URGENT CALL TO ACTION - HELP SAVE JIYU (FREEDOM) THE SICK DOLPHIN AT TAIJI DOLPHIN BASE

Sick Dolphin Spyhopping Nonstop at Dolphin Base
via Rosie Kunneke of Sea Shepherd

September 30, 2011 Update

The sick dolphin remains in the seapens at Dolphin Base.  He (or she) has been nicknamed "Jiyu" which means FREEDOM in Japanese by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Cove Guardian Rosie Kunneke.  PLEASE HELP SAVE JIYU!

September 26, 2011 -

Almost nine months to the day that Cove Guardians from Sea Shepherd Conservation Society discovered Misty the Dolphin in his filth-ridden backyard pool, another sick dolphin has been identified at Dolphin Base in Taiji, Japan.

According to Cove Guardian Rosie Kunneke with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society:


The afternoon after typhoon Roke has passed, I checked in on all the dolphins in their holding pens at the Dolphin Resort, and thankfully, all had survived the typhoon. At the holding pens, I witnessed the trainers tubefeed a dolphin who was perhaps too ill or dispirited to perform degrading tricks for his meals. I went back daily to check on this specific dolphin and over the next two days, I started to notice repetive neurotic behavior displayed by this sick and obviously unhappy dolphin that struck me as unusual. This dolphin was spyhopping non-stop throughout the entire day, probably induced by feelings of intense claustrophobia in the small pen. This repetitive behavior caused open sores on his tail from repeatedly slamming against the bottom net. The trainers treated his tail with injections and antiseptic spray.

After making numerous requests to the Dolphin Resort staff to help the sickly dolphin, the trainers are denying the dolphin is suffering to the police. We are calling on passionate people to contact Dolphin Resort to request bigger and better living conditions, qualified veterinary treatment, and even release with rehabilitation assistance for this dolphin before its too late. Dolphin Resort needs to see that people are concerned for the well being of each and every captive dolphin in their pens.

Email: info@dolphinbase.co.jp or info@dolphinresort.jp
How to Call Taiji, Japan from the United States:
Phone: 81-73-559-3514
Fax: 81-73-559-281

For the full report from Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, click here.

THE TEAM AT SAVE MISTY THE DOLPHIN JOINS SEA SHEPHERD IN ISSUING AN URGENT CALL TO ACTION ON BEHALF OF THIS SICK DOLPHIN.  WE DID IT FOR MISTY ~ WE CAN DO IT AGAIN.  PLEASE HIT THE PHONES, FAXES, E-MAILS & DO WHAT YOU CAN TO HELP SPREAD THE WORD.  

Via Steven Thompson "Email Dolphin Base: Please care for the sick dolphins."
Here is that phrase in Japanese: 病気のイルカの世話をしてください。あなたに感謝。

We are an international army of compassionate people working together with one goal---to end the inhumane hunting, confinement and slaughter of marine mammals. This is our goal- This is our commitment- This is our passion. Won’t you please join us? 


“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” -- Margaret Mead


For realtime updates on ways you can help this and other vulnerable dolphins - follow us on facebook.

Thank you!

The Other Side of the Dolphin Tale

As Winter's Tale hits the Silver Screen, Misty remains alone in Taiji

In December 2005, fisherman Jim Savage rescued a young dolphin entangled in a crab pot off the Canaveral National Shoreline in Florida.  The two-month old dolphin was critically injured while trying to free herself.  Savage freed the dolphin from the trap’s synthetic lines, but her injuries were far too serious to set her free. The animal was transported to Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA); a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring the oceans via rescue, rehabilitation and release of marine life. Despite every effort on the part of CMA staff, the dolphin, soon to be known as “Winter” lost her injured tail and several vertebrae. 

With constant care from CMA staff, Winter adapted and was able to swim without her flukes; however, CMA recognized that the dolphin needed a tail for long term survival.  Kevin Carroll, a world famous prosthetist, heard Winter's story and offered to create a prosthetic tail. Carroll and fellow prosthetist Dan Strzempka worked for over a year to build the appendage.  Not every human adapts successfully to a prosthetic. So what about a dolphin? Winter quickly adapted to her new silicone prosthetic tail, making her the first dolphin in history to wear a prosthetic!  However, because of the device, she can never be released back into the ocean.

On September 23, the story of Winter will make its way to the Silver Screen courtesy of Warner Bros studios. Dolphin Tale features a star-studded cast including Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Harry Connick Jr., Kris Kristofferson and Nathan Gamble.  The role of Winter is played by none other than the rescued dolphin.  

While CMA has gone to heroic lengths to rehabilitate Winter, the fact remains that this dolphin, like thousands of others worldwide, is held in a tiny pool, has to work for a living, exists on a diet of dead fish and has no hope of ever seeing the ocean again. Winter spent long hours under hot lights filming “Dolphin Tale”.  In general, the lives of captive dolphins are much shorter than their counterparts in the wild.  As well-intended as CMA might be, a pool can never replace the ocean.  Dolphins in captivity face ongoing stress caused by crowds of people and from being on constant display.  One might hope that with all her earnings, CMA would provide Winter a real sanctuary somewhere on the coastline where she could feel the natural ocean rhythm again and escape from thousands of watchful eyes - rather than exploiting her as a tourist attraction.

