Skip to main content
The Whale Sanctuary Project | Back to Nature
  • About
  • The Sanctuary
  • Whale Aid
  • The Whales
  • Deeper Dive
  • Blog
  • Events

Donate  Subscribe

  • About
  • The Sanctuary
  • Whale Aid
  • The Whales
  • Deeper Dive
  • Blog
  • Events

Dr. Marino’s Talk at Superpod 5

Posted August 7, 2016 in News by Michael Mountain

Among the presentations at this year’s Superpod conference on San Juan Island, WA, was an introduction to The Whale Sanctuary Project by Dr. Lori Marino, in which she described the criteria for an authentic wild animal sanctuary, the kinds of expertise needed to achieve our vision, and the cutting-edge visitor education center that will be part of the sanctuary.

This was the fifth annual Superpod conference. The first, in 2011, was just an informal meet-up of about a dozen animal protection advocates, scientists, authors, moviemakers, and former SeaWorld trainers, who got together for a week on the island. (One of those present, incidentally, was Gabriela Cowperthwaite, who took the opportunity interview many of the people who would feature in the movie she was working on at the time: Blackfish.)

On a whale watching trip one morning, we were privileged to see a superpod – a gathering of all three extended family pods of the Southern Resident orcas. In their honor, we humorously called our own group the “Superpod”, and the group has met on the island every year since then. By now it has grown into a veritable Superpod: This year’s gathering – Superpod 5 – had more than 250 attendees and took over the local community theater for three days of presentations on topics ranging from conservation of wild salmon (the southern resident orcas’ only dietary item) to advocacy efforts on behalf of marine mammals in captivity around the world.

The conference had a large student attendance, and Dr. Marino worked with conference organizers Kim Ventre and Jeff Ventre to offer a full day of talks and discussions about how college and graduate students can use their education, training, skills and credentials to bring animal advocacy further into the mainstream.

A web search on “youtube Superpod 5” will take you to many of the other talks and discussions.

Also on the Blog

  • Canada Bans Captivity of Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises
  • Orca Brains and Intelligence
  • A Deep Dive into Environmental Analysis
  • TEDx Talk “Whales Without Walls” by Charles Vinick
  • Whale Aid Russia

Live Series of Webinars

What is an authentic sanctuary?
Latest discoveries about beluga whale societies
The psychology of captivity.
Free Willy and the legacy of Keiko.
… and many more.

A series of engaging conversations >

Join Us

Subscribe for Latest News

Make a donation

Get email updates

Subscribe

Follow Us

Help create the sanctuary

Make a donation
  • Privacy Policy |
  • Terms and Conditions of Use |
  • Contact Us |
  • UX Design by Dialogue Theory

© 2023 The Whale Sanctuary Project. All Rights Reserved.