Winter has fallen on the whale prison

Winter has fallen on the whale prison
01.02.2019
Russie
Winter has fallen on the whale prison
Exploitation for shows

Winter fell suddenly on this whale prison. A grey ice field now encloses the floating pens of the 11 orcas and 87 beluga whales locked in Srednyaya Bay, on the borders of the Russian Far East. We must act urgently before the cold kills them all!

UPDATE: This is Cyril, he’s the next Orca most likely to « escape » (i.e., die) from the Srednyaya Bay « Whale Prison. » Cyril is completely inactive and just drifts at the surface while ice freezes to his body. He’s lost a lot of skin, most likely to frostbite, & may have pneumonia. pic.twitter.com/K7OZWUFqit

— Quad Finn (@Quad_Finn) 25 janvier 2019

In the shadow of a shed, the orca Cyril floats quietly, his snout stuck to the net that encloses him. Alexandra and Vitas, his fellow companions in misfortune, come and go, very agitated. He does not stir anymore, raised only by their movements in the water. Little by little, frost covers his body bruised by ropes and infections. His breath is slow, almost inaudible. This very young male will probably not survive the pneumonia that troubles him.

Furthermore, the beluga whales fare better in their open-air crates drifting from large ice cubes. Swimming under the ice is one of their talents. But the noise of the workers breaking the ice with shovels and the passing of paying visitors who caress them without washing their hands, inflicts an incessant stress on them.

These terrible images that have circulated the world, we owe this to the obstinacy of a handful of Russian activists. After endless trials, they finally got a delegation of scientists and veterinarians to inspect the detainees of the Marine Mammal Adaptation Centre, the official and pompous name of this « Whale Prison ».

Everyone had known since September that when the ice freezes the bay, cetaceans would be in danger of death. Plans that were easy to implement had been proposed without success. It would have been possible to take this small world to the open ocean in huge rectangular nets pulled gently by tugs. The Russian fleet was ready to cooperate and Vladimir Putin himself was worried about this tragic situation.

Fears Orcas held Captive in Russia will Freeze to Death as Winter Seas Ice Over: Srednyaya Bay is now frozen and will not thaw until late February. Many of the 11 orcas in the « Whale Prison » suffering from frostbite & pneumonia may not last until then.https://t.co/6WXRVcxMLD pic.twitter.com/qYenxe1sHl

— Quad Finn (@Quad_Finn) 27 janvier 2019

But we are in Russia, where the very slow bureaucracy escapes neither pressure nor bribes. While the capture of these unfortunate cetaceans has been declared illegal by the Attorney General of Russia and their export banned in April 2018, the local authorities seem not to care and continue to protect the 4 commercial companies,’ the owners of these captives.

Today, nine Russian orcas are already performing to the sound of a whistle in front of the stands of the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai, near Macao. More than 200 belugas, traded for Taiji dolphins, have died one after the other in the overheated waters of Japanese and Chinese dolphinariums. What will become of the detainees in Srednyaya Bay? There is so much money at stake! If they do not go to China, everything leads us to believe that they will end up like Narnia, the first orca captured in 2012: to finish in the hell of Russian dolphinariums!

We cannot let this massacre unfold without reacting. We cannot accept that Russia continues to sell these unfortunate cetaceans. One Voice urges you to sign the petition online or write directly to Vladimir Putin via the Free Russian Whales campaign website! We must save these orcas and belugas from this whale prison!

In court against the lack of clarity of Marineland and the State

In court against the lack of clarity of Marineland and the State
31.01.2019
Antibes
In court against the lack of clarity of Marineland and the State
Exploitation for shows

Since dolphinariums keep cetaceans, protected animals (and CITES-listed animals) captive, they have an obligation to prove that they are acting to protect wildlife, by submitting a summary report to local prefectures every three years. Marineland has not transmitted this report and the Prefecture pretends not to know what we are talking about. We started legal proceedings to obtain this document. For dolphins and orcas, we do not relent!

A trampled legal framework

The dolphinariums have responded in particular to the same ministerial decree as the zoos. As such, they must contribute to the preservation of wild, free or captive animal species and the conservation of biological diversity. These actions are all the more important as it is now established that dolphin and orca shows are devoid of any educational value and endanger the populations of free orcas and dolphins.