In 2009, a documentary about dolphins won an Academy Award.  Directed by Louie Psihoyos and starring Ric O’Barry, The Cove tells the tragic story of thousands of dolphins who are hunted by the fishing fleet of Taiji, Japan, and either slaughtered for meat or sold into captivity.   Pods of dolphins are literally chased into a tiny cove where they await selection by trainers who then determine who shall live and who shall die.  Those selected for captivity are moved into pens where their indoctrination into captivity begins.  Over in the cove, the water turns from azure blue to blood red as the rest are slowly bludgeoned to death.

While Winter the Dolphin gets the celebrity treatment in honor of the movie release, across the world another captive dolphin by the name of “Misty” is believed to be held in isolation in a squalid pool at the Taiji, Japan Dolphin Base Resort.  Misty was originally discovered in December 2010 by activists who were on the ground in Taiji to protest the slaughter and captivity of dolphins in the Cove.  The animal was floating listlessly in a filthy backyard pool, just hours from death.  Isolated due to a lung infection, Misty clung to a yellow buoy, the bottom of his shallow pool littered with rotting fish.  Within hours the social media group “Save Misty the Dolphin” was formed on Facebook, and over the course of just a few days, thousands of calls were logged to Dolphin Base demanding better care for the sickly animal.  In the early days of January, Misty was moved to a bigger, cleaner pool at Dolphin Base, but for months now advocates and concerned citizens have been prevented from accessing the lone dolphin in order to verify his health status and conditions of confinement.

The science on dolphin intelligence is definitive as researchers increasingly call for them to be considered as “non-human persons”.  “In particular, the highly elaborated cingulate and insular cortex in cetacean brains are consistent with the idea that these animals are highly sophisticated and sensitive in the emotional and social emotional sophistication not achieved by other animals including humans” (Phil Brakes, and Mark Peter Simons, Whales and Dolphins Cognition, Culture, Conservation and Human Perception, Washington D.C,, Earthspan, 2011). Will Winter’s story enable people to accept dolphin intelligence and dolphin rights in non-human persons' status or will Dolphin Tale have the opposite effect; driving more customers through the doors of SeaWorld and other captive facilities where healthy dolphins, that could be living at home in the oceans with their families are instead imprisoned in small cement tanks far from family and the sounds of the ocean? 

As we see in the 2011 documentary  A Fall from Freedom, captivity is deadly for marine mammals. Dolphins live in captivity just a fraction of a typical life span. There is a clear link between drive fisheries, SeaWorld and other marine aquariums. When Iki island in Japan ended their drive fishery because of worldwide outcry, SeaWorld convinced them to continue. Just as trainers arrive these days in Taiji, Japan to select dolphins for captivity, notorious dolphin trafficker Jay Sweeney would arrive in Iki to pick the most attractive.  The remaining pod, sometimes numbering in the hundreds, would be killed. Today no dolphins swim off the shores off Iki island. The pods native to the area are gone forever. In A fall from freedom we see Jay Sweeney, a founder of the International Marine Mammals Trainers Association, selecting dolphins and orcas during violent captures. The captive animals are shipped to aquariums all over the world. Very few captured marine mammals live more than a few years. Lolita, at the Miami Seaquarium, is one exception. For over forty years she has been confined to a tiny pool, where she performs seven days a week.  Concerned citizens have requested again and again that Lolita be released. Advocates have located Lolita’s family and offered to return her to the ocean covering all costs, but the aquarium has refused. Lolita, like Winter, is a box office success that continues to bring dollars into the aquarium.

Dolphin Tale, A Fall From Freedom, and The Cove have one commonality and that is they all compel us as humans to consider the concept of dolphins as individuals, as non-human persons. Winter overcame extraordinary obstacles many amputees never do to successfully manipulate an artificial limb. Each day more stories are told in the news of dolphins rescuing humans, and attempting to communicate with humans. If we could talk to Winter, what would she say? It is likely she would first thank her family at CMA. There is no doubt they love her like family. Might she go on to ask us to remember other dolphins of the world, those being impacted by pollution, those dying in fish nets and lines, and those being driven into the bloody Cove of Taiji, Japan, where prison or death waits? Hopefully the release of a Dolphin Tale will make the world sensitive to the tragic plight of marine mammals in captivity.  Dolphins have so much to teach us. These are the people of the sea, and what we see in their eyes may be a reflection of our own.

Who Do You Think You Are?

AP Photo of Taiji dolphin hunters and their prey

As the days leading to September 1 dwindle down to a mere handful, the thoughts of caring people the world over turn to a small coastal village in the southern portion of Japan.  Taiji, made famous by the Academy-award winning documentary, The Cove, is ground zero for the annual slaughter of hundreds to thousands of dolphins.  

The footage in the youtube video, Who Do You Think You Are? is straight from Taiji.

The numbers of the Taiji dolphin hunters are small -- less than 30.  Yet, armed with high-tech equipment, they are able to round-up and drive large pods of dolphins from their peaceful migration route in the Pacific Ocean into the shallow waters of the killing cove.  Most of the dolphins who are trapped in the cove will face a bloody death.  A small percentage will escape the spear only to face a lonely life as a performer in a dolphin show.  Dolphin trainers literally come into the Cove and hand pick dolphins to be trained.  From September 2010 to March 2011, 850 dolphins were killed in the Cove.  Another 171 were sold into slavery.

