These are news about captive orcas only (with a few exemptions). If you are interested in news about wild orcas, I suggest the fabulous Orca Network!June 13, 2014:
On Wednesday the U.S. Congress unanimously passed an amendment that will force the U.S. Department of Agriculture to update their rules that protect captive orcas and other marine mammals. Especially Lolita might benefit from this, since her tank at Miami Seaquarium is disgustingly inadequate. But the bill also increases the pressure on SeaWorld to reconsider their business model.
Source: The Dodo
June 11, 2014:
Voice of San Diego recently held a public roundtable about what SeaWorld and “Blackfish” mean for San Diego. It turned out to be very interesting and lively debate. Here are a couple links to a review and the complete event, which I highly recommend to watch:
Orcinus blog
USTREAM video of the debate
To comment on a specific question during the debate: Skyla was exactly 2 years and 4 days old when SeaWorld separated her from her mother Kalina. Also less then 3 years old at separation had been Katerina, Kayla, Keet and Kohana (more on that issue here).
June 11, 2014:
Here are a couple websites who provide further information about the captive killer whale situation in China and Russia, where a new facility is planned in St. Petersburg for 2017 (which is probably where some of the orcas at Nakhodka are supposed to go to):
China File
behind the glass of aquarium (on Russia)May 20, 2014:
32-year-old male Bingo is reported to be in poor health, suffering from inflammation in lung and bronchia. According to Port of Nagoya Aquarium, first signs of illness were detected in December last year, with confirmation of fever in early April plus an inflammation-like shadow on the lung in early May. Bingo is also moving rather slow and can no longer participate in the public show. Doesn’t sound good for poor Bingo…
Source: The Chunichi Shimbun
May 7, 2014:
The Russian Orcas Project has received the official reply from Rosrybolovstvo (Russian Fisheries Agency) about orcas captured in 2013. The Russian authorities confirmed that 6 orcas were captured: five by “Sochinsky Delphinariy” LLC and one by “Belyi Kit” LLC (“White whale”). They did not specify the age and sex of the captured orcas, neither the dates they were captured.
Source: Russian Orcas
Note: the one whale caught by “Belyi Kit” LLC is presumably the young male that went to Moscow
April 23, 2014:
9-year-old girl Kalia is pregnant, apparently due around December 2014. Ulises is rumoured to be the father through artificial insemination (AI). This means that Kalia was merely eight years old when SeaWorld AI’d her. There were (or maybe still are) plans to transfer Kalia to SeaWorld Texas, which would separate her from her mother Kasatka. One can only hope that SeaWorld doesn’t proceed with such an insane move (which, despite their press releases, they have done an awful lot of). Kalia needs all the help she can get, being forced into pregnancy at such a young age…
Source: Digital Journal
Note: in the article it is made known for the first time that Takara at SeaWorld Texas had a miscarriage in March 2012 (she had been AI’d with Kshamenk’s semen in July 2011).
April 23, 2014:
SeaWorld treats some of its marine mammals with psychoactive drugs, according to a judicial document. Trainers give their orcas the psychoactive drug benzodiazepine, according to the sworn affidavit filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in a dispute between the park company and the rival company Marineland.
Source: BuzzFeed
April 16, 2014:
SeaWorld has lost its appeal of safety citations issued by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Source: CNN
Source: www.orcahome.de
Triple threats of pollution, vessel noise and the availability of food are making it hard for a group of orca whales that live along the continent’s West Coast to increase beyond an estimated population of 80, says adecade-long U.S. study.
Southern resident orcas can be found in the Salish Sea off Vancouver Island and Washington State, and have been seen as far south asMonterey Bay, Calif., and as far north as Chatham Strait, Alaska.
NOAA Special Report: Southern Resident Killer WhalesOldest known orca in world spotted near Vancouver IslandVIDEO Killer whales hunting sea lions captured in YouTube videoVIDEO Dolphins, orcas delight watchers in Vancouver, Squamish
Lynne Barre, a spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said Monday from Seattle, Wash., that experts don’t consider the southern residents in recovery, so the animals will remain an endangered species.
“Right now, they’re not growing as fast as our recovery criteria would require for them to be taken off the Endangered Species List,” she said. “They’ve been hovering around the 80s for quite some time.”
There are estimates the southern resident population once numbered at least 140 animals, and was perhaps as high as 200, but that was before nearly 50 were removed from the population in the 1960s and ’70s and placed into theme parks, Barre said.
She said since 2003 NOAA scientists have collected data, ranging from fecal and biopsy samples to satellite-location data and behavioural observations, in order to provide a comprehensive look into the health of the population, and to inform recovery efforts.
Source: www.cbc.ca
See on Scoop.it – Our World. By Dr. Ray O. Johnson Lockheed Martin Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer I had a wonderful dive today to the Aquarius Reef Base to meet with Fabien Cousteau… See on mission-31.com
See on Scoop.it – #OrcaAvengers No one warned me. Nor had I seen any other footage of Miami Seaquarium. I had only seen footage of Lolita the killer whale in one of the smallest captive killer whale tanks in the world. I wasnt prepared that when I visited Miami Seaquarium that I would be stepping […]
See on Scoop.it – Our World. The Plastic Bank is turning plastic waste into a currency that can be exchanged to help lift people out of poverty & transition them into a self-sustaining life of entrepreneurship. We are setting up re-purposing / exchange centers for plastic waste in areas that have a high concentration of […]
See on Scoop.it – #OrcaAvengers On May 1 J26, Mike, was photographed off the Russian River, about 50 miles north of San Francisco, on May 1, the first record of J pod off California. Yesterday (Thursday) morning they apparently rounded Neah Bay and headed into the Salish Sea, then were seen passing San Juan Island heading north this […]
See on Scoop.it – Our World. Fabien Cousteau’s Mission 31 Breaking new ground in ocean exploration and honoring the 50th anniversary of the monumental legacy left by Fabien’s grandfather Jacques-Yves Cousteau who is credited with creating the first ocean floor habitats for humans and leading a team of ocean explorers on the first attempt to […]
See on Scoop.it – #OrcaAvengers The release of “Blackfish,” a scathing documentary about SeaWorld and the orca entertainment industry, set off a wave of protests and boycotts from Willie Nelson, Richard Branson, and elementary school kids alike. Now the controversial film is making another splash, with a California bill to end Shamu shows at SeaWorld San […]
See on Scoop.it – #OrcaAvengers Since the release of the 2013 documentary “Blackfish,” SeaWorld has tried everything in its power to divert attention away from its shady business operation, which most recently, has included the use of psychoactive drugs on its orcas and the impregnation of ANOTHER female orca before her appropriate breeding age. Open letters denouncing “Blackfish” were penned, […]
See on Scoop.it – #OrcaAvengers Since the release of the 2013 documentary “Blackfish,” SeaWorld has tried everything in its power to divert attention away from its shady business operation, which most recently, has included the use of psychoactive drugs on its orcas and the impregnation of ANOTHER female orca before her appropriate breeding age. Open letters denouncing “Blackfish” were penned, […]
Orca Avengers 