ce·ta·cean n: any of an order of aquatic mostly marine mammals that includes whales, porpoises, dolphins, and related forms. (Merriam Webster)
http://www.bluevoice.org/sections/dolphins/cap_aqu.shtml
Action Alerts |
TELL OBAMA:1. WE NEED NEW LEADERSHIP AT THE IWC - REMOVE THE BUSH IWC TEAM |
Canada's DFO Condemned for Failure to Rescue
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URGENT ACTION ALERT!!!ICELAND DEFIES MORATORIUM AND BEGINS WHALING!On May 19th, 2008 the Fisheries Minister of Iceland announced that he had issued a commercial whaling quota for 40 minke whales. The first whaling vessel set sail the very next day, and the kill has already begun. The whalers are claiming that minke whale steaks will be ready for the grill by this weekend. Iceland earns far more income from whale watching than it does from whaling, and the whale watch tour operators in Iceland have expressed their disapproval of the Fisheries Minister decision. Several members of the Icelandic Cabinet have come out in opposition to the hunt as well, including Foreign Minister Ingibjorg Gisladottir. One of Minister Gisladottir's fears is that whaling could well threaten Iceland tourism and export economies. CSI agrees with her concerns, as people are unlikely to want to visit Iceland to watch whales if there is a chance that a whale could be killed in front of them, or if whale meat is on the menu of a restaurant that they choose following their boat trip. Please contact the Embassy of Iceland in Washington, DC to let them know that you are deeply disappointed with the resumption of whaling, and that you feel that this move has tarnished Iceland's image as an environmentally-conscious country. And if you receive a reply, please send a copy to CSI. Thanks for your help. The whales need you now more than ever! Contact Iceland through: |
HELP STOP ANOTHER PLANNED DOLPHIN DISPLAY CENTER - NORTH CAROLINANewly elected mayor in Greensboro, North
Carolina, Ms. Yvonne Johnson, is interested in opening a
dolphinarium which will feature a dolphin show, scuba diving,
and a research center. |
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After four beluga whale deaths in one year, the Georgia Aquarium LETTER TO GEORGIA AQUARIUM CEO JEFF FLANAGANDecember 10, 2007 Jeff Flanagan, CEO Dear Mr. Flanagan, The Georgia Aquarium's recent spate of tragic whale deaths once again illustrates a "FAILED SUCCESS STORY" that is the ongoing captivity of whales, the display of whales in confined spaces, where a number of ailments and compromises will prematurely take the marine mammal's life. Whales do NOT belong in tanks for human amusement; there is nothing educational about placing the whale in an unnatural setting for well-paying customers and touting "This is education! This is conservation!" Let's be real, Mr. Flanagan. "This is about money! This is about bringing in paying customers!" is what you as GA Aquarium's CEO should ADMIT to being committed to. Belugas can live to be 60+ years of age in the wild. In captivity, they rarely reach adulthood. Oops, I recall being told that belugas only live to be about 20 during the aquarium beluga shows. Hmm, now where's the education? When one dies, in order to satisfy public demand, it will be time to "harvest" another, from the wild, as calf mortality is high in captivity. Where's the conservation? The depletion of wild stocks of whales is directly (and increasingly) impacted by the captivity/display/swim with industry. What's more, and even more tragic is that beluga whales, "the canaries of the sea", known in the wild for their intense and prolific vocalizations, are SILENT in these tanks. The stress that takes the song away from these whales must be potent, stifling and depressing to these whales. After all, how would you feel if your natural abilities to swim for 200 miles each day, deep diving while singing with the beluga family were replaced by receiving handouts from humans while you monotonously, endlessly, SILENTLY circle a chemically-enriched artificial "sea"-tank no doubt wondering if you'll ever get out of there alive? If this aquarium really cared about whales, there would be no whales in its chlorinated, chemically-treated water tanks. Mr. Flanagan, it's time to do the right thing, and no longer display cetaceans in captivity. Taffy Williams, Director, New York Whale and Dolphin Action League |
January 19, 2007: NYS DEC Officials and
rescuers from the Riverhead Foundation haul in
three stranded dolphins that died in the East
Hampton cove. There were 12 deaths in all,
with 8 successfully herded out of the cove.