In this context, dolphinariums must, for example, participate in:

• research for better knowledge and aimed at the conservation of species,
• training about conservation,
• the exchange of information,
• and restocking and reintroduction of species into wild habitats.

All of this, ensuring the welfare of the animals concerned. In addition, a report describing the actions undertaken must be sent to the Prefect at least every three years.

An endless game of changing goal posts to obtain justice

In order to obtain the closure of dolphinarias and in addition to our actions raising-awareness, we wish to show that their true intentions are commercial, especially as captive cetaceans are never released into the wild. For that, we must get hold of the activity reports of the parks. At the end of October 2017, we asked the departments of the prefectures corresponding to each French dolphinarium for a copy of these reports.

For Parc Asterix, the Prefecture has the report and in perfect knowledge of the legal obligations, we were forwarded this document. For Planète Sauvage, the report was not sent to the Prefecture which cannot transmit it to us, but however, it is aware of the obligation of the dolphinarium and therefore the legal framework applicable to zoos.

Marineland and the Alpes Maritimes Prefecture pretend ignorance

For the Prefecture of the Alpes Maritimes, on the other hand, not only has Marineland not transmitted a report, but the state services are making themselves the force behind this masquerade by trying to make us look incompetent. Pretending that we still don’t know what report we’re talking about after we’ve gone to the CADA (the Access to Administrative Documents Commission) to force them to send us this document. This is a bureaucratic exercise. This is also worrying and serious! This just shows the contempt that some of our state representatives may have for these sensitive and intelligent individuals.

We are suing for orcas and captive dolphins!

We therefore appealed to the Administrative Court of Nice to obtain this report from Marineland, particularly on the orcas they hold captive in Antibes. There have already been too many deaths so far. Held in the tiny pools in comparison to their size and their need to swim and dive, Wikie, Inouk, Moana, and Keijo go around in circles, they must still perform in the show and above all to obey. Shouka, the last of the five French orcas is isolated abroad. What did they do to deserve this? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

All these actions take time but progress. Our fight for dolphins and orcas held captive in dolphinariums is the right way to go. The hearing will take place on February 7^th at 11:30 am in the Administrative Court of Nice.

We will never give up, no matter how powerful our opponents are. In the northern hemisphere North America, Russia, the Far North and even the southern hemisphere Japan, or closer to home, in Spain, Portugal or even Greece. We are present all year-round regarding captive and suffering cetaceans, we participate in financing actions abroad and establish international partnerships. Dolphins, belugas and orcas do not know borders, we must protect them and defend them. We have filed an appeal to the Council of State for misconduct by the French State to adopt a new order identical to the precedent, cancelled for a technical detail, and they claim 500 000 euros for this deficiency. Please sign our petition to end dolphinariums in France.

Tragic revelations about Ula, Morgan’s daughter

Tragic revelations about Ula, Morgan’s daughter
26.01.2019
Tenerife
Tragic revelations about Ula, Morgan’s daughter
Exploitation for shows

Ula, whose birth was celebrated with fanfare by the Loro Park dolphinarium, is now probably between life and death. The small orca seems to be beset by infections of all kinds. One more tragedy unfolds before the public eye, lulled by the lies from the managment of the Spanish dolphinarium.

Morgan was rescued in 2010 on a beach in the Netherlands, treated, but never released. A capture announced… Contrary to the current law on free-born orcas, Loro Park allowed Morgan, barely pubescent, to become pregnant, giving birth to Ula. In nature, she could have counted on the help of her aunts, sisters and mother. The baby would have been surrounded by the affection from her siblings in their pod, a family group guided by the matriarch. There, locked in a pool, there is nothing that allows for a maternal attachment, northe least of support for a young mother from her family in these important moments.

According to Loro Park, mother and daughter were very close in the first consecutive days at birth, and Morgan reported exemplary maternal instincts, not leaving her little one, Ula swimming at her side. Shortly after, however, the park separated the mother from her daughter, first of all on the pretext that she had too little milk, then it was for safety reasons… After only three days! Ula is isolated from her mother, bottle-fed by a human in a position that is unnatural…

Ula was photographed by a whistle-blower from the public stands. The images, which we also received, were analysed at the request of One Voice’s partner Voice of The Orcas by specialists, including Ingrid Visser, who has been working with us for many years. Not surprisingly, they all confirm what we were dreading.

