This is a semi-satirical blog for showcasing some of the nutty things people online say about zoos and aquariums, particularly SeaWorld. A few rules below:
This blog owner is very pro-zoo. The screenshots posted here are definitely not reflective of my personal views.
The purpose of this blog is entertainment.
Submissions are open! If you see a hilariously bad post or comment by a self-appointed online animal expert, send it our way. I ask that your censor the posterâs name (our goal here is laughter, not bullying anyone for their opinion, no matter how uneducated) and any excessively harsh or abusive language.
SeaWorldâs killer whales are the inspiration behind the blog, but all animal species and zoos are welcome!
People on both sides of the zoo debate have some pretty... interesting opinions. Both pro- and anti-cap submissions will be accepted!
It literally makes no sense how you act like your profession is so unfairly victimized by âunhinged animal rights activistsâ meanwhile you dedicate an entire blog to screenshotting any dolphin related opinion on social media you disagree with and ruthlessly mocking it on a different platform⊠like maybe if you want to change peopleâs minds respond to their posts in a reasonable manner instead of making fun of them? How is this doing anything but making dolphin trainers look unreasonable đđ§ââïž
Whale actually, average life expectancy for wild orcas is about 30 years for males and 50 years for females. No orca has ever been documented making it to 100. You can thank Blackfish for spreading that around.
Corky (59), Katina (48), Ulises (47), Stella (37), Orkid (35), Takara (32), Kyuquot (32), Shouka (31), and Keet (31) would like to have a word with you about how using data from the entire 60 years there have been orcas in captivity to make claims about how long they live in modern day facilities is problematic to say the least.
I got recommended a reel of one of SeaWorldâs rescued raptors (wearing jesses) meeting Malia at Underwater Viewing. Needless to say, the comments did not disappoint.
Please share all you can about Toa the orca calf, I think his story is very important. I donât know too much but it seems like a case of activists being but in charge rather than actual experts.
Yeah it was a mess from start to finish. Toa was found stranded on the rocks, with witnesses saying the waves had thrown him up there. Already he would have been distressed and had been on his side on a hard surface for a few hours at least.
They got him back in the water and then videos of these interactions started to surface:
No PPE, giving Toa belly rubs and ignoring any formal rescue protocols (if you're trying to refloat a whale, you're not letting them turn upside down)
The sun was going down and DOC wanted people out of the water. Ingrid was on her way and giving instructions to her team. The decision was made to put Toa on a trailer overnight - it's unclear if that was her decision or not but it's clear that, despite not having any rehab facilities in New Zealand, people were determined to rehab this calf and release it back into the wild at any cost.
So they cobbled together a "sea pen" on a boat ramp in a dirty harbour. This is where Toa would eventually die in a few weeks time. Whale Rescue was already selling the story of a miraculous rescue and the plan to "reunite" Toa with his pod. And lying openly that orca calves had been successfully released in the wild before:
He wasn't injured, they said. He was fine. They just had to find his pod now.
When asked reasonable question about where the PPE was for volunteers, Whale Rescue immediately became defensive:
The call for PPE went ignored for about a day while people were in close contact with a sick orca. And the call went out for more "volunteers" aka anyone with a wetsuit. This sparked immediate concerns from the Advisory Group.
Photos like this started showing up - 6 people crowding Toa in a circle, no where for him to go if he wanted a break from people:
The excuse was that Toa needed help swimming. Yet he was swimming okay and avoiding the fences without any obvious issue. And so the habituation began... Despite continuing advice from the Technical Advisory Group - including Loro Parque and SeaWorld, who both have extensive calf raising experience.
"There is no need to have people 24/7 in the water when the animal is able to float and swim alone."
Finally PPE was being used but the habituation and intense contact with Toa continued. Ingrid gave it the okay and other inexperienced members of the public continued to encourage it.
Whale Rescue continued to affirm to the public that they are merely "duplicating natural behaviour" for Toa
And the cultish and unquestioning worship of Ingrid Visser allowed this to continue - note the amount of people in the water for Toa's "massage." They only started wearing PPE when people started questioning it.