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What should you do if you see a stranded or injured NEW YORK-NORTHEAST REGION STRANDINGS Marine biologists have noted recently that the numbers of STRANDED CETACEANS, PINNIPEDS (SEALS) and SEA TURTLES have been increasing in the New York Coastal Region.
Titan, a "giant among porpoises," was found in early April, 2006, stranded on a Rhode Island
beach. The yearling harbor porpoise is recovering nicely from an unknown trauma, and is
scheduled for release in late June, 2006, from the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research
and Preservation. For more pictures of Titan or to learn about other rehabilitation successes,
visit: If you see a stranded or injured cetacean, seal or sea turtle, call the 24-Hour Standing Hotline at: 631-369-9829 IMMEDIATELY for further instructions. For more information on the |
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Please note:
The New York Whale and Dolphin Action League is applying the term "Reverse Evolution" to conditions that may result from the loss of evolved traits witnessed in cetaceans, such as beluga whales, dolphins, and orcas, placed in captivity environments. Highly evolved traits lost during captivity may include basic survival skills, use of echo-location and sonar, wide-ranging communication and song-making abilities, foraging and hunting for food, social hierarchy establishment, mating, rearing young, even harm-avoidance instincts.
December 7, 2005
The New York Whale and Dolphin Action League announces the successful launch of our
PETITION TO BAN THE DISPLAY OF BELUGA WHALES
AND OTHER CETACEANS IN NEW YORK CITY
Click on this link to sign the petition and support our work: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/368471413
What's wrong with keeping ARCTIC BELUGA WHALES in small chlorinated tanks? In an artificial environment, one made possible by constant infusions of chlorine and other chemicals? In a soundless, concrete world? In a wholly unnatural confinement? In a costly facility that drains funds from the public for what can truly be called a "non-educational" display?
Read the text of our petition:
The NY Aquarium began a disturbing tradition in 1897 as the first
facility to display captive beluga whales in the United States. As
scientific understanding of these marine mammals grew, many researchers,
organizations and individuals began to doubt the educational value of
their controversial and what was often viewed as inhumane confinement.
Beluga whales inhabit cold Arctic seawaters and live in family pods where they display the immensely varied vocal ability that has earned them the title "Canaries of the Sea." However, in captivity conditions the whales' behaviors are altered, vastly different from those found in the wild. Gone are natural behaviors such as daily wide-ranging undersea treks, 1000-meter dives, even annual transcontinental migration in long-traveled passages through frozen Arctic waters. Gone are the essential tasks of calf-rearing and the critical interaction with family members that evokes individuality and strong unity within the pod. Gone is the use of their highly-evolved and refined echo-location skill since sound in captivity tanks bounces off concrete walls in a maddening reverberation that suppresses this most fundamental mode of communication and survival. Even the simple act of foraging for greatly varied food items in Arctic waters is replaced with perversely receiving handouts of dead fish from their human captors, their sole food source. Perhaps most disturbing of all, in captive display tanks and pools, the once incredible singers in the wild, these "Canaries of the Sea," are silent. The wild behaviors have been replaced with the only activity that is available to the white whales: swimming in never-ending circles around their concrete enclosures, a sight that evokes pity and even alarm in increasingly-aware spectators of all ages.
In addition to the absence of natural behaviors in captivity, one should not forget that the lives of beluga whales are dramatically shortened in their stressful, chlorinated captivity conditions. While rarely surviving their teens and with an excessively high calf mortality rate in captivity, belugas have been known to reach over 50 years of age in their natural environment.
