Captive Orca News

Great article. This quote stood out most for me and I think it sums up the thinking behind these animal rights activists, conservationists and ethicists.

They are trying to stop people from having any contact with animals; including the ability to own them as pets. They just want to make peoples lives miserable so we can live up to their unrealistic moral codes.

They are thinking with emotion, not reason. It's why animals continue to go extinct; because those working in these animal fields are not tailoring their conservation programs to suit the reality of the world.

This view is sadly reflective of a growing anti-zoo-and-aquarium bias, rooted in emotion, not science or fact, that is being promulgated by animal rights activists. These extremists seek to end human-animal relationships of all kinds. Their agenda doesn’t stop at killer whales. A quick search of their recent statements reveals they believe humans have no right to possess or use any animal in any capacity.
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https://www.thedodo.com/seaworld-orca-unna-dead-1520796874.html


SeaWorld, which first announced Unna's illness in September, has sought to portray candida as a natural part of a wild orca's life, describing it as " pervasive in the environment" and saying it is found in wild whales and other animals. But the Merck Manual, a respected encyclopedia of veterinary medicine, reveals that the fungal infection is often a result of captivity.

"Captive marine mammals seem particularly prone to fungal infections," the manual says. "This common mycotic disease [candida] in captive cetaceans occurs secondary to stress, unbalanced water disinfection with chlorines, or indiscriminate antibiotic therapy."
 
TheMightyOrca said:
VIDEO. Décès de l'orque Valentin à Marineland: "Une torsion de l'intestin" | Antibes | Nice-Matin

I guess he died of a twisted intestine? I had to use Google translate to read it. Apparently they haven't found a direct link between his death and the flooding, but they're waiting for more tests to be sure.
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That is the same thing that killed Sumar in San Diego a few years ago. They said it had nothing to do with being in captivity, but really? I find that hard to believe when they spend much of their time swimming "in a circle".
 
Goura said:
https://www.thedodo.com/seaworld-orca-unna-dead-1520796874.html


SeaWorld, which first announced Unna's illness in September, has sought to portray candida as a natural part of a wild orca's life, describing it as " pervasive in the environment" and saying it is found in wild whales and other animals. But the Merck Manual, a respected encyclopedia of veterinary medicine, reveals that the fungal infection is often a result of captivity.

"Captive marine mammals seem particularly prone to fungal infections," the manual says. "This common mycotic disease [candida] in captive cetaceans occurs secondary to stress, unbalanced water disinfection with chlorines, or indiscriminate antibiotic therapy."
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It would have been helpful if the Dodo was actually able to produce any sort of statistic showing the prevalence of candida in wild cetaceans. I myself have been searching and have so far turned up nothing,and I'm uncomfortable with the idea of taking anything the Dodo says as reality. Could anyone send a study if one exists?
 
azcheetah2 said:
That is the same thing that killed Sumar in San Diego a few years ago. They said it had nothing to do with being in captivity, but really? I find that hard to believe when they spend much of their time swimming "in a circle".
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I've never been comfortable with the idea of cetaceans in captivity and I don't believe a lot of good has ever come out of it. Certainly we've learned a lot about behaviour, but from the animal welfare point of view it's not possible to provide anything like a natural environment for them. If there had been any value in it, perhaps the Baiji wouldn't now be extinct
 
Goura said:
If there had been any value in it, perhaps the Baiji wouldn't now be extinct
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I don't think that really applies here. There have been very few Baiji in captivity,and a breeding program takes a long time and a lot of individuals. From what I can see there have been six individuals in captivity beginning in 1980. Not a lot of time to do anything,nor enough specimens.
 
Shellheart said:
I don't think that really applies here. There have been very few Baiji in captivity,and a breeding program takes a long time and a lot of individuals. From what I can see there have been six individuals in captivity beginning in 1980. Not a lot of time to do anything,nor enough specimens.
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Of course that's true, but my point was that if more responsible work had been done on captive breeding of cetaceans, then there might have been a chance. Naturally I appreciate that there would have been all sorts of other considerations, such as cooperation with the Chinese government and I wasn't implying that it would have been a simple undertaking. I just think that those who are opposed to cetaceans in captivity have quite a lot of very good ammunition to end their use in displays
 
Ran has been moved back to Kamogawa following several years at Port of Nagoya. Her father is Bingo and her mother is Stella. She was born at Kamogawa, so this is a move home for her.
 
wensleydale said:
Here is something I did not know, the man who swam with Tilikum in 1999 and died as a result of the encounter won a Darwin Award for doing so. Also, he jumped into the Manatee exhibit two years prior:

1999 Darwin Award: Killer Whale Rodeo
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Reminds me of the crazy woman who jumped into the polar bear cage at Berlin. If you willingly climb into enclosures with large carnivorous animals you need your head checking.
 
I like the bit right at the end of that article:
Trey and Shawn Kusek send this update: "Radio KBUS Texas reported that Daniel's family, out of contact with him for six yearsh, sued Sea World over his death, contending that they depict a KILLER whale as a cute cuddly animal, and did not take enough precations to keep Daniel out of the tank." Trey adds, "I figured you would be interested in the update as it kinda shows that stupidity is inherited."
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Chlidonias said:
I like the bit right at the end of that article:
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Had I done something like that my family never would have sued, rather they would have gone and hidden under a rock somewhere from embarrassment and denied being related to me. I was taught from a young age not to trespass into zoo enclosures.
 
wensleydale said:
Had I done something like that my family never would have sued, rather they would have gone and hidden under a rock somewhere from embarrassment and denied being related to me. I was taught from a young age not to trespass into zoo enclosures.
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I always love when folks attempt to use this incident against SeaWorld. This guy jumped into a zoo exhibit with animals who aren't familiar with him. Even if we ignored the fact that he happened to climb into the tank of one of the world's top apex predators (and a particularly troubled individual to boot),he would still be at fault for doing something so idiotic.
 
Goura said:
Of course that's true, but my point was that if more responsible work had been done on captive breeding of cetaceans, then there might have been a chance. Naturally I appreciate that there would have been all sorts of other considerations, such as cooperation with the Chinese government and I wasn't implying that it would have been a simple undertaking. I just think that those who are opposed to cetaceans in captivity have quite a lot of very good ammunition to end their use in displays
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To be fair, even if there was a lot of better work on captive breeding, I doubt it could've been used to help the baiji. By the time that researchers wanted to start breeding them in captivity, it was very late, they were only able to acquire a few animals. Even if those few did survive and breed, they wouldn't have had enough dolphins to create a population that can survive long-term.

Anyway. After months (perhaps longer) of speculation, there's finally some confirmation that Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in China has some of those captured Russian orcas.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BBQG7DcydgR/
https://www.chinadialogue.net/artic...-s-first-killer-whale-show-to-prompt-protests
Orcas held in Chinese Marine Parks - WDC
 
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wensleydale said:
Hopefully he hasn't gotten some kind of superbug. He's been sick before, but I don't know the details.
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It sounds pretty bad this time, the SW page I linked to sounds like a memorial. They're probably expecting the worst. He's pretty old by captive standards.
 
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