If you're wondering what I mean by cultish behaviour see the comment thread below:
They actually believe that Ingrid was communicating with Toa. Because that's what she told them she was doing. And they believed it without question.
When Toa was moved into the freshwater pool due to storms, it got even worse.
This photo was quickly deleted but look how absolutely foul the water is:
There didn't appear to be any sort of filtration or pump system.
At this point volunteers and Ingrid were being fed by donated food from the local pubs, Ingrid was sleeping on site in a donated campervan and the entire community were rallying around trying to "help." Note how close they're all set up to the pool.
Putting him in the pool also made Toa a lot more accessible. Concerns were raised about the stress to the calf and an exclusion zone was agreed upon. Buuut it was immediately disregarded.
7 people! In that tiny pool! And the photos of the complete flouting of the rules continued to surface.
The comments find it all very amusing!
Roll up, roll up! Come and see the dying baby orca calf!
And then, as we near the end of this animal's torment, Ingrid brags to the press about how she's now TRAINING the animal she intends to release into the wild. Because we definitely want to be training cooperative care and making life saving feeding and hydrating procedures all about Choice.
Remember when Ingrid Visser didn't like the "exploitation" of orcas in captivity? Remember when she said that training "tricks", even husbandry behaviours, is cruel and bad? I do!
It makes me seriously wonder if she just wanted to be an orca trainer all her life.
But anyway, Toa's getting bouts of colic (gee, maybe changing the formula without permission wasn't a good idea!) and DOC is starting to get concerned about him. At this point, people are still denying that SeaWorld and Loro Parque are involved and any mention of a facility getting involved is immediately shut down.
This is what was being said in the Advisory Group:
At this point both SeaWorld and Loro Parque have provided formulas, advice ect. Ingrid Visser was claiming she knew these things all along and that the formulas were from her hand picked experts.
So these are what the comments were:
Whale Rescue thought it was appropriate to reply to comments of concern like this:
The cult of Visser continues to fuel the anti human care sentiment.
DOC starts to report concerns with Toa's health and Whale Rescue decides to double down that everything is completely Fine. Don't listen to DOC, keep giving us money.
The donations are getting up to 20k.
Because of Whale Rescue casting dispersions, anti DOC (Department of Conservation - who put in about 10k into the rescue efforts) sentiments grow.
And, only a few days later, Toa dies. I reached the end of my image limit but I still have plenty more screenshots I can share.
I recommend you check out the documents released by DOC to see the sources of these screenshots - the other screenshots were taken from news reports, Facebook groups and posts as well as videos:
A young, unweaned orca calf stranded itself on a rocky beach at Plimmerton, north of Wellington, on Sunday 11 July 2021 while foraging with
In reference to the tags of my previous post, here's som photos of "Bob" the baby killer whale that came before Toa.
Literally the same story. People desperate for their few minutes of fame, and private coddle time with a killer whale, while ignoring their actual needs and medical condition. All the while villainizing the people who know how to actually take care of a (baby) whale.
One of these days, Iâd love to be able to look at pictures of beautiful wild whales without the caption waxing on about the evils of captivity.
There are an estimated 50,000 wild orcas, and less than 60 in human care worldwide. Orca breeding has already ended in western nations, and the SWIMS Act does absolutely nothing to address the very real threats facing wild whales. It will however, end the vital research efforts of accredited aquariums studying the beluga whale (of which endangered populations exist) by prohibiting future reproduction.
Thank goodness SeaWorld was excluded from this list of best aquariums in the world, which included⊠MOSKVARIUM!???
(Worth noting, while healthy mammals are no longer captured for display, itâs still common practice for all aquariums to obtain fish and herptiles from the wild.)
I've seen so many people talk about how theyre anti-zoo because of steve irwin, dude literally had a zoo, his fam still own and run it rn. The man and family literally known worldwide for LOVING animals and wanting everyone to take better care of them OWN A ZOO.
I'm not even sure I would respond if someone said that to me. I think my brain should short circuit.