To anyone who has studied beluga whales in the wild it is broadly deceptive to consider the silent despair of the captive beluga whale "educational." In reality, facilities like these are prime locations for studying the de-evolution of beluga whales, to witness evolution in reverse, a repression and ultimate absence in wild-caught or captive born individuals of the highly evolved echolocation, or sonar, skills, and the loss of natural song-making that has so distinguished this whale in the wild. The New York Aquarium presents an opportunity to view the reduction of the environmentally powerful yet vulnerable whales to utter dependence on human captors for food and basic survival in this inappropriate artificial environment.
The New York Aquarium once again can take the lead, but this time in
ending the travesty of false education which is keeping beluga whales on
display. It is time that New York City takes a stand against this kind of
misleading non-education, against the casual acceptance of utter human
control over the lives of creatures that belong in their natural
environments only, and to make illegal the confinement of beluga whales in
captivity. After over 100 years of questionable and unproductive
"study," what exactly have we learned? Certainly today we can
say that "we know better" than to believe beluga whales kept in
drastically restrictive, artificial, chlorinated tanks present any real
public educational value. The whales are maintained at great expense to
the facility and New York City, yet the whales' endured and cruel
confinement does little or nothing to "enlighten" visitors to
the nature of these creatures in the wild.
The New York Whale and Dolphin Action League with the organizations and
individuals below are calling on the mayor of New York City, the New York
City Council and the Wildlife Conservation Society to end the beluga
displays in New York City, to divert monies dedicated to sustain these
expensive, high-maintenance artificial displays to environmental education
programs within the New York City school system and other critical needs
of the youth who have been deprived of so much during NYC's never-ending
fiscal crises. Environmental awareness and projects that educate the young
on the many serious issues facing our natural world will be rewarded with
a sense of purpose, increased responsibility, and a funneling of energy
into noble efforts for wildlife and conservation.
New York City's new role must be that of leader in the humane acceptance of whales as unique to their environment and unsuitable to captive situations, while taking its place beside the many US cities that have already banned the captivity and display of cetaceans such as the white Arctic beluga whale.
We therefore urge the Mayor of the City of New York, the New York City Council and the Wildlife Conservation Society to close the exhibition of beluga whales at the New York Aquarium, and to ban the captivity and display of cetaceans (whales and dolphins) in New York City.
In Memory of BEN WHITE: AN EXTRAORDINARY ACTIVIST
By Taffy Lee Williams
This article appears in the October, 2005 edition of SATYA magazine which includes a tribute to this great American activist and hero.
BEN WHITE, 1951-2005
AN EXTRAORDINARY ACTIVIST
Ben leading the WTO TURTLES, Seattle, 1999
Photo Courtesy Animal Welfare Institute.
How does one define "activist?" One might say simply two words: "Ben White." Working tirelessly for the environment, for wildlife and social justice, Ben repeatedly risked his life leaving a legacy of decades-long direct action that has become a standard to which many activists aspire.
One of Ben's earliest "hardcore" actions was at the New York Aquarium in Coney Island, Brooklyn. Thanks to "insider" information, hearing of aquarium staff taunting and teasing a male beluga whale, Ben headed for NYC. Aquarium staff members were allegedly taking bets as to who could last the longest in the beluga tank with the "vicious male." Ben put on a white lab coat and transformed himself temporarily as "Dr. White from Sea World." When Ben demanded, "Show me the beluga!" he was taken to the tank where he withheld his anger and appraised the situation at hand. Then, under cover of darkness, in the early morning hours, Ben found his way to the whale and in a leaky wetsuit jumped into the icy beluga tank.
Ben waited in the almost freezing waters and shivered, for several hours, before aquarium personnel and the Coney Island police were able to retrieve him. Now this was direct action at its finest, NYC-style, by a Seattleite none-the-less, who cared less for his own well-being than for the oppressed, maltreated and pitiful beluga whale, a prisoner in a sterile, concrete soundless world. Ben, the hero. Ben, the activist. The media jumped on the story, and the aquarium oppression was exposed to a previously gullible, non-judgmental public.