During the 2010-2011 hunt, activists were in Taiji throughout the season.  Their powerful videos and photos graphically depicted the shocking brutality of the Cove.  This year, the dolphin hunters will be supported by enhanced police and coast guard protection.

Now, more than ever, the dolphins of Taiji need YOUR support.  Please become a part of the international movement to stop the slaughter once and for all.  YOU can make a difference.  Here is how:

1. Watch The Cove movie & share it with a friend.  Become a part of the world’s largest home screening of The Cove on September 1 by signing-up at:  
Worldwide Screening of the Cove Movie on September 1, 2011
2. Join in a peaceful protest or rally at Japanese Embassies & Consulates around the world on September 1 as part of the International Day of Awareness for the Dolphins of Taiji 
3. Sign and share our Petition
4. Call your Japanese Embassy and tell them to STOP the Taiji dolphin slaughter today:

In the United States call:  202-238-6700

In the United Kingdom call:  020-7465-6500

In Canada call: 613-241-8541

In Australia call: 61-2-6273-3244 

In France call: 01-48-88-62-00

In Germany call: 030-21094-0

In Italy call:  39-06-487-991

In Norway call: 47-22-99-16-00

In New Zealand call: 04-473-1540

Contact information for all other countries can be found here: 

List of Japanese Embassies Worldwide

Misty, as discovered in his filthy pool at Dolphin Base, Taiji, Japan

Save Misty the Dolphin is a social media campaign committed to ending the slaughter and captivity of vulnerable marine mammals in Taiji and worldwide.  Please visit our webpage: www.countdowntocove.com and follow us on facebook at Save Misty the Dolphin.  We will bring you all of the latest news and breaking developments in the fight to save the dolphins of Taiji.

It has been said that one person, giving all of their time to peace, makes news. Many people, giving some of their time, can make history.  Let’s make history together.  The water of the Taiji cove needs to stay blue - now and forever.  YOU can help make that happen.

Mariachi is Lonely Dance for Mystic Beluga

When wedding guest Bill Kurtz posted his youtube video, Mariachi Connecticut Serenades a Beluga Whale, he probably had no idea that the 1:45 minute piece of footage would become an international sensation.  To date there are nearly 1.4 million views and the internet search engine Google reports as many as 300 news articles on the subject.  Despite this widespread coverage, what seems to be lost in all of the “feel good” posts is the sad truth of the confined existence of “Juno” the dancing beluga and counterparts being held in captivity around the world.

The online inventory of marine mammals, www.ceta-base.com, reports 73 beluga whales in captivity in the United States and Canada.  Of these, 28 are captive born.  Historical records of captive belugas date back over 150 years to 1861 and the time of P.T. Barnum’s American Museum in New York.  The showman is reported to have displayed at least 11 different beluga whales between 1861 and 1868, most lived only days in his  “care” and at least three perishing in two separate building fires.  http://www.ceta-base.com/library/cetabasedocs/captivebelugas_august2010.pdf

Among the many notable characteristics of the beluga whale are its white coloring (beluga means “white” in Russian), the absence of a dorsal fin, the ability to swim backwards, and an oversized melon which facilitates echolation.  Unlike most whales, belugas can move their necks from side to side so as to give the appearance of dancing.  A characteristic singing has also dubbed the beluga as the “sea canary”.

In the wild, belugas are found in pods in arctic and sub-arctic waters.  They swim thousands of miles over the course of just months.  Juno, who is in Mystic on a breeding loan from SeaWorld Orlando, and his pals “Naku” and “Kela” are confined to a one-acre outdoor habitat called the “Arctic Coast”.  Although larger than the some dolphinaria, the confined space of the 750,000 gallon pools is a far cry from the ocean that Naka and Kela once called home.  Unlike his two female companions, Juno was born in captivity and will never know the sheer joy of playfully propelling through icy waters with his podmates.

Instead of migrating through arctic waters, the Mystic Aquarium belugas are subjected to daily  “encounter” programs.  Visitors pay $130 for a 90-minute interactive program in the whales’ habitat.  According to the aquarium’s website, “Participants touch the whale’s back and belly and see how they breathe, spout and "sing."  Aquarium trainers will explain how we care for the whales and demonstrate the way in which contact sessions are beneficial to the whale’s health and well-being.”

Will Ferrell with Nanuq at SeaWorld

Of course Juno wasn’t dancing in the viral wedding video.  He was trained to bob his head in response to certain movements, like the arm movements of the guitar player in the mariachi band.  In return, the animal is rewarded with a prize of dead fish.  Officals from Mystic aquarium report that Juno’s diet consists entirely of dead squid, herring and capelin.  The odds are great that the highly social animal was simply bored and looking for some social interaction.  Migrating belugas have been found in pods with as many as 10,000 whales.

In recent months, celebrity Betty White has been filmed interacting with captive-born Beethoven, the Beluga whale at the Georgia Aquarium and comedian Will Ferrell was seen kissing wild-caught Nanuq at SeaWorld San Diego.

