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TILIKUM
Image Credit: Gerardo Mora/Getty Images
GREEN
Tilikum: An Unwitting Spokesperson
By
Dana Ellis Hunnes PhD
, Contributor
PhD, Speaker, Dietitian, and Adjunct Professor at UCLA Fieldin...
Watching the grief an animal goes through when it loses a family member can only be described as “human.”
ENVIRONMENT
The Changing Business of Animal Exploitation
By
Adam M. Roberts
, Contributor
CEO of Born Free USA; international expert on animal welfare a...
However, these changes don't happen without the efforts of committed and compassionate citizens across the country. Their voices--when raised in unison, with authority, and with fearlessness--can effect change most significantly.
HUFFPOST VIDEO
SeaWorld Whale Tilikum Has Died
Tilikum, the SeaWorld orca whale profiled in the film ‘Blackfish,’ has died.
Gerardo Mora via Getty Images
GREEN
Tilikum, Orca At The Center Of SeaWorld Controversy, Has Died
By
Hilary Hanson
The whale’s involvement in a trainer’s death inspired the 2013 documentary “Blackfish.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
POLITICS
SeaWorld Announces End To Its Orca Breeding Program
By
Kate Sheppard
,
Nick Visser
, and
Willa Frej
The move radically changes the business model of the controversial marine mammal park.
ENVIRONMENT
The Old Lady and the Sea
By
Ingrid Newkirk
, Contributor
President and co-founder, People for the Ethical Treatment of ...
With nowhere to go and no way to pass the hours at SeaWorld, captive orcas often gnaw on the concrete and iron-bar tank separators, sometimes breaking their teeth and leaving the pulp exposed and painfully raw.
ENVIRONMENT
Blackfish
Backlash Continues
By
John P. David
, Contributor
President, David PR Group | Author:
How to Protect (or Des...
From what I know about orca public relations, I think SeaWorld's got a big problem.
ENVIRONMENT
A Mother's Plea for the Orcas at SeaWorld
By
Tracy Reiman
, Contributor
Executive vice president, People for the Ethical Treatment of ...
Few people today believe that keeping these animals -- who have evolved to swim in the vast open oceans over the course of millions of years -- in captivity is ethically defensible.
ENVIRONMENT
Cousteau and World Cetacean Alliance Making a Splash
By
Matthew Spiegl
, Contributor
Lawyer, Ocean Advocate, Environmentalist
If we are going to change the world to save ourselves, we have to save the ocean; and if we are going to save the ocean we have to start by saving the cetaceans. We have to protect their habitat and ensure that all marine life can thrive, so that we can too.
ENVIRONMENT
Is It Time to End Animal Slavery? The Real Story Behind the SeaWorld Whale Machine
By
Nancy Colier
, Contributor
Psychotherapist, interfaith minister, author and public speaker
If you have ever or ever intend to visit a SeaWorld-type theme park, or if you just care about the wellbeing of other creatures who share our earth,
Blackfish
should be mandatory viewing.
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Here’s how.
ENVIRONMENT
ReThink Review:
Blackfish
-- The Dark, Wild Side of
Free Willy
By
Jonathan Kim
, Contributor
Movie Critic for ReThink Reviews
By examining orcas in the wild and their lives in sea parks,
Blackfish
makes a compelling argument that not only is it immoral to imprison orcas, but that they are too powerful, smart, and unpredictable for us to do it safely.
ENTERTAINMENT
Movie Review:
Blackfish
By
Marshall Fine
, Contributor
Author and film critic, hollywoodandfine.com
It's been four years since
The Cove
-- and 20 years since
Free Willy.
And yet, as the upsetting new documentary,
Blackfish,
shows, man's inhumanity to mammals continues unabated -- as commercialized and heartless as ever, even when it includes collateral damage.
ENVIRONMENT
SeaWorld Suffers Legal Setback in Fight Against OSHA
By
David Kirby
, Contributor
Author/Journalist/Writing & Media Coach www.davidkirbycoac...
