The Whale Sanctuary Blog

Canadian Bill S-203 Passes in Senate. Now Goes to House.

It took almost three years, 17 hearings, 40 witnesses (including six experts from the Whale Sanctuary Project), and countless attempts ...

Posted October 24, 2018 in News

Location, Location, Location!

The three main considerations that go into evaluating a possible site for a seaside sanctuary for whales. In a very ...

Posted October 15, 2018 in News

The World’s Most Intelligent Species?

We’ve known for a long time that whales and dolphins are intelligent and socially complex animals with large brains that ...

Posted October 15, 2018 in Learn More, News

SeaWorld’s New “Education” Tour

If you’ve checked out the “Deeper Dive” section of this website, you already know about the routine claims of marine ...

Posted October 1, 2018 in News

When Captive Belugas Give Birth

At the Shedd Aquarium, the beluga Mauyak is pregnant. We all hope her calf is born healthy and lives beyond ...

Posted September 23, 2018 in News, Opinion

This Is What Extinction Looks Like

I am in an airport on my way home from the San Juan Islands, Washington. I was there to attend ...

Posted September 17, 2018 in News, Opinion

In the Wake of Scarlet

We couldn’t save Scarlet, but the effort was worthwhile. Sooner or later there will be another Southern Resident orca in ...

Posted September 17, 2018 in For the Media, News

Statement re. Future Treatment of Scarlet

This morning, the Whale Sanctuary Project issued the following statement regarding future treatment of the orca Scarlet/J-50:

Posted September 6, 2018 in For the Media, News

Updates on the “J” Pod Orcas

The Whale Sanctuary Project has joined an emergency effort to save the life of the orca J-50 (aka Scarlett). The ...

Posted September 6, 2018 in News

Sea Life Trust Is Building the World’s First Beluga Sanctuary

By this time next year, the Sea Life Trust expects to have opened the world’s first seaside sanctuary for formerly ...

Posted August 30, 2018 in News

Dio the Dog Goes Sniffing for Whale Poop

Dio is an ace sniffer dog, and his role is to direct the research vessel to where his colleagues can ...

Posted August 17, 2018 in News

Whale Sanctuary Project Joins Rescue Effort for Orca J-50

The Whale Sanctuary Project has joined an emergency effort in the Pacific Northwest to try to save the life of ...

Posted August 7, 2018 in News

A Mother Orca’s Grief – in the Ocean and in Captivity

We have all been transfixed by the scene of the mother orca Tahlequah carrying her dead infant in a display ...

Posted August 3, 2018 in News, Opinion

Q&A with Dr. Lori Marino

How will a whale adapt to the wide-open space of a sanctuary after years in a concrete tank? Lori Marino ...

Posted July 11, 2018 in Learn More, News

If Bill S-203 Dies, Will Reincarnation Follow?

Canada’s Bill S-203 ­– to end the captivity of whales and dolphins – was deprived of a final vote as ...

Posted June 29, 2018 in News

More Dolphin Deaths at Zoos and Theme Parks

The deaths of Maxine at the Brookfield Zoo and Alia at Dolphinaris raise the question, yet again, of whether these ...

Posted June 25, 2018 in News, Opinion

Senator Christmas’s Poignant Speech to End Cetacean Captivity in Canada

Sen. Daniel Christmas addresses the Canadian Senate on behalf of S-203 – the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins ...

Posted June 15, 2018 in News

Sen. Sinclair’s Powerful Speech to End Cetacean Captivity in Canada

Senator Murray Sinclair of Manitoba addresses his colleagues on behalf of S-203 – the Ending the Captivity of Whales and ...

Posted June 1, 2018 in News

The Lummi Nation’s 7,000-Mile Trek to Free Tokitae

Members of the Lummi Nation are on a 7,000-mile trek to visit one of their own, the orca Tokitae, in ...

Posted May 22, 2018 in News

New York Judge Raises Key Questions about Animal Captivity

Do orcas and belugas, along with certain other animals, have a legal right not to be kept in captivity for ...

Posted May 14, 2018 in News

Ban on Whale Captivity in Canada Approaches Vote

The Canadian Senate is set to vote on a bill to outlaw whale and dolphin captivity. The vote may come ...

Posted May 7, 2018 in News

Among Beluga Whales, Family and Culture Come First

New discoveries from a 32-year study of beluga whales show the extent to which these animals value culture and family ...

Posted April 27, 2018 in Learn More, News

Daphne Sheldrick – Matriarch of Sanctuaries

At the Elephant Orphanage, Daphne Sheldrick set the gold standard for the sanctuary movement all over the world.

Posted April 20, 2018 in News

Seaside Sanctuary Concept

A concept image of the seaside sanctuary that the Whale Sanctuary Project will be creating in a natural environment that ...

Posted April 12, 2018 in News

The Whale Sanctuary and the First Nations

In each region where the Whale Sanctuary Project is conducting our site search, we’ve been helped, guided and encouraged by ...

Posted April 5, 2018 in News

The Lummi Nation of Washington State

During the mid-1800s, in what would soon be known as Washington State, the Lummi people were exiled from their tribal ...

Posted April 5, 2018 in Learn More, News

The Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis of British Columbia

During our first field visit to prospective Canadian sanctuary sites, in July 2017, Whale Sanctuary Project president Dr. Lori Marino ...

Posted April 5, 2018 in Learn More, News

Orca Katina Suffers Injury to Dorsal Fin

Katina, an orca who lives at SeaWorld Orlando, has suffered a significant gash to her dorsal fin. She sustained the ...

Posted April 2, 2018 in News

Joel Manby Resigns as CEO of SeaWorld

We learned this morning that SeaWorld Entertainment’s CEO, Joel Manby, has stepped down in the wake of the company reporting ...

Posted February 27, 2018 in For the Media, News

Talks and Site Visits in Nova Scotia

Lori Marino, President of the Whale Sanctuary Project, was back in Nova Scotia this month to meet with provincial officials ...

Posted February 22, 2018 in News

If Only There Were a Seaside Sanctuary for Him

This baby beluga was spotted from the air lying almost dead on a deserted beach in Alaska. And everyone who ...

Posted February 20, 2018 in News

National Aquarium Discusses Plan for Dolphin Sanctuary

While the Whale Sanctuary Project pursues its plan to create the first seaside sanctuary for captive orcas and belugas, the ...

Posted January 26, 2018 in News

Vancouver Aquarium Ends Captive Whale and Dolphin Program

The Vancouver Aquarium will no longer keep whales and dolphins in captivity. CEO John Nightingale told Canada’s CBC News that ...

Posted January 18, 2018 in News

Dolphin Mirror Self-Recognition: the Science and the Ethics

New scientific paper shows two dolphins recognizing themselves in a mirror. This advanced cognitive capacity has only been observed in ...

Posted January 12, 2018 in News, Opinion

TEDx Talk “Whales Without Walls” by Charles Vinick

In this November 2017 TEDx talk, Charles Vinick, Executive Director of the Whale Sanctuary Project, describes what he’s learned over ...

Posted January 6, 2018 in News

Whales and Dolphins: “Who” They Are

In this talk, Dr. Lori Marino talks about whales and dolphins: “who” they are, their history as a species, and ...

Posted January 1, 2018 in Learn More, News