From a conservation perspective, the beluga whale is considered “near threatened”.  Those who live in the Cook Island Inlet of Alaska are reported as critically endangered.  It is believed that the global population of beluga whales is about 100,000.

It is the opinion of Save Misty the Dolphin that beluga whales, as well as all other marine mammals, belong in the open sea.  Captivity is cruel.  It deprives marine mammals like dolphins, orcas and beluga whales of literally every innate activity known to their species:  hunting, migrating and interacting socially as pods in the ocean.  Captive animals suffer from a range of health and mental health issues and live significantly shorter lives compared to their peers in the ocean.  It is time for people of the world to recognize the inherent cruelty of captivity and to simply stop supporting SeaWorld and other captive facilities.  Wild caught marine mammals, who are taken from their pods, experience extreme suffering during the capture process.  In Taiji, Japan, up to 20,000 dolphins are hunted annually between September and March.  A portion of these animals are taken for training and sold into the international captive market.  The rest are slaughtered for food.  For more on the plight of the dolphins of Taiji, visit www.countdowntocove.com.

Save Misty the Dolphin is a social media campaign committed to ending the slaughter and captivity of vulnerable marine mammals worldwide.  Follow us on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Savemistythedolphin.

No aquarium, no tank in a marine land, however spacious it may be, can begin to duplicate the conditions of the sea. And no dolphin who inhabits one of those aquariums or one of those marine lands can be considered normal. --Jacques Yves Cousteau

Action Alert - Tell your Japanese Embassy to End Research Whaling

On July 28, 2011, Japan’s leading English-language newspaper, The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the nation’s Fisheries Agency is weighing the possibility of ending research whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

The Japanese government has historically held fast to a research whaling agenda.  However, for the first time ever, a new report issued by the Fisheries Agency's review committee on research whaling in the Antarctic Ocean includes opinions on both sides of the issue.

The report follows an abbreviated 2010-2011 research whaling season courtesy of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.  On February 16, Captain Paul Watson and crew celebrated a victory in the Southern Ocean after successfully preventing the Japanese whaling fleet from attaining its quota.  Sea Shepherd estimates that approximately 900 whales were saved as a result of the non-profit’s direct action campaign, Operation No Compromise.

In April, the Japan Fisheries Agency committee heard and compiled expert opinions regarding the future of research whaling.  A majority opinion called for a continuation of research whaling based on international treaty.  Proponents stated that whaling should continue “without yielding to heinous interference."  On the other side of the debate, a minority opinion suggested ending research whaling once and for all, “If we cannot gain understanding on the research whaling in the international community, we should scale it down or halt it.”

Given this development, Save Misty the Dolphin encourages members of our community to contact your Japanese Embassy and applaud a Fisheries Agency report that considers a halt to research whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Santuary.  

NOW IS THE TIME TO REQUEST THE AMBASSADOR TO URGE THE FISHERIES AGENCY OF JAPAN TO FOLLOW  THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE MINORITY REPORT.  THE TIME TO END JAPANESE RESEARCH WHALING IN THE SOUTHERN OCEAN IS NOW!  Thank you.  Please help us spread the word.

To locate your Japanese Embassy, click on this link: http://www.mofa.go.jp/about/emb_cons/mofaserv.html

Countdown to The Cove

THE COUNTDOWN HAS BEGUN! Activists of the world, are you ready? In less than 60 days the butchers of Taiji will be back in the water killing dolphins. NOW is the time to organize! PLEASE go to www.countdowntocove.com   and TAKE ACTION!

An Open Letter to the International Whaling Commission

Dr. Simon Brockington
Secretary
The International Whaling Commission
The Red House,
135 Station Road,
Impington,
Cambridge,
Cambridgeshire CB24 9NP, UK.
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 233 971
Fax: +44 (0) 1223 232 876
email: secretariat@iwcoffice.org

Dear Dr. Brockingon,

As the dates of the 63rd meeting of the International Whaling Commission approach, July 4-14, 2011, in the Channel Islands, we are writing to urge the IWC to take strong and decisive action to fully protect whales AND dolphins.

The slaughter of whales and dolphins for commercial, scientific or cultural purposes is inhumane and highly inconsistent with worldwide efforts to protect our planet’s oceans.  Numerous reports have proven that whale meat is highly toxic with mercury.  Furthermore, the March 11 tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan resulted in radioactive water being dumped into the sea.  According to a June 15 article published by the Associated Press, two Minke whales caught off of the coast of Japan were found to have traces of radioactive cesium.  In the interest of public health, it is time to end the international consumption of whale and dolphin meat.

Following the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling, the IWC has issued Japan, Norway and Iceland permits for scientific whaling.  We strongly question the merits of this practice.  Credible researchers around the world have managed to find ways to study whales without the use of lethal methodologies.  Additionally, the fact that the whale meat from the alleged “research” is sold commercially further underscores the need to end research whaling.  According to Darren Kindleysides of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, “Japan’s 20 years of “scientific whaling” has delivered thousands of dead whales and next to no useful knowledge of the whales they “study”. The meat is packaged and sold in the fish markets in Japan. This has more to do with sushi than science.”

