Controversy of Captivity : Orcas

I visited Sea World Orlando for the first time in 1993.  Free Willy had just been released, and it was one of my favorite movies. (Let's face it, any movie with animals was my favorite movie!) I remember feeling very conflicted while watching the 'Shamu Show' because of what I had learned from Free Willy.

During the show, Sea World repeatedly lauded itself on its wonderful care of its animals, but even 10 year old me could see signs of unhealthy Orcas.  I wanted to believe what the performers were telling me, that the animals were healthy and happy, but I just couldn't.  It broke my heart.

The most noticeable is the collapsed dorsal fin. All captive adult male Orcas have collapsed dorsal fins. Sea World claims this is natural, and while there are many theories as to why this happens, the truth is it is actually very rare in the wild.  This excellent scientific paper goes into greater detail about "Flaccid" Fin Syndrome.

I have provided a list of links at the bottom of this page that can supplement additional information with more sanguinary images and descriptions of abuses in captivity and health issues of such animals, if you are so interested.

Blackfish

The controversy of Orcas in captivity has had a resurgence in the media recently with the tragic story of Tilikum, a captive Orca who is the main subject of the documentary Blackfish.  Among other many other reactions and protests, response to the film prompted many high-profile bands and musicians to cancel their 2014 concerts at Sea World Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa, raising awareness of the controversy to a fever pitch in the media.

THANK YOU to Heart, Barenaked Ladies, Willie Nelson, Martina McBride, .38 Special, Cheap Trick, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, The Beach Boys, Trace Adkins and Trisha Yearwood for your efforts.  Your actions and outspoken activism has had a huge impact on the awareness of the plight of captive animals around the world.

Sea World has tried to address and dispute Blackfish's information, with minimal results. Just last week Sea World was voted one of the top 4 Most Hated Companies in America, right up there with Comcast, Monsanto, and WalMart.

Orca Facts

Last month, "Granny", the world's oldest Orca, was spotted again in the wild off the coast of Canada. She is 103 years old.  In a little over a week, Granny and her pod traveled over 800 miles. A far cry from the bathtub Tilikum and his captive counterparts around the world are trapped in.  

Sea World contends that "no one knows for sure how long killer whales live".  What great, pointedly vague non-information coming from such a self-professed source of knowledge of all things Orca!

You may notice I only use the word "Orca" when referring to these marine mammals.  

The name Killer Whale is a misnomer.  First of all, they belong in the oceanic dolphin family.  Their scientific name is Orcinus orca. Centuries ago, Spanish sailors observed their effective hunting techniques and dubbed them "Matador de Ballenas" (translated: "Killer of whales").   Somewhere along the way the name got shortened and mixed up, hence the resulting "Killer Whale" label. Wrong-o!

Success Story: Free Willy Keiko Foundation

One inspirational story of rescue and rehabilitation into the wild is Keiko.  I chose Keiko's story as he was the subject of the movie Free Willy, which had such an impact on me. 

His story demonstrates the power of the media to influence positive change. He was born in 1978 in the wild near Iceland, caught by a fisherman at a very young age, bought and sold as a captive performing animal, ending up in abhorrent conditions at a marine park in Mexico.  

The movie was released in 1993, and by 1996 he was moved to a rehab facility in Oregon where his health improved dramatically and was taught to hunt for live food.  Over the next couple of years, Keiko gained nearly 2,000 lbs (1 ton) of weight, his skin lesions healed, and he could feed himself.  

In 1998, 20 years after his traumatic capture as a baby, Keiko was re-introduced to his native Icelandic waters, where he lived freely until his death (by natural causes, acute pneumonia) in 2003.

Read Keiko's full timeline here

More Links:

Blackfish Movie

The Fate of Captive Orcas in 2014

Eight Facts You Need to Know about Killer Whales

Sea World of Hurt

The Keiko Project

Orcas in Captivity Wiki

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Save Me Sunday: Help! I found a baby bird!

Aw, I love Derek!! He always means well. We all do!

Do you know what to do if you find a baby bird?

It is currently baby bird season (spring and summer), so if you live in the city, country, suburbs, or anywhere in between, you are likely to come across a baby bird at some point.  They are so adorable and helpless-looking, if you're an animal lover like me, you will always want to scoop it up and help!

BUT SHOULD YOU?

Before you scoop up the baby, survey the situation and ask yourself a couple of questions (advice via my very good friends at the Wild Bird Fund):

OK so far so good. You've called a rehabilitator like the Wild Bird Fund who can be reached at T: 646-306-2862, and determined that yes this bird DOES need help, and you are just the person to do it!!  Now what??

You can download the PDF version of these tips and tricks for baby birds at the Wild Bird Fund site HERE.