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Photo Courtesy Animal Welfare Institute: Marching against the WTO, 1999;
International Day of Protest against the Japanese Drive Fisheries, 2003:
Photo Courtesy Sea Shepherd.
It was just something he HAD to do. It was a dark night in Taiji, Japan, where a group of 25-40 dolphins were trapped in a shallow bay by the infamous JAPANESE DRIVE FISHERIES. This is Japan at its worst. Just 26 whalers in 13 small boats "drive" pods of dolphins, often hundreds at a time, into the shallow bays where they drop nets and begin a bloody carnage that is like a scene from a holocaust movie, dolphin style. Aquarium owners, who subsidize the events, pick out the prettiest, unblemished few, while those not chosen are slaughtered on the beaches. The seas turn red with the blood of dying dolphins, destined for watery graves or to become a plate of sushi, despite mercury and methyl-mercury levels up to five times their allowable limits under Japanese law. Dolphins are seen as competitors for fish that are becoming increasingly scarce given global over-fishing that is affecting western Pacific stocks. An opportunity to slaughter dolphins is seized during the dolphin "drives" while aquarium owners boast to the public they are saving a few dolphins' lives. In return, the fishermen are paid far beyond what they would receive for the sale of dolphin meat. Although they live to be 50 years or more in the wild, 50% of all dolphins die within 7 years in captivity. As Ben was well aware, the resulting financial loss compels operators to obtain dolphins by any means, even if it means virtual slaughter on the beach. He found his way with wire cutters in hand and while armed guards patrolled on the cliffs above, dove down in the blackened seas and cut through the barriers to free the dolphins. Had he been discovered, this master of self-giving would have been stopped literally dead in his tracks. That wasn't to be. More direct action beckoned.
To stop loggers in ancient forests, Ben slept in old growth trees, and trained others to do the same. Using his skills as an arborist, Ben scaled buildings to hang banners exposing circus cruelty. In full view of a Navy warship he jumped into the Pacific Ocean waters to stop the testing of military sonar so powerful it can cause the brains and lungs of whales and dolphins hundreds of miles away to literally explode. Once again, Ben could have been killed had the sonar been turned on and begun its deadly hum. Later, Ben plunged into the depths of the Delaware Bay attempting to save 300 dolphins during calving season by covering another navy acoustical seismic killing machine.
Ironically, it wasn't these almost deadly actions that Ben is most known for. He received world renown as the creator of the marching Seattle WTO turtles, a symbol of the environmental destruction sanctioned by multi-national corporations and international trade agreements. Whether it was making dolphin costumes, fighting for indigenous rights, or working to protect whales during International Whaling Commission meetings, Ben continued a quiet but resolute heroism that shows how powerful and important activism is. The tradition must and will continue.
Ben's life was that of a powerful warrior, a character rarely seen among human beings today. How very few are willing to take these kinds of risks for the things that need defending, for the wrongs that need to be made "right." In Ben's case one can honestly say that the world is a better place for his being here. This great man and heroic activist will not be forgotten.
WE STAND IN MEMORY OF BEN WHITE TODAY.
New York Whale and Dolphin Action League's
PUBLIC AWARENESS PROJECT
Poster Series
Sponsored by New York State Assemblyman Michael J. Spano,
the New York State Assembly, New York State Governor George E. Pataki,
the Empire State Development Corporation,
and Cetacean Society International (csiwhalesalive.org).
(Click to download the poster. Requires the free Adobe Reader or equivalent.)
We are happy to announce the successful launch of the Public Awareness Project Poster Series with the distribution of our first in a series, the NO BALLOONS CAMPAIGN.