Looking ahead to your upcoming meeting, we also note the questionable history of the government of Japan with regards to buying votes from international delegates to support the Japanese whaling agenda.  The June 13, 2010 Sunday Times investigative article, “Flights, girls and cash buy Japan Whaling votes” http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7149086.ece uncovered a wealth of improprieties conducted by representatives of the Japanese delegation.  We request that investigations be undertaken and that appropriate and harsh sanctions be levied against the guilty parties.  Such behavior simply should NOT be allowed within the confines of an international regulatory body.

Having observed the annual Taiji dolphin drive hunt from September 1, 2010 to the close of the season in March 2011, we furthermore call on the IWC to afford much needed protections to dolphins.  The drive fishery method employed by the Taiji Fisheries Union is among the most cruel practices known to mankind.  Like whales, dolphins are intelligent beings.  They live in pods and nurse their young.  We have witnessed pods of dolphins herded into the cove and then slowly and painfully slaughtered over the course of many hours.  Calves swim in the blood of their mothers and fathers.  This nightmare simply must end.

We call on the members of the 63rd International Whaling Commission to fully PROTECT all whales and dolphins.  The time to END whaling and dolphin hunting on planet Earth is NOW.

“Non-Releasable”: The Deadly Saga of Stranded Cetaceans in the United States

On May 5, 2011, a large pod of pilot whales stranded themselves in the Florida Keys.  Several died on the scene.  On May 7, two healthy males were released.  The five remaining animals were transported via grocery semi-trailer to the Marine Mammal Conservancy (MMC) in Key Largo.  At the time of this writing, only three of these whales are still alive in the MMC’s rehabilitation pens.  The youngest, known as “301” is about 1-1/2 years old. According to Robert Lingenfelser, MMC director of stranding operations, “If the youngest recovers, she is almost certainly headed for SeaWorld or the Miami Seaquarium because she probably lacks the skills to survive in the ocean.”

The Save Misty the Dolphin (SMTD) team wanted to learn more about what happens to stranded cetaceans in the United States. The SeaWorld Animal Rescue and Rehab website claims that between 600 and 700 bottle-nose dolphins strand in the US every year. Of these, less then 10% survive. Those who live are either released back into the wild or are placed into a marine mammal facility. If an animal is alone or young, it is always held in captivity, for fear of not being able to survive in the wild. Over the years, many marine mammals have been deemed “non-releasable” for these reasons. We wanted to take a close look into the lives of a few of these animals and see exactly how they fared in the hands of humans.  While there are almost countless stranding stories, in the interest of space, we are focusing on four dolphins who stranded as babies and who were taken into captivity.  Their names are Stormy, Lazarus, Nemo and Cayenne.  Here are their stories:

"Stormy"



Stormy
Picture from TMMSN



On September 15 1998, a baby dolphin was found on the beach in Texas. The Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network (TMMSN) was called in and found the young dolphin bleeding from wounds received by a shark attack. It was assumed that the 18 month old calf, who was named Stormy, had been separated from his mother during Tropical Storm Frances. Stormy received around-the-clock care in Texas for several months. On March 23, 1999, after being deemed non-releasable due to age, Stormy was transferred to Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut.  He was placed into a quarantine pool for two months before being moved to the dolphin exhibit on May 12th. Stormy has a huge hit for Mystic.  They installed a “StormyCAM” for the public to watch him and there was even a book written about him, Stormy The Baby Dolphin, A Gulf Coast Rescue.  Stormy was a star!  Yet, in January 2001, less than two years after being transferred to Mystic, Stormy became ill.  He stopped eating and by January 16, 2002, he was dead.  The official cause of death was Staphylococcal Toxemia.  Two months later, one of Stormy's pool mates, Misty a 24 year old dolphin, also died from the same infection.

 "Lazarus" aka "May Day"

On July 19, 2002, an orphaned bottlenose dolphin calf stranded near Ponce Inlet on Florida's east coast. The young calf had been attacked by a shark. The Harbor Branch Marine Mammal Rescue team responded, transporting the young dolphin, who they called Lazarus, over 140 miles south to their stranding facility in Fort Pierce. Lazarus was bottle-fed around the clock for 8 months and nursed back to health.  At that time, he was deemed non-releasable due to age. On August 18, 2003, Lazarus was sent to SeaWorld of Florida, then on to Discovery Cove. He was renamed "May Day", where he performed and took part in the “Swim With Me” program. On April 12, 2005, Lazarus drowned at Discovery Cove after becoming stuck in a drain box. The official cause of death recorded on the Marine Mammal Inventory Report (MMIR) is pulmonary inhalation of water.

