Responding to the urgent need of the two surviving orcas at Marineland Antibes in France; the bay pen that will be their “Welcome Center”; the four years of environmental and site development work; our work with the Jane Goodall Institute.

Like whales, elephants experience great suffering in zoos, circuses and marine parks. Scott and Kat Blais, Founders of Global Sanctuary for Elephants, talk about their beautiful 2,800-acre elephant sanctuary in Brazil.

Ten years ago, the movie Blackfish rocked the marine entertainment industry with revelations about the extreme stress captive whales experience in concrete tanks. What’s changed and challenges still to be met.

It looked like a dog, was related to a hippo, and would evolve into a whale. Drs. Lori Marino and Mark Uhen discuss their discoveries about the ancestral animals known to scientists as archeocetes (“ancient whales”).

Spring 2023 update, with Q&A: Work at the sanctuary site; helping government agencies figure out what permits are required for this large, new, complex project; unprecedented collaboration between Miami Seaquarium and non-profit orgs for orca Tokitae.

Our year-end chat, with Q&A, about work at the sanctuary site, the Building Fund, and construction plans; legislation in the Canadian Parliament and U.S. Congress; and updates on Tokitae/Lolita at Miami Seaquarium.

Dr. Lori Marino talks with guests about the growing focus on wildlife in humane education programs and about how sanctuaries are playing an essential role in driving education and cultural change.

To what extent do other animals have certain inalienable rights? Dr. Lori Marino and Dr. Thomas I. White, author of “In Defense of Dolphins: The New Moral Frontier”, discuss five fundamental natural and moral rights of cetaceans.

Dr. Lori Marino talks with Ingrid Visser, founder of World Orca Day, about her experiences with orcas around the world, both captive and free-ranging, and what she has learned from them and about them.

In this webinar three experts discuss how the “Ending the Captivity of Whales & Dolphins” bill in Canada was accomplished, what other legal gains are still needed, and whether legislation of this caliber could happen in the United States.

At a time when marine parks and aquariums are coming under increasing scrutiny, the work of award-winning photojournalist Jo-Anne McArthur is more revealing than ever in showing us what life is like for the animals at these facilities.

Three top scientists show us their latest discoveries about beluga whale societies, communication and culture. Do they have different dialects? How important is friendship among them? And how might we learn more about this from beluga whales who come to the sanctuary in Nova Scotia when it’s completed?

Lori Marino and Charles Vinick talk about recent contacts with the entertainment park Marineland and answer your questions, ranging from when the sanctuary will be ready, to how the whales will adapt to being there, to what happens if there’s a break in the perimeter net, and to employment opportunities.

Dolphin Assisted Therapy is a type of dolphin swim program that is purported to be an effective treatment for autism and other conditions. Parents are charged thousands of dollars and led to believe that they are engaging in real therapy. But is it? And what effect does it have on the dolphins?

How do you monitor the health of whales at a sanctuary without intruding on their space and invading their bodies? Dr. Lori Marino explores cutting-edge health assessment techniques with three guest experts who study whales in the wild and explain how these can inform health care at the sanctuary.

Five experts in whale and dolphin communication give us an inside look into their work and discuss the kinds of things they hope to learn from being able to study recordings of the animals at the whale sanctuary. It will be an ideal location for the non-intrusive study of whale and dolphin communication. 

Dr. Lori Marino explores the potential harms of confinement in zoos and aquariums on the brains of elephants and cetaceans. She discusses with her guests the brain mechanisms that come into play when animals are forced to live in chronically stressful, impoverished and highly artificial environments.

Every year, thousands of people pay good money to visit facilities that call themselves “sanctuaries” and offer an opportunity to visit with the animals, maybe have a photo taken with them and, in the case of elephants, even ride them. Also, an update on the creation of the whale sanctuary in Nova Scotia.

Soon after sperm whales started being hunted down mercilessly with harpoons, the success of the whalers dropped dramatically. What happened? The whales learned to foil the hunters. Better yet, they taught their neighboring populations how to do it, too.

Why, in this day and age, is it still so hard for judges in courts of law to recognize even the most intelligent of nonhuman animals as having the fundamental legal right to bodily liberty and bodily integrity? We explore the inherent biases in how we humans view other animals.

“In my aboriginal upbringing,” Senator Daniel Christmas says, “we were always taught that animals are our brothers and sisters. They are living beings like us. They have their own families, they have their own language. And when I think of it that way, I see cetaceans as [our] equals.”

The “Free Willy” films of the early 90’s were box office hits, but the real-life orca Keiko was left to languish in a small tank at an amusement park in Mexico City. That was not the end of the story, however. Keiko was finally returned to the ocean and his remarkable legacy is with us today.

People often assume that orcas in marine parks have a stress-free life with regular veterinary care, daily nutrition, and no outside dangers. In fact, these whales live shortened lives characterized by high mortality rates from infections, abnormal behaviors and emotional dysregulation.

Chimpanzees are used in invasive biomedical research as well as cognitive-behavioral studies. Captive dolphins are used primarily in cognition studies. Why all cetaceans and great apes should be retired to sanctuaries and how this can be accomplished.

There are sanctuaries for elephants, primates, bears, big cats, and many others. Now sanctuaries for whales and dolphins are joining the movement as the clear alternative to life at marine entertainment parks.

Take a deep dive with pioneering dolphin researcher Dr. Denise Herzing and Whale Sanctuary Project President Dr. Lori Marino as they explore the world of dolphin societies, communication and personhood.

A discussion about our short film “Whales Without Walls” that highlights the pressing need for seaside sanctuaries for these intelligent animals who can never thrive in concrete tanks at marine entertainment parks.

What can animal intelligence tell us about the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe? And how can the ways we recognize intelligence on our own planet inform how we might interact with extraterrestrial intelligence?

A conversation with famed biologist Carl Safina about his new book “Becoming Wild – How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty and Achieve Peace,” focusing on his time spent with whales, macaws and chimpanzees.

We all know that dolphins and whales (cetaceans) are highly intelligent, but what we’ve discovered about cetacean brains in recent decades has rewritten our understanding of how complex intelligence evolves.

A conversation with Jean-Michel Cousteau – explorer, environmentalist, educator and film producer – whose life is devoted to communicating his deep love and concern for our water planet and all its inhabitants.

Belugas are known for their rich communicative style and the wide variety of sounds they make, earning them the nickname “canaries of the sea.” A fascinating conversation with leading scientist Valeria Vergara. 

The studies taking place to identify and evaluate the environment in and around the Whale Sanctuary site in Port Hilford so that we can preserve the area while creating and operating the sanctuary.

Students are often told they can either study marine mammals as scientists or they can become advocates for marine mammals, but not both. How to become a scientist and an advocate for marine mammals.

Two members of the team who brought Keiko, the whale of “Free Willy” fame, talk about what it was like bringing him to Iceland and helping him prepare to be returned to the ocean.