even if that means passing laws.
Screen Shot 2014-09-10 at 11.41.12 PM
There is no middle ground with Ellen, there is no compromise.  Ellen isn't alone, and she isn't unique, she represents the radical fringe of the animal rights movement.
Screen Shot 2014-09-10 at 11.42.24 PM
Is there anything she won't protest?
Welcome to the world of the people who brought you the movie Blackfish. The people who say anything to get you to conform to their world view.
It is time that we stop listening to radicals and start listening to reason. While she is out screaming and handing out thousands of pounds of literature, places like SeaWorld are donating millions to save the Southern Resident Killer Whales and other marine animals and personally rescuing tens of thousands more.
So who's telling the truth?
Who's the real animal hero?