"Nemo"



Nemo
Picture by SMSea



On May 15, 2003, two dolphins, a mother and calf, washed ashore on Ossabaw Island, Georgia. The mother dolphin did not survive.  Her male calf was taken to Gulf World in Florida for care. The calf, named Nemo, was less then two months old, weighing in at only 45 pounds and 3-1/2 feet long.  Nemo was bottle-fed around the clock.  Medical tests reported that the calf had an infection.  He was treated with antibiotics. Admitting that the survival rates for stranded dolphins are low, facility staff gave him a 50/50 chance to live.  With the help and treatment he received, Nemo did survive. He was deemed non-releasable due to age, and on February 9, 2004, Nemo became a permanent resident of Gulf World, joining the rest of the dolphins at the facility.  A little over a month later, on March 21, 2004, Nemo died. Gulf World's MMIR was never updated, and the cause of death is still “Pathology Pending”. However, according to a March 25, 2004 news article by the Associated Press, the cause of Nemo's death could have been Red Tide. The article stated that the area had seen numerous wild dolphin deaths in the area due to red tide and two young dolphins, Ripley and Nemo, has just died from what appeared to be Red Tide.  Both were to have shown signs of neurological issues, including twitching of the body.  The article further stated that there were two other dolphins at the facility who were sick.

"Cayenne"



Cayenne
Picture from IMMS



On March 3, 2004, a dolphin calf was found in DuLarge, LA, where she had been separated from her mother following the construction of a levee. Residents had spotted the young calf swimming around for several days, but did not call for aid until she had beached herself. It is not known how long she had been beached when staff from the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas from New Orleans arrived.  She was taken back to their facility for treatment, and was moved to the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies (IMMS) on April 14, 2004. Deemed non-releasable due to her age, Cayenne was then moved to Marine Life Oceanarium, which was owned by IMMS Director Moby Solangi. On Aug. 28, 2005, with a category 5 hurricane heading straight towards them, Solangi ordered four of Marine Life's dolphins to be moved 6 miles inland to local hotel salt water swimming pools. Cayenne was among those dolphins moved. The next day Hurricane Katrina tore through Gulfport, destroying Marine Life. Cayenne was moved to Gulfarium in Florida, along with the other Marine Life dolphins. On Oct 9, 2005, just months after the storm, Cayenne died. According to the MMIR for Gulfarium, Cayenne died of "Presumed Pneumonia". Cayenne was about 2 years old, and lived in captivity for approximately one year and a half.

At Save Misty the Dolphin, we believe that when a decision is made to place a stranded mammal into captivity, the guidelines “first do no harm” must be observed.  Time and time again we have seen rescued dolphins survive being stranded only to die at the hands of their captives.  Placing wild animals in captivity and forcing them live in unnatural conditions is NOT acceptable.  Placing them in disease ridden or unsafe public displays is NOT acceptable.  Forcing them to entertain the public, as if they "owe" it to their human rescuers, is NOT acceptable!

The SMTD team is very concerned about the future of baby pilot whale 301. She, like so many others before her, appears to be sentenced to captivity. While we may not be able to save her, we believe that better regulations must be put into place to help save other young dolphins and whales who become stranded. The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) regulates policies and programs associated with stranded marine mammals.  As written, the law allows for the present scenario in which "non-releasable" animals are sentenced to captivity.  


There must be alternatives! Why must the price for being saved be their freedom? Why not have ample bay or sea pens set up for these non-releasable animals? This should be a place where they do not have to perform stupid tricks, and where they can live a somewhat normal life as they are rehabilitated with the singular goal of being released.  Why not help them build new pods and then release those pods in time?  Captive facilities claim that the dolphins in their facilities are bonded like pods in the wild.  If that is the case, why would it not be the same for stranded animals? And, considering that it is okay for Lolita, the captive orca at Miami Seaqurium to be housed with dolphins, then it shouldn't matter if a pod is comprised of different types of dolphins. If a facility or government agency claims otherwise, then maybe they should look at the regulations they themselves put into place.  


Of course, releasing stranded dolphins and whales doesn’t bring revenue into captive facilities.  In 2009, SeaWorld’s combined properties hosted approximately 23.5 million guests.  Revenue reports from 2006 show a net of $144.3 million.  It seems as though there should be funds available for rescue, rehabilitation and release of these stranded dolphins, but when it comes right down to it, profits always seem to take priority over “first do no harm”.

Sources:

SeaWorld Fl MMIR 2010  MayDay is listed as SWF-TT-0307, on pg 56

Gulfarium MMIR 2009
Gulf World MMIR 2009

Lazarus/MayDay
Cayenne's Story...Told by IMMS
Nemo
Nemo Newsherald.com
Nemo Death
Stormy
Stormy dies
Misty dies~ Stormy's pool mate.

Swimming in Sorrow: The Story Behind the Captive Dolphin Breeding Program in the U.S.

* In loving memory of Tique's calf, who died on June 10, 2011, at the Shedd Aquarium in Illinois.  She was six days old.  Also in loving memory of Nova's calf, who died on June 23, 2011, at the Indianapolis Zoo.  He was twenty days old.


