The Whale Sanctuary Blog Archives
2018

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

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

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

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

Morgan the Orca: a Tale of Betrayal

Morgan, an orca who was captured 10 years ago, is pregnant. A story of corrupt justice and corporate dealing involving ...

Posted December 9, 2017 in News, Opinion

Will Canada Ban Captivity for Whales and Dolphins?

Canada has taken another step toward retiring whales and dolphins from captivity in marine parks and aquariums. The Coastal First ...

Posted October 20, 2017 in News

Dental Damage and Decay Among Orcas at Marine Parks

A new study, “Tooth Damage in Captive Orcas”, is the first comprehensive, peer-reviewed, quantitative assessment of how extensive tooth damage ...

Posted October 12, 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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