Printed on tough 100 lb. stock, the 16" x 22" NO BALLOONS CAMPAIGN poster is already making a big splash! Volunteers are distributing the poster in the New York metropolitan area, Connecticut, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
This poster is available to anyone free of charge with a $6.00 donation for packaging and postage. We can ship up to 3 in a package. (For larger amounts please contact us at ny4whales@optonline.net.)
The New York Whale and Dolphin Action League thanks our New York State Assemblyman Michael J. Spano, the New York State Assembly, New York State Governor George E. Pataki, the Empire State Development Corporation and Cetacean Society International for making this project possible.
PLEASE JOIN OUR
NO BALLOONS CAMPAIGN
A "Public Awareness Project"? Why?
Simply put, we are setting out to help inform the public in general of the consequences of seemingly harmless actions in our environment.
Case in point: BALLOONS.
For example, did you know that Mylar foil balloons will float for about 10 days, but will never degrade in the environment? Or that latex balloons may take a year to degrade and that their ribbons and string are also often not biodegradable? Did you know that balloon fragments, like plastic bags and wrappers, look like jellyfish or floating plants and are quickly gobbled up by ever-hungry sea birds, turtles, even fish? Did you know that as a baleen whale scoops up thousands of gallons of water to sieve through for its meal, its baleen traps plankton and fish along with cigarette butts, balloon fragments, plastic floating toys, straws, food wrappers and more. A whale can't pick the trash out from the fish meal it has just sifted from the water. Everything is swallowed! One baby sperm whale died of starvation after it swallowed a Mylar balloon that lodged in its intestines.
Whales, dolphins, and marine life are facing many challenges to their survival today. Illegal whaling and hunting continues while commercial fishing bycatch kills hundreds of thousands of dolphins each year. The oceans are riddled with over 150 pollutant and runoff-laden "dead zones," oxygen-depleted areas that are devoid of fish and getting bigger each year, some as large as the state of New Jersey. Many commercial fisheries have already collapsed, and a 90% decline in many Pacific Ocean fish stocks is now being reported. Human generated noise in the oceans from enormous vessels, speeding watercraft, air-gun arrays for seismic and oil exploration, and even powerful sonar is being blamed for mass strandings of marine mammals, ship strikes and disorientation. Global warming and pollution is upsetting normal cycles for the release of krill and the reproduction of other planktonic food chain organisms and changing the very chemistry of our oceans.
Many of us feel helpless in the face of these overwhelming problems, and think, "There's nothing I can do to help!" But the helping often begins by realizing that seemingly little things we can do will make a difference. Simply not releasing balloons into the atmosphere; simply not tossing cigarette butts overboard, or crushing them onto streets, grasses, or sandy beaches where they are carried by the rains into our streams, lakes and oceans; simply placing food wrappers and other trash out of wildlife harm's way and in the proper recycling receptacles: all these will go a long way to protecting our dwindling wildlife. There's an old saying that goes, "Wildlife are hungry: NEVER throw anything outdoors into the environment that you wouldn't eat yourself!" I like that advice!
Please consider helping us share this important information with the public and displaying a NO BALLOONS CAMPAIGN poster. You can help us further by becoming a member of Cetacean Society International, one of the world's most quietly prestigious environmental organizations, with personnel in over 30 countries! Their constant attention and cetacean support have made possible much advocacy for whales, invaluable research and protective legislation by marine researchers and activists all over the globe. CSI (csiwhalesalive.org) is an all-volunteer, no-frills, no-nonsense organization whose personnel are working overtime to prevent what many fear is the inevitable extinction of many large and small whale, dolphin and porpoise species.
The New York Whale and Dolphin Action League is proud to be a project of Cetacean Society International. Stay tuned to this website to learn more about upcoming posters in this series and check out our current and past advocacy actions from our post in the New York metropolitan area.
And as always, let our animosities and apathy toward simple acts of environmental protection be cast to the wind as we work together to respond to the increasingly critical needs of our outdoor land and seascape. Simple acts bring simple rewards, but simple responses like these are having huge effects! Thank you for your support.