Nova and new calf 2011
Photo by: Mike Crowther



Probably the most stressful and anxiety-provoking act in human existence is the separation of a woman from her newborn infant. The response to this, which humans share with most of the animal kingdom, is an overwhelming combination of panic, rage, and distress.  (Ruskin in Horchler and Morris, 1994)

When a mother loses a child, the psychological impact can exact a toll that goes well beyond grief and into a range of mental health disorders including anxiety, clinical depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.   A recent study in the British Journal of Psychiatry found that these symptoms can last for years - even following the birth of a healthy child. (Blackmore, E.R., Cote-Arsenault, D., Tang, W., Glover, V., Evans, J., Golding, J., and O’Connor, T.G., 2011)

In his 2007 book, In Defense of Dolphins: The New Frontier, Thomas White proposed that dolphins be considered as “non-human persons”.  White and other researchers describe these marine mammals as highly intelligent, self-conscious, unique individuals with personalities, memories and a sense of self. They are also vulnerable to pain and suffering and experience emotions we know as fear, dread and grief.  This notion of dolphins experiencing grief is poignantly documented in a 2008 you tube video of a wild mother dolphin carrying her dead baby with her in Laguna Madre Bay, South Padre, Texas: 

Captive dolphins also exhibit grief reactions to the loss of a child.  In February  2000, the Chicago Tribune reported:

Like any desperate mom, Tapeko made every attempt to save her child.  In a tank that Brookfield Zoo officials had isolated for the mother and baby, the 17-year-old Atlantic bottlenose dolphin patiently stayed with her calf late Saturday, following it up to the surface when it needed to breathe more frequently and slowing down when the newborn fell out of her "slipstream," a formation in which the calf is kept at its mother's side by a current of water.  After 45 minutes, the calf sank to the bottom of the tank and rolled onto its side. Tapeko swam after it, lifting the baby with her snout and bringing it to the surface, where she handed it over to trainers. She then watched at the deck as they tried to revive the 12-day-old dolphin by breathing into the blowhole atop its head, in a technique similar to mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and performing chest compressions.  But the mom's and zookeepers' best efforts failed: Brookfield Zoo's newest baby dolphin died at 12:15 a.m. Sunday. 

Since 1992, wild caught Tapeko has witnessed the deaths of four of her six children.  She lost calves in 1992, 2000, and 2001.  Daughter Kaylee died in 2009 at the age of 15 due to a tear in her stomach.

The infant mortality rate among captive dolphins is extraordinarily high, but this seems to have little impact on captive breeding practices.  If a mother loses a child, she is just impregnated once again.  A review of the website www.ceta-base.com  uncovers the excessive nature of dolphin breeding programs in zoos and aquariums across the United States.  At the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Illinois, Tique, a white-sided dolphin has lost three calves since 1995.  Her most recent calf, a female born on June 3, 2011, died yesterday after struggling to nurse.  At the Indianapolis Zoo, Nova, a bottlenose dolphin who was taken from the wild in 1988, has had eight pregnancies since  1993.  Six of her calves have died.  Two are living, including Kalei and one also born on June 3, 2011.  Likewise, at SeaWorld San Antonio, bottlenose dolphin Yoyo has lost five calves since 1998 and has no living offspring.  At the Miami Seaquarium, Cathi, a wild caught bottlenose dolphin, has lost five calves since 1976.  She has three living offspring:  Samantha, Ripley and Abaco.  The list goes on and on and on.  Female dolphins in aquariums are used like brood bitches in puppy mills.  Although their surviving calves aren’t sold to pet shops in the manner that puppies are, they are in a manner of speaking, sold into slavery.  These dolphins will never know the sheer joy of swimming in the open sea as they will live out their lives in captivity.

The captive breeding program (a.k.a. stud service) at several United States aquariums literally involves transporting male studs from aquarium to aquarium to impregnate female dolphins.  The practice is described in the June 2010 issue of the National Aquarium Blog as the facility bid farewell to Chinook, a stud who had been on “breeding loan” for three years:

Chinook was loaded into a specially made transport carrier and taken by truck to the airport. He was flown to Chicago with an Aquarium vet and trainer by his side. Upon arrival at Brookfield, he looked great and began to eat fish right away.  We heard that he is already showing interest in the female dolphins at Brookfield Zoo!

As part of a dolphin breeding consortium, we work with seven other zoos/aquariums to cooperatively manage and breed our dolphins.  Male dolphins are commonly moved from place to place to breed with different female groups.

With the wonders of modern science, some dolphin moms don’t even get the luxury of courtship, but rather are artificially inseminated.  In 2005, SeaWorld San Diego proudly announced that it had successfully selected the gender of a calf via artificial insemination.  The technology allowing the gender selection was developed by a company called XY Inc.  Tom Gilligan, a representative of the company, was quoted in a Reuter’s article describing the birth as “a real breakthrough that would lessen the need for new captures to vary the gene pool of captive marine mammals.”  At Save Misty the Dolphin, we wonder if it is really a breakthrough, or if it is just bad science that completely fails to consider the mental and emotional impact of captive breeding on the mother dolphins?  It appears that captive breeding, either via natural or artificial means, is largely unregulated.  Inquiries by our team to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums pointed us to individual facilities.  Calls to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), charged with implementing the Animal Welfare Act, directed us to the National Marine Fisheries Service.  Calls to the National Marine Fisheries Service sent us back to APHIS.  That being the case, there seem to be no protections in place specific to the wellbeing of captive mother dolphins used in breeding programs.  The reproductive future of these animals relies solely on the whims of the captive facilities, the very same facilities that profit from “showing” captive dolphins.