Currently, Ula is kept in a separate pool, under a tent that protects her from the sun. She has photo-toxic lesions on the skin, a malformation of the head, and a sick left pectoral fin. On her tail, we can distinguish injection marks, probably antibiotics.

«I have never seen anything like it in nature, such as the deformation of the skull and the pathologies along the body are what we can see on this poor baby. I’m really sad for her and her mother, Morgan. This underlines how much the detention of these animals in places like Loro Park are a mistake.»Ingrid Visser, marine biologist at the Orca Research Trust

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One Voice is a long-time partner of the Free Morgan Foundation, and a member of Dolphinaria-Free Europe, a European coalition that fights for dolphins and orcas held by dolphinariums. In France, we continue our fight against these water parks and to attack the state for failing to publish a new order prohibiting captive breeding and cetacean exchange between dolphinariums.

Please sign our petition to close the dolphinariums and allow the transfer of these captive animals to marine sanctuaries.

Ula, the Jewel of the Sea caged

Ula, the Jewel of the Sea caged
24.01.2019
Tenerife
Ula, the Jewel of the Sea caged
Exploitation for shows

Morgan’s baby will be called Ula, « jewel of the sea » in Celtic, although the baby is destined to never see the sea. The local press does not have enough outstanding words to sing about “the wonderful happiness of the mother and her baby in the pools of Loro Park » and the fantastic leaps they would give to science. Yet this is not the first orca to be born in Tenerife and each time, the same disastrous scenario is repeated: the rejection of the baby by a mother too young and inexperienced.

As expected, the beginnings of little Ula were difficult. Removed from Morgan on the third day of his birth, on the pretext that she did not give her enough milk, « a team of 15 caregivers and 3 veterinarians, assisted by Belgian and American experts » we have kept a 24/7 vigil whilst bottle-feeding. Now cameras are watching Ula at night, while the trainers occupy her « with learning sessions, games and above all affection« , in the absence of Morgan.

The baby is already undergoing scientific tests, as a columnist explains: « The best zoo in the world (sic) collaborates with experts from the University of Denmark to determine when the echolocation begins in young orcas« , a very useless research to help free orcas, but who cares.

Loro Park will also be working with the University of Zurich to study communication learning in orcas, another « unknown subject in science « according to the Spanish zoo, which has probably not read the abundant literature already published on this theme, « and how the baby adopts the sounds of the dialect from the group« .

The dialect of the group? There is little doubt that the two Kohana and Skyla females and their half-brothers, Keto and Tekoa, all born captive and loaned by SeaWorld in 2006, have never been able to acquire any dialect whatsoever. As for Morgan, captured very young and quickly impregnated by humans at the dolphinarium Harderwijk, she probably has only a few bits of the language of her Norwegian tribe.

Still, her daughter should be near her. So far not all has been gained. Today, we learn, « carers are studying mother-daughter behaviour and are making sure that they are as often as possible together. Special sessions are planned to bring her closer to Mum Morgan, under the direct supervision of Loro Park’s director Wolfgang Kiessling. He is so proud and happy of the great success that Ula represents. »

Could their separation not only be due to the lack of milk? In fact, until January, no picture showed Morgan and Ula together. It is only recently that we have seen them look at the junction of two pools or stay side by side but at a safe distance, while vigilant trainers stand ready to intervene.

As a precaution, no doubt, because when an orca rejects its child through inexperience of motherhood, it may also harm that child.

In 2010 already, Kohana had sharply rejected her first baby, forcing the trainers to feed by hand the frail little Adan. This unfortunate one is still surviving, as discreet as possible to escape the blows from the bosses of the pool. In 2012, the same Kohana gave birth and again rejected her daughter, called Victoria. Weakened by the same blood line of the SeaWorld orcas, Vicky died at the age of 10 months.

This will not prevent Loro Park from explaining again and again that the birth of Adan, Victoria and Ula today « confirms the well-being of the orcas hosted (sic) by Loro Park ».