Taffy Williams
Director
HELP WANTED: A few good hands needed to help distribute posters in your area! Please contact us at ny4whales@optonline.net for more information.
New York State Laws Concerning Balloons (in Adobe Reader format)
Letter to Palestine Government and Media Regarding the Release of 21,915 Balloons
DISNEY WORLD - OUR LATEST "NO BALLOONS" OFFENDERSent via http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/contact/ March 2, 2009 I have a complaint about the commercial for Walt Disney World I just viewed. Hundreds of balloons in the shape of Mickey Mouse (head) pop out of nowhere. Some become fireworks, and more float around, hovering above Disney World buildings and logos. Why complain about releasing balloons into the environment, whether they are computer generated or not? Releasing balloons into the air is littering. Ultimately balloons burst and return to the earth as litter or marine debris. Almost all balloons released are tied with ribbons and string which entangle, strangle and kill marine life. Latex balloons float for just about 10 hours but can take a year or more to degrade, long enough to repeatedly wrap around or be ingested by turtles, sea birds and marine mammals. An infant sperm whale was found dead of starvation in New Jersey as a result of swallowing an inflated Mylar balloon which had lodged in its intestines. There is a greater than 70% chance that airborne balloons or their fragments will end up in the oceans and harm marine life. Scientists who work with stranded whales, dolphins, seals and sea turtles have found balloons, parts of balloons and balloon string in the stomachs of many of these dead animals. In 2003, volunteers collected 4,228 Mylar and latex balloons just from New Jersey beaches. Releasing balloons into the environment is illegal in many municipalities and even states. The illegality includes promoting the release of balloons into the environment. This Disney commercial unfortunately promotes the release of balloons into the environment. There is nothing wrong with having fun at Disney World. I have personally enjoyed my visits there, too! I would urge Disney management to consider a new campaign to help educate the public on the hazards of balloon releases to marine life. What wonderful role models for the environment Disney's popular, playful characters might be to our children and their parents, when bringing this information to them. I urge Disney to rework this commercial without the flying balloons and take a leadership role in environmental protection, from within its own industry. I am sure Walt Disney, if he were here today, would agree that the power of his entertainment industry should ultimately be used for the betterment of our earth and all its creatures, and to help educate the public on our critical roles in participating in its protection. I would offer here to assist Disney in creating programs and attractions that would help educate the public on the problems of balloons and other marine debris, and the perils facing our oceans' inhabitants today. Sincerely Contact us at ny4whales@optonline.net for a complete list of our worst "NO BALLOONS" offenders. |
About Us
The New York Whale and Dolphin Action League, a project of Cetacean Society International, is an environmental advocacy group dedicated to the preservation of marine life, and especially cetaceans, or whales and dolphins.
The New York Whale and Dolphin Action League is actively seeking legislation on various issues that will work toward the preservation of our oceans, coastal regions, waterways, and its invaluable marine life. Only by protecting our marine environment can we ensure the survival of the millions of species that dwell therein.
While based in the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut area, our efforts are far-reaching, often global in focus. Our crusades pit us against the exploitation of cetaceans in aquarium facilities, Japanese drive fisheries and whaling. We are participating in the legal battle against the use of high-intensity military sonar by the US Navy and working to educate the public on the tragedies of acoustic pollution in the sea.
Understanding the inadequacies in laws protecting marine life in New York state, through our efforts, a bill was introduced in the NYS Assembly that would "establish the marine life protection task force within the Department of Environmental Conservation to determine the laws, rules and regulations providing protection to marine life in the marine and coastal district and assess the effectiveness thereof." The Bill, A04124, sponsored by Assemblyman Steve Englebright, would require the inventory and mapping of various species of marine life at the sites within the marine and coastal district, to determine whether such species need further protection. "The task force will propose a marine life protection plan and a timetable for the implementation thereof to the commissioner of environmental conservation, governor and legislative leaders to assure adequate protection of marine life in the state. The plan is to include proposed legislation. The task force will study the feasibility of municipal regulation of marine life reserves." (From the legislative summary.)
