New doc by Katie Emmons & @ BlueFreedom available globally and intended for classrooms and the public (36 min duration). Hits harder than #Blackfish, via new testimony, with more details on Taiji. Thank you Katie, Abbie, et al.
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Published on Jul 21, 2016
My friends and I were tossing around ideas about how we could make a difference on this issue as students. We had been talking to scientists, activists, and former trainers—putting in a lot of hours and doing lots of research.
At one point I remember one of us suggesting, “Why not make a film about this?”
Voiceless is about what we learned. Voiceless is about changing this issue for the better, and giving a voice to those who don’t have one. But beyond that, we wanted to prove that students—teenagers, kids—can make a difference. A big one.
Read more at: www.bluefreedom.org
The Morgan Monitor Who filmed The Escape Behavior Provides More First Hand Details about the Orca
I wish there was some way I could get it out to the media that this was not a suicide attempt,
but without my identity being exposed… So here is my unpublished blog, which may give you a better idea of what led to her jumping out.
A visit to Loro Parque 16th May 2016:
Morgan the female orca has captured the hearts of many around the world. She was spotted swimming alone in waters of the Netherlands. She was extremely underweight but swimming freely. She was captured by a local theme park (Dolfinarium Harderwijk), under a Dutch Government issued ‘rescue, rehabilitation and release’ permit. The theme park failed to fulfill the rehabilitation and release part of the permit.
She was trained and kept in a life of captivity. Morgan now spends her life in Loro Parque on the island of Tenerife. Here she is constantly attacked, and the male [Keto] tries to mate with her. The Free Morgan Foundation was formed to get Morgan back to her family in Norway. Morgan has suffered a significant injustice most of her life. This visit was to follow up on Morgan after the release of footage of her violently banging her head against the gate of the med pool a few weeks earlier. The last show Morgan made her first appearance of the day. The show arena was not as full as it had been earlier that day. Video footage was taken of the show; the first part of the footage shows a splash and 3 orcas going under the water, It seemed like some kind of scramble or attack by two orcas on the other one (Morgan).
The following moment Morgan jumped and beached herself onto the concrete. Her breathing was rather shallow; her vocals seemed stressed and sounded as though she was in pain, even more so each time she lifted her head.
The first part of the video… shot of her beached lasted over 2 minutes, and the trainers did not attend to her. Most of the audience seemed to think that this was the ending of the show; many took selfies with Morgan suffering in the background. I then decided to video again as Morgan was still in the same position still showing signs of shallow breathing and severe discomfort. Now people were leaving, I moved around taking footage until I had Morgan facing the camera lens. A female trainer stood a few feet away from Morgan just watching the crowd leave. The other 2 orcas were still swimming around in the tank and often just spy hopping at Morgan. A trainer stood by the bridge was asked if Morgan is ok, His reply “ Yes she’s fine just like’s to be out of the water” The audience was still leaving and we were eventually all asked to leave. At this point I stopped filming and I glanced back: Morgan was still in the same position as where the trainers. This had now been over 10 minutes. So all I could do now was make my way to the exit. As I left for the exit, heart pounding, feeling choked up and holding back the tears.
I had just witnessed the true face of captivity. As much as they are controlled and trained. The only place for these majestic creatures is the ocean with their true family…
I worked with 5 false killer whales during my years at the Whale & Dolphin Stadium in Orlando. These Pseudorca were captured in Japanese drive fisheries. I recently was provided paperwork evidence for Teri’s capture/transfer to SeaWorld. He was collected in Taiji on 21 February 1983 and routed via Kamogawa Sea World in Japan, to SeaWorld in California. While I don’t have the paperwork on all 5 that I worked with (Teri, Suki, Hana, Zori, Yaki), Teri and Suki are confirmed from Taiji, and the others are suspected from Taiji, although there is more than one drive fishery for small cetaceans in Japan. While not ground-breaking, it does provide evidence of a direct link between SeaWorld, Taiji, and Kamogawa Sea World. The whale on the right is Hana. She is/was so cute. All five of the pseudorca died young in captivity. In general, the trainers did not know of the brutal collection history of these whales while working at SeaWorld in Orlando. That information was kept from us or was warped to make it seem like SeaWorld saved the animals. The reality is that SeaWorld created the demand which grew the drive fisheries & the industry world wide. JV
More explosive paperwork regarding SeaWorld’s acquisition of the Pseudorca Crassidens Teri and Suki, from Taiji, as described in my previous post. This includes a description of Don Goldsberry as SeaWorld’s “Corporate Director of Collecting” with 26 years of experience. It also shows transport units and contains another letter from Sea World Kamogawa, in Japan. This facility is where Teri and Suki were routed through on their way to SeaWorld in the United States. They spent time at Kamogawa after being corralled up onto the beach in Taiji. Please note the closing of the letter, “Yours Faithfully.”
Join us this Saturday in Las Vegas from 7:30-9:45pm at the Mirage volcano. We will be speaking to the thousands of tourists walking down the strip on a Saturday night. The dolphins at the Mirage have been suffering for more than 24 years without a simple shade structure.
For more information about the campaign, please visit MojaveDolphins.com (at Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat At The Mirage)
AB39 Cleare, a 28 year-old female and mother of 3.
Cleare is from AB25 pod. AB25 pod is a curiosity, as they used to belong to AB pod until the Exxon Valdez oil spill. It was then that they split off and began to form their own pod. Such a pod split is unprecedented. Researchers suspect this happened because major social structures were upset and changed during the oil spill. AB25 pod travels with AJ pod now.
