The Whale Sanctuary Blog

A Whale and Her Family

Following the sad news yesterday about the death of killer whale Kasatka at SeaWorld San Diego, SeaWorld wrote that she ...

Posted August 17, 2017 in Opinion

SeaWorld Attendance Still Falling

The days of keeping whales and dolphins on display are clearly numbered. And SeaWorld appears to be seeing its long-term ...

Posted August 13, 2017 in Opinion

Canada Considers Ban on Captivity of Whales and Dolphins

The Canadian Senate is currently considering an amendment that would make it illegal to keep whales or dolphins in captivity. ...

Posted July 26, 2017 in News

Kyara’s Death a Tragic Irony

It’s a tragic irony that Kyara, the last orca to be born at SeaWorld, died yesterday at the age of ...

Posted July 25, 2017 in Opinion

Carl Safina Joins the Board

Today, renowned conservationist Dr. Carl Safina joined the board of the Whale Sanctuary Project. And board member Charles Vinick accepted ...

Posted July 19, 2017 in News

Exploring Locations for a Sanctuary in British Columbia

Two members of the Whale Sanctuary Project team have been exploring coves and bays in the supremely beautiful region of ...

Posted July 13, 2017 in News

Fourth Graders Share Love of Orcas

As part of Orca Awareness Month, five students from Norton Elementary School in Chicago sent this video postcard to our ...

Posted June 20, 2017 in News

Merlin Entertainment Seeks to Move Belugas to Sanctuary

Merlin, a British company that specializes in amusement parks, is looking to create a whale sanctuary off the coast of ...

Posted June 15, 2017 in News

When Belugas Learn to Say “Vrooom”

Wilma was an orphan beluga whale who had been in the bay trying to make friends with fishermen and tourist ...

Posted June 9, 2017 in Learn More

Smart, Chatty and Chirpy – and That’s Their Problem

Beluga whales are cute, charming, chatty, curious and all-around delightful. And that’s their problem, in that these attributes make them ...

Posted June 8, 2017 in Learn More

World Oceans Day and Captive Whales

World Oceans Day, June 8th, celebrates life in the oceans. It draws our attention to what’s happening to the coral ...

Posted June 8, 2017 in Opinion

My Life with the Belugas

(Third in a series about beluga whales in captivity.) Samantha Berg worked with the belugas at SeaWorld in the 1990s. ...

Posted June 7, 2017 in Learn More

How the Beluga Business Began

What Sarah had seen that day in 1861 was one of the first beluga whales to be captured and put ...

Posted June 6, 2017 in Learn More

Beluga Whales – Cute, Curvy and Exploited

The Georgia Aquarium had arranged to have the whales captured from the Sea of Okhotsk on Russia’s west coast, and ...

Posted June 5, 2017 in Learn More

Response to the Vancouver Aquarium

Vancouver Aquarium veterinarian Martin Haulena and former SeaWorld trainer Mark Simmons claim that a concrete tank at an aquarium is ...

Posted May 22, 2017 in Opinion

What Is a Sanctuary?

In this short video, Dr. Lori Marino defines a sanctuary as “a place of refuge” and highlights two key differences ...

Posted May 17, 2017 in Learn More

Park Board to Vancouver Aquarium: ‘No New Whale Displays’

The Vancouver Park Board has voted in favor of amending a bylaw that would effectively prevent any new whales, dolphins ...

Posted May 17, 2017 in News

Canadian Senate Hearing on Banning Captivity of Whales & Dolphins

Should it be made a criminal offense to keep healthy whales and dolphins in concrete tanks in Canada? At a ...

Posted April 2, 2017 in For the Media, News

Munchkin Donation in Memory of Tilikum

Shortly after the announcement from SeaWorld, this morning, that Tilikum the orca had died, we had a call from Steven ...

Posted January 6, 2017 in News

Tilikum and “Granny”

We’re sad to report two deaths this week: This morning, SeaWorld Orlando announced that Tilikum had passed away from a ...

Posted January 6, 2017 in Opinion

Holiday Shopping

The Whale Sanctuary Project store is open for your Holiday shopping, with T-shirts, mugs, bags and mouse pads.

Posted November 26, 2016 in News

Morgan: When Rescue Becomes Capture

In 2011, a young, lone, female orca was captured in the waters of the Netherlands under a “rescue, rehabilitation and ...

Posted November 5, 2016 in Learn More

How the First Orcas Were Captured and Sold to Marine Parks

In August 1970, TV cameras were on hand as seven orcas (killer whales) were captured off the coast of Seattle ...

Posted November 5, 2016 in Learn More

Sanctuaries, Conservation and Reparation

Occasionally, anyone creating or running an animal sanctuary is asked whether the money wouldn’t be better spent on conservation and ...

Posted November 5, 2016 in Learn More

International Conference on the Captive Dolphin Industry

At the International Conference on the Captive Dolphin Industry in Mexico, Dr. Marino laid out the mission of The Whale ...

Posted October 24, 2016 in News

Unlocking the Cage

The movie follows attorney Steven Wise as he prepares his first lawsuits to have nonhuman animals recognized by the legal ...

Posted October 24, 2016 in News

More from Nova Scotia

While in Nova Scotia looking at potential sites for a sanctuary, Dr. Marino gave talks to undergraduate and graduate students ...

Posted October 16, 2016 in News

National Shamu the Whale Day

September 26th is National Shamu the Whale Day, and all day our friends at Munchkin are donating 100 percent of ...

Posted September 26, 2016 in News

The Orca Protection Act

Governor Jerry Brown of California has signed into law the Orca Protection Act, thus bringing an end to the breeding and ...

Posted September 13, 2016 in News

Site Selection Team Visits Nova Scotia

Dr. Lori Marino, President of The Whale Sanctuary Project, and board member Charles Vinick spent a week in Nova Scotia ...

Posted August 30, 2016 in News

Belugas Are Whales, Too

Beluga whales are also central to the work of the project, and the waters of Nova Scotia are among their ...

Posted August 15, 2016 in News

Dr. Marino’s Talk at Superpod 5

Among the presentations at this year’s Superpod conference on San Juan Island, WA, was an introduction to The Whale Sanctuary Project ...

Posted August 7, 2016 in News

Why Sanctuaries, not Zoos

In an opinion column in The Washington Post, Whale Sanctuary Project president Dr. Lori Marino describes "three indisputable facts" with ...

Posted July 13, 2016 in News

New Technique Reveals Dolphin Brain Pathways

Two dolphins who died more than a decade ago on a North Carolina beach are now the focus of an ...

Posted July 2, 2016 in News

NPR Interview with Dr. Lori Marino

In this NPR interview on KTEP radio, Dr. Lori Marino, President of The Whale Sanctuary Project, discusses the scientific evidence ...

Posted June 27, 2016 in Learn More

National Aquarium Plans Sanctuary for Their Dolphins

  This morning, the National Aquarium in Baltimore announced plans to build a seaside sanctuary, either in Florida or the ...

Posted June 14, 2016 in News