We are actively engaged in a battle to prohibit the use of personal watercraft ("jetskis") in the Gateway National Recreation Area. Through our efforts, a bill will be introduced by Assemblyman Mike Spano that would require environmental education in all schools by the New York Board of Regents. We are working on creating legislation that includes banning vehicular traffic on beaches (the nesting grounds for endangered sea turtles and shorebirds), prohibit the outdoor disposal of cigarette butts, and banning genetically modified fish farms in New York state. We are also promoting the release of Lolita, the captive orca languishing in a leaking, sub-standard-sized, chlorinated pool at the Miami Seaquarium. Lolita's return to her family pod in Puget Sound would help bolster chances of her endangered pod's survival.
Issues involving the oceans and marine mammals, along with actions that can be taken to help, are posted daily to our Internet group (ny4whales@yahoogroups.com). Discussion topics focus on the US Navy/NATO's use of Low Frequency Active Sonar (LFAS), acoustic pollution, whaling, captivity, pollution, overfishing, and habitat degradation. Becoming informed and involved in these issues is essential to bringing about positive change and preservation for our marine life. To learn more, please send an email to ny4whales-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, or contact us at 914-793-9186.
Index
News Items
On Wednesday, July 20, 2005, the New York Whale and Dolphin Action League, Taffy Williams, Director, appeared as the special guest on the cable program "Pet Peeves," a production of the Animal Defenders of Westchester (http://www.adow.org/), hosted by Kiley Blackman. The discussion centered on the captivity of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) and especially the Japanese "drive fisheries," where hundreds of dolphins at a time are "driven" onto the beaches in order for aquarium operators to choose the youngest, most beautiful, unblemished "specimens" for the display and swim-with industry. The remaining dolphins or false killer whales are more often than not slaughtered for meat, despite exceedingly high levels of pollutants and mercury in their bodies.
Check your local cable guide for times. If Pet Peeves does not run in your area send your request to http://www.adow.org/ and you can be a "sponsor!" It doesn't cost anything, and you'll be helping to speak for those who can't speak for themselves.
The New York Whale and Dolphin Action League is organizing this year's International Day of Protest against the JAPANESE DRIVE FISHERIES, which features the slaughter of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dolphins each year, sponsored by the aquarium industry. The event is shaping up with European, Asian and American cities gearing up for this public show of outrage for the Japanese lack of ethics and complicity with the DOLPHIN-AQUARIUM SLAVE TRADE.
New York will show its force with a contingency from the metropolitan area. The event is scheduled for October 8, 2005. Stay tuned for more information.
Don't forget our annual speak-out against our most local cetacean prison: the NEW YORK AQUARIUM, where three oppressed white Arctic beluga whales have been hurled into an endless monotonous journey swimming around in circles in their tiny tanks to "entertain" the crowds. When will this cetacean nightmare end and these whales given the dignity of freedom that they deserve? Join us for our Labor Day gathering and protest at the Coney Island prison site. Stay tuned for times and places.
Military Sonar
High Intensity Military Sonar: Ocean Patrol or Killing Machine?
Prize winning Beacon Scholar Paper on the struggle to protect the oceans against deafening military sonar.Letter to Legislators Opposing Military Exemptions from Environmental Laws
Click for a larger image (print in landscape mode):
Current Dolphin and Whale Issues
The New York Whale and Dolphin Action League is looking for information, pictures, video or eye-witness accounts concerning the dolphins transported for the "tourist season" to both Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, and the amusement center at Hershey Park, Pennsylvania. Please contact us immediately at 914-793-9186.