I will definitely be posting more about bird (baby and adult) feeding, care, etc in the future!  Please let me know if you have questions. The Wild Bird Fund is an excellent resource, please check them out. Wonderful people doing amazing work in NYC and beyond!

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Star Power Saturday : Ricky Gervais, Animal Lover and Activist

Star Power Saturdays will feature a different celebrity who speaks out for animals and/or has rescued their pets instead of shopping (#adoptdontshop).

This first celeb I chose to feature is one of my favorites: Ricky Gervais.

It was also his birthday this past Wednesday (June 25)! HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY RICKY!  Thank you for all you do for animals.

An outspoken activist, animal lover, atheist, comedian, and actor, Ricky has used his star power to spread the word on social media (follow him on Facebook or Twitter) and any way he can, about animal rights and plights of animals of all types around the world.

He also posts a lot of fun videos and photos of his Siamese cat, Ollie.

Ricky and Ollie take a selfie for Twitter.

In addition to being a loving pet owner, he is an active supporter of Cruelty Free International, opposing animal testing for cosmetics.

Maddie's Pet Adoption Days

I live in NYC and recently there was a massive pet adoption event called Maddie's Pet Adoption Days, and Ricky was in the city that weekend.  So I dropped him a note on Facebook to let him know about it, particularly the massive outdoor event held in Union Square.

I didn't get any response (I certainly did not expect one), but shortly thereafter these photos started appearing all over Facebook!

Uncanny resemblance.

I love that he went over just to cuddle some homeless furbabies.  Good guy!

Derek

One more thing I'd like to feature about Ricky is his show "Derek".  If you haven't seen it, I highly suggest checking it out on Netflix. He has called it a 'cry-medy', a comedy that sometimes makes you tear up (in a good way). Not many shows have as much heart as this, it's really special.

"Derek" is set at a retirement home, and the main character, Derek (Gervais), is an animal lover. Here's a clip from Season 2.

These are just a few examples of Ricky's love for animals.  Check here for more posts featuring a different animal-loving celeb, every Saturday.

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Fashion Friday : Pet Fashion Show

I live in NYC, Manhattan Upper East Side no less, so I see a lot of dogs wearing clothing and accessories of all types, including booties, raincoats, sweaters, sunglasses, barrettes...the list goes on. Some of it is form-meets-function, like the vests that double as harnesses, booties to protect paws from hot pavement, and sweaters or raincoats for extreme weather, but a lot of it is strictly for fun.

But fun for the dogs? I don't know.  I guess these Manhattan dogs are used to it, because I never see one walking like this down the sidewalk:



I however, have 3 cats. They do not take kindly when I try to accessorize their naturally fabulous state.

Pirate Meatball lasted for approximately 2.5 seconds before she decided she no longer wanted
to participate in such ridiculous Halloween shenanigans. She is a good sport.

NYC goes so far with their pet-fashion obsession that there is even a yearly Pet Fashion Show! I don't see many (any) cats in there...gee I wonder why!

The New York Post reported on the 2013 Pet Fashion Show. Hard-hitting news. Check it out.



So, what do you think about playing dress up with our pets?  Leave your thoughts in the comment section!

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96 Elephants : Poaching and the Illegal Ivory Trade

Recently, an elephant named Satao, thought to be the largest-tusked elephant living in Africa, was killed by poachers.  Known as the last "great tusker", Satao was shot with a poacher's poison arrow. His death was long and painful.

When his body was found, his magnificent tusks had been cut off, his face horribly mutilated in the process.

Look how phenomenal he was.
"Great tuskers" are bulls with tusks so large they can rest them on the ground.  They are extremely rare.

96 elephants are killed every day in Africa...that's 35,000 a year.

It would be easy to point fingers and demonize other countries' faults, political loopholes, and cruelty. The unfortunate truth is that we need to take a long, hard look the mirror for the solution because...

The USA is the SECOND LARGEST importer of illegal ivory in the world. 

It's our fault.

I am a volunteer with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) as a guide at the Central Park Zoo in NYC.  WCS is partnering with the 96 Elephants Campaign to spread awareness about the illegal ivory trade and elephant poaching.  They need 1 million signatures.

If Satao's story or these facts upset you, then please sign your name here.

Ian Somerhalder, Elephant Hero

This Monday (June 25, 2014) actor and animal activist Ian Somerhalder testified on behalf of the elephants at the Natural Resources Hearing on the domestic ivory ban. Check out his passionate testimony:



As part of the testimony, Somerhalder said, “There’s really only one word that can describe the situation of elephants in the wild today; they are in crisis. The characteristics that make elephants so iconic around the world – their beauty, majesty, and power – are precisely what make them so desirable to poachers.”