One would almost laugh at such a denial of reality if the suffering of seven orcas was not the consequence. One Voice calls for the transfer of these victims of human greed to the Whale Sanctuary Project or other similar structures that can guarantee them a dignified life.

Sources: El Cotarro and Loro Park

Little Grey and Little White, soon to be free!

Little Grey and Little White, soon to be free!
21.01.2019
Islande
Little Grey and Little White, soon to be free!
Exploitation for shows

Moving two young belugas from an aquarium in China to a bay in Iceland is not easy! Thanks to hard work, Little Grey and Little White will be able to travel by air, on land and at sea, to reach the beluga sanctuary of Klettsvik Bay, off the south coast of Iceland. A wonderful process of releasing belugas that have been kept in captivity, which will have taken several months … if not years to achieve.

Belugas, such delicate and fragile beings

Captured in Russia when they were very young, Little Grey and Little White are now twelve years old. They have lived most of their lives in captivity in the Shanghai Aquarium.

Belugas have the greatest difficulty surviving in captivity, let alone breeding. Perhaps that is why China agreed to release these two 4-meter-long ladies weighing in at 900 kg each. For now, they are unable to survive alone. But now it’s the end of the tunnel for Little White and Little Grey. Circling nonstop in a tiny pool is soon to be behind them. We have known this since June 2018, and we are rejoicing for them.

Little White & Little Grey, deux femelles #bélugas de 12 ans, vont être libérées dans quelques mois de l’#aquarium de Shanghai, pour bénéficier du magnifique espace naturel du #sanctuaire islandais @BelugaSanctuary! #StopCaptivité @WHALES_org @SeaLifeTrust https://t.co/MzEl7CHuBc

— One Voice (@onevoiceanimal) 28 juin 2018

A project that puts a smile on your face

Since last summer, everything has been done to prepare for their arrival. The Sea Life Trust’s « Beluga Whale Sanctuary » takes shape off the south coast of Iceland, in one of the bays on the Heimaey Island. It is there that Keiko, the trained orca used to play in the film series « Save Willy! » was able to taste the freedom and to find large spaces.

If all goes well, Little White and Little Grey will be able to live another 40 to 50 years in the 32,000 m² bay with depths up to 10 meters.

10,000 kilometres to go before freedom!

If all goes well, because they still have to cross almost 10,000 miles, by air, on land and by sea before arriving. Thirty hours of travel, under painkillers and half covered with water. The stress that this trip brings will not be easy.

In the meantime, to ensure a brighter future for them, the humans who care for them are trying to train them for their future life at sea. Splashing about in a tiny aquarium does not allow them to strengthen their fins nor to be able to hold their breath long enough.

#WhaleHelloPlane! We’re relocating two #beluga #whales with transport partner @Cargolux_Intl to the world’s first @SeaLifeTrust #belugasanctuary! Our policy manager Rob Lott was there when a very special plane was unveiled! #BelugaFlight
Track it here: https://t.co/66A9dHdl2O pic.twitter.com/GjGVpkFX3A

— WDC (@WHALES_org) 13 janvier 2019

A project that is emerging thanks to many organizations

This project is the will and results of many humans, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation, CargoLux (in charge of air transport), and many others!

Dr. Lori Marino, a specialist in neurobiology and cetacean behaviour with whom we work on an ad hoc basis, is a long-time friend of the association. She has been involved in this project for a long time and plans to create another sanctuary in North America, the Whale Sanctuary Project, a major project she presented to us at the Superpod 6 conference. Belugas, dolphins and orcas such as Morgan and Lolita.

Dre Lori Marino explique le @whale_sanctuary et revient sur le nombre de cétacés captifs dans le monde. #Superpod6 #BlackfishEffect pic.twitter.com/KFKLCxpwWZ

— One Voice (@onevoiceanimal) 18 juillet 2018

One Voice follows closely these two projects of marine sanctuaries. We are still hoping for a new ministerial decree to emerge and ban dolphinariums. A decree prohibiting trade and reproduction in captivity would suffice for us, like the previous one. But it is urgent that the state take its share of responsibility on this subject. We fight this in the interest of cetaceans currently captive in France, like (Wikie, Inouk, and others), but we would much rather not have to go that far … or so often.

Please sign and share our petition to definitively close the French dolphinariums!