Even as SeaWorld and OSHA engage in settlement talks over the 2010 death of orca trainer Dawn Brancheau, the company has suffered a legal setback in its fight to keep OSHA inspectors from interviewing trainers about federally mandated safety measures before the mediation process concludes.
ENVIRONMENT
Baby Orca Born Into Troubled 'Family' At SeaWorld
By
David Kirby
, Contributor
Author/Journalist/Writing & Media Coach www.davidkirbycoac...
SeaWorld San Diego is celebrating the birth of a killer whale on this Valentine's Day backstage at Shamu Stadium. But not everyone is delighted with the news. Anti-captivity activists say the newborn has a hard life ahead in a grotesquely unnatural world.
ENVIRONMENT
SHAMU FOR SALE -- Should You Invest in Captivity?
By
David Kirby
, Contributor
Author/Journalist/Writing & Media Coach www.davidkirbycoac...
Investing in the captivity of highly intelligent killer whales for public amusement carries with it considerable risks and drawbacks -- not just financially, but ethically and morally as well.
ENVIRONMENT
NEW POLL: Only 1-in-4 Americans Support Orca Captivity
By
David Kirby
, Contributor
Author/Journalist/Writing & Media Coach www.davidkirbycoac...
A new poll just out this morning, the first-ever survey of US public opinion on attitudes toward keeping killer whales in captivity, does not bear good news for the marine mammal industry, and in particular SeaWorld.
ENTERTAINMENT
Big Week Looms Ahead for SeaWorld
By
David Kirby
, Contributor
Author/Journalist/Writing & Media Coach www.davidkirbycoac...
The week of July 16 will be crunch time for America's favorite marine theme park, as SeaWorld braces for the next grueling phase in the aftermath of orca trainer Dawn Brancheau's death, two and a half years ago in Orlando.
ENVIRONMENT
SeaWorld Appeals Verdict in Trainer's Death, Reopens Pool Where Killing Occurred
By
David Kirby
, Contributor
Author/Journalist/Writing & Media Coach www.davidkirbycoac...
In the highly-charged climate of 2012,
SeaWorld Florida v. US Labor Secretary Solis
heads to the Occupational Safety and Health Commission, whose three members are appointed by the President. It is up to the commissioners whether to review the ruling or not, making this political.
ENVIRONMENT
Time to Phase Out the Shamu Shows
By
David Kirby
, Contributor
Author/Journalist/Writing & Media Coach www.davidkirbycoac...
It is up to the courts and the government to decide if people should be allowed to perform in the water with killer whales. But it is up to the public, especially those who pay $80 or more to visit SeaWorld, to decide if orcas are better off in tanks, or in the ocean where they naturally evolved.
POLITICS
Labor Department Fires Warning Shot At Animal Entertainment Industry
By
David Kirby
, Contributor
Author/Journalist/Writing & Media Coach www.davidkirbycoac...
OSHA's obligation is to protect all employees against any unnecessary risks. And if that means putting a physical barrier between human workers and potentially lethal animals, the Feds are saying so be it.
ENVIRONMENT
Federal Judge Blasts SeaWorld in Death of Orca Trainer
By
David Kirby
, Contributor
Author/Journalist/Writing & Media Coach www.davidkirbycoac...
SeaWorld has lost its legal battle to overturn a federal safety violation in the 2010 death of Orlando orca trainer Dawn Brancheau, and was roundly defeated in its attempt to vacate OSHA-mandated measures to protect the safety of trainers.
ENVIRONMENT
Death at SeaWorld -- Should Videotapes of the Killing be Released?
By
David Kirby
, Contributor
Author/Journalist/Writing & Media Coach www.davidkirbycoac...
On Thursday, a federal judge ruled against the husband and family of Dawn Brancheau, the trainer who died in February 2010 at SeaWorld.
ENVIRONMENT
Death At Loro Parque: The Risks Of Killer Whale Entertainment
By
Tim Zimmermann
, Contributor
Adventure and Oceans
Dawn Brancheau was the first SeaWorld trainer killed by a killer whale. But she wasn't the first trainer killed by a SeaWorld killer whale.
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