Thank you Ian, you are a hero for elephants.

New York State Historic Ban

Just this past week New York State passed a historic ban on the sale of elephant ivory and rhino horn.  According to this WCS press release, the legislation amends the state’s environmental law to ban elephant ivory sales with only a few exceptions for antiques with small amounts of ivory, certain instruments made before 1975, and transfers for educational and scientific purposes or through the distribution of estates.

Protect the Tuskers

In the 1960's, Kenya's first president ordered armed guards to protect a "great tusker" named Ahmed. Ahmed was protected by two armed guards later in his life, and died of natural causes at age 55. Now Kenyans are calling for around-the-clock protection for the few remaining tuskers.

Help their petition reach 20,000 names by signing your name.

A portrait of the famous Kenyan elephant Ahmed, in 1972.

Thank you, on behalf of elephants everywhere, for your help.

Follow 96 Elephants on Facebook

Follow 96 Elephants on Twitter

Read more about me and my volunteer work in my About Me Page!

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Calling all Photographers! Shelter pets need your help

One of the most important things you can do to help your local shelter and rescue animals is to photograph them.  Yes, shelters absolutely need volunteers that are willing to clean cages, walk dogs, socialize cats, and so much more, but if you have an eye for photography and can work your way around a camera, then your skills are in HIGH demand across the country!

Check out these Before And After photos to see what a difference a good photo can make:

You can't even really see him in the top photo! 

Great example of the difference appropriate lighting and a better angle can do!

Such a sad intake photo, the one on the bottom shows what a charmer this dog is!

See what I mean?! Powerful stuff. It really is the difference between life and death, particularly at high-intake kill shelters.

You don't even have to be a professional to help homeless pets.  Here are some shots my boyfriend and I took of 2 kittens (Bobby and Joey) that we were fostering last year with NYC animal rescue Zani's Furry Friends.  They were adopted together shortly after we published the photos! 

You can see they're not fancy like the ones above, but they're still 1,000% more flattering than their intake photos from the NYC ACC.  I don't have those photos to show you unfortunately, sorry (but they were not good).

Joey lounging on a suitcase. I love his "come hither" eyes in this one.

Bobby at a Zani's Furry Friends adoption event at Petco.
"I'm so cute and such a good boy! Adopt me please!"

Joey hanging out at a Petco adoption event.
Joey and Bobby were adopted together at one of these events!

We took photos of all the cats at the adoption event that day, and they came out beautifully. Again, we are not professional photographers, but do have a nice camera and a pretty good eye.  Zani's was so appreciative, our photos were featured in their newsletter and really helped their cats get noticed.

All this reward for just a couple of hours of work.  We did it, so could you!!

Here's an idea: See if there's an adoption event in your area, show up with your camera, chat with a volunteer about your plan to help, and start shooting! Get an email address for the rescue or shelter, and email them your photos.  I promise you that good photos will NOT go to waste.

Good photos that capture the gleam in the animal's eye and love in their heart are gold for these animals and their rescuers, and can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, Petfinder, or the rescue's own site to help them find homes.


Tips, Tricks, and Related Links:

How to Take Great Photos of Shelter Pets Step-by-Step

The Power of a Good Photo for Shelter Dogs

This Photographer Is Giving Her All To Save Shelter Dogs

PAWSITIVE SHELTER PHOTOGRAPHY -- Saving Good Pets Through Better Photography

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Teach Me Tuesday: Drinking from a Water Bottle

I am working to introduce my own 3 cats to kennels and water bottles, to prepare them for a long flight next month. We are moving to Singapore!! I will definitely share everything I've learned about the whole process in the very near future (preparations, paperwork, shippers, quarantine, kennels, best airlines, etc).

But anyway, back to the topic at hand. Teaching cats to drink from a water bottle. None of them ever had seen one before much less drank from one, so it was interesting. 

I found this video online, was very helpful:





I dip the end of the bottle in wet food and they lick it off.  Best to do it when they're already hungry.  Fancy Feast gravy lovers really works for us, since that's their special treat food, and it has a lot of liquid gravy in there. I found if I tried it with wet food they didn't really love, they decided after just a couple licks that it just wasn't the effort, and it lost their interest.

Now that their kennels are all assembled I feed them all meals there. I put the bowls all the way in the back for now, so they get used to crawling all the way in. After a couple weeks I'll start feeding them in the door hanging bowls, and after that I'll try closing the door for feeding time. Slow and steady wins the race, especially when teaching cats.

Here's a photo of dinnertime last night, with my 3 cats:

Oliver, Meatball, and Pretzel getting dinner in the kennels.

That's all for now! More coming soon. Let me know if you have any questions!

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