Captivity
Petition to Free Lolita
Please print, copy and distribute.Letter to Free Lolita
A sample of a letter to the Mayor of Miami-Dade County urging the return of the orca to her family in Puget Sound.Close to home, the dolphins and sea lions at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, are enduring deplorable conditions in the midst of roller coasters, thrill rides and screaming children. Print out the petition below, circulate and return to ny4whales (snail mail). These will go to regulatory agencies and local officials to hopefully have these permanently removed from the park.
DOLPHIN ASSISTED THERAPY (Swim With The Dolphins): A Dangerous SCAM
Please read and circulate the petition to close U.S. owned and operated Dolphin Assisted Therapy (DAT) facilities, one of the biggest scams of our time. Alternative-medicine seekers are mortgaging homes, paying thousands of (non-refundable) dollars in hopes of the miracle-cure that will never occur: studies have shown that DAT has no measurable or lasting effect and is no more therapeutic than taking a warm bath. The number of serious injuries caused by dolphin aggression, vastly under-reported by the industry, and the rash of litigation from broken bones, cuts and lacerations prove once again that dolphins in confined spaces forced into unnatural behaviors become aggressive and even violent toward humans. What's more, the USDA, through APHIS (Animal Plant Health Inspection Service), suspended all regulations governing DAT's in 1999 for review; four years later DAT's are still operating with NO REGULATION OR ENFORCEMENT OF ANIMAL WELFARE OR HUMAN-DOLPHIN INTERACTION PROTECTION. These facilities must be shut down immediately. This obscenely lucrative industry is sweeping the "new age" and holistic community, and luring the desperately ill into one of the most well-kept secret "snake oil" scams of the animal-trafficking industry. The petition will be sent to the US Department of Commerce, NMFS, USDA, APHIS, state and federal officials, members of the SENATE and HOUSE Environment and Public Works Committees, the SENATE and HOUSE Health Education Labor and Pension Committees, SENATE and HOUSE Commerce and Science committees, and the US Department of Commerce.
BOYCOTT DOLPHIN ASSISTED THERAPY AND SWIM-WITH THE DOLPHIN PROGRAMS
DEMAND THEIR IMMEDIATE CLOSURE
For more information about DAT visit http://members.tripod.com/tiggerdolphin/DAT.html
Other Environmental Issues
Trashing Our Oceans
The debris of human civilization: everything from untreated sewage, trash, cigarette butts, commercial fishing debris, plastic bags and packaging materials. All these and more routinely make their grave in the oceans. Industrial pollutants laden with mercury carried from afar, chemicals and agricultural run-off, even fertilizers and lawn products add to the blight on our waters. At last count there are 150 oceanic dead zones, black, grimy lifeless regions barren of their earlier bounty. Cruise ships dump millions of gallons of untreated waste directly in the waters they travel. Oil rig accidents, spills during transport, even military and commercial vessels add their refuse to humanity's garbage heap in the sea.
Of all these oceanic assaults, personal litter is perhaps the most easily "manageable;" that is, major legal battles and protest campaigns are not necessary to encourage people to simply dispose of their trash properly. If everyone did their part, our oceans would be that much more habitable for those that call it "home."
It is well known that trash and debris can kill marine life. Plastic bags or balloons floating on the water resemble jellyfish, squid, and other plankton. Marine organisms living in their often fierce environment and are on a constant quest for nourishment to survive. To a hungry sea turtle, a cigarette butt becomes a deadly snack that within minutes may block its intestinal tract thereby initiating a slow death by starvation. 90% of the shore birds treated by one Sarasota, Florida, rescue center have discarded nylon fishing line wrapped around their beaks, wings or feet. A British study found that 96% of one seabird species, fulmars, had ingested plastic scraps. 100% of the 300 albatross chicks examined 1600 kilometers (994 miles) from land in the northern Pacific had swallowed plastics, balloon fragments, bottle caps, even plastic toys. Roughly a million birds and 100,000 marine mammals