Ric O’Barry, former dolphin trainer turned activist and star of  the Academy-Award winning documentary, The Cove refers to the range of mental health problems demonstrated by captive dolphins as “captive dolphin depression syndrome”.  They may perform for the crowd, but outside of the show arena, they hover listlessly in small concrete tanks.  In the worst cases, some appear catatonic.  We wonder how many of these dolphins with captive dolphin syndrome are mothers who have experienced the loss of one or more children?  Perhaps the “captive dolphin depression syndrome” concept needs to be expanded to cover postpartum depression and complicated grief?  Perhaps it is simply time for the captive breeding program, and all captivity for that matter, to end!

BREAKING NEWS: New Baby at the Indy Zoo



Nova with Kalei in 2000



Less than 2 weeks after Save Misty the Dolphin published our investigative blog, "Indy Zoo Host to Deadly Gene Pool," the Zoo announced on June 3, the dolphin shows are temporarily cancelled due to the birth of a new baby. The calf, believed to be a male, was born this morning to Nova. The baby makes the 8th calf that Nova has given birth to since 1993. Kalei, has been her only calf to survive. We at SMTD send our love to both Mommy and Baby, and we hope for the best.

Indy Zoo Breaking News

Indy Zoo Host to Deadly Gene Pool

In 1988, The Indianapolis Zoological Society (The Indy Zoo) acquired eight dolphins that had been captured from the Gulf of Mexico near Florida. According to the MMIR and the Bottlenose Dolphin Studbook report the following information about these dolphins:

Name	Sex	DOB (est)	Cap Date	Arrival Date	Stud #
Kimo	M	1/1/1985	6/2/1988	6/3/1988	371
Rah	F	1/1/1985	6/3/1988	6/4/1988	NONE
Ripley	F	1/1/1985	6/4/1988	6/5/1988	372
China	F	1/1/1985	6/5/1988	6/5/1988	373
Shiloh	F	1/1/1985	6/5/1988	6/5/1988	374
Phoenix	F	1/1/1985	6/5/1988	6/5/1988	375
Sundance	M	1/1/1985	6/5/1988	6/5/1988	376
Nova	F	1/1/1983	6/7/1988	6/7/1988	323

On Dec 30, 1988 Rah, one of the zoo's female dolphins died -- just 6 months after her capture. According to the Indy MMIR, her jaw became caught in netting and she drowned. In the Indianapolis Monthly article by Evan West,  "Whats a nice dolphin like you doing in a place like this," Tom Granberry, the area manager of marine mammals at the zoo, confirmed that Rah died in the Florida Keys.  Rah was being held in a leased holding facility, in the care of Indy Zoo handlers when she became entangled in a net used to move the dolphins around.  This was just the beginning of what would be a very long string of deaths for the zoo.

According to Mike Knight's April 2002 Indianapolis Monthy article "Bringing up Mommy," breeding was always part of the the zoo's plan. This was because the difficulty of getting permits to capture dolphins from the wild. Dave Merritts was hired by the Zoo, before it opened, as the curator of the marine mammals. In the article he states, "We opened a new zoo, had a beautiful facility, collected some great animals, and actually had our first dolphin pregnant, I think, in about the third year." Merritts went on to say, "The object was to collect a population that could be reproductively successful." Paul Grayton, the Vice President of programs for the zoo, stated, "Our desire is to always have a self-sustaining population, irrespective of the animals." and went on to say "So in the very beginning our desire was to have dolphin breeding."

Although the staff of the Indy Zoo wanted a successful breeding program, it has been anything but successful.  A simple Google search of "Baby Dolphin Indy Zoo" yields numerous results. Most tell the story of a new baby dolphin at the zoo, only to be followed by another describing how the dolphin did not survive.  Most will mention how the zoo has suffered "many" dolphin miscarriages, stillbirths, or calves only living a short time. However, nowhere in these news reports will you find an exact number of baby dolphin deaths. Why? Because, the Indy Zoo does not want the public to know just how ineffective their breeding program really is. The truth is most marine parks will not announce a dolphin is pregnant until the calf is born and the facility feels it is going to survive.

In the 23 years since the dolphins were captured, the Zoo has had 3 successful births. These dolphins are:

Name	Sex	DOB	Mother	Sire
Kalei	F	11/16/2000	Nova	Sundance
Indy	F	8/20/2001	China	Sundance
Jett	M	2/2/2002	Ripley	Sundance

According to the Indy Zoo MMIR dated May 13, 2009, the zoo has only had 2 deaths of babies in the zoo.

One born 8/15/1993 and died the same day, due to undetermined causes. The other born 8/30/2000 and died 9/14/2000 from gastritis and pneumonia. However, the Studbook tells a different story. The Studbook lists 22 dolphins born at the Indy Zoo who did not survive, for one reason or the other. The first birth is listed as 8/15/1993, the same birth on the MMIR, the last being born 11/22/2010:

Date	SEX	BIRTH	Mother	Sire	Stud #
8/15/1993	M	Born Alive	Nova	UNKNOWN	1064
4/16/1994	F	Stillborn	Ripley	UNKNOWN	526
2/28/1995	M	Born Alive	Phoenix	UNKNOWN	1069
5/16/1995	F	Born Alive	Ripley	UNKNOWN	1070
8/4/1995	M	Born Alive	Nova	UNKNOWN	560
8/23/1996	M	Born Alive	China	Sundance	587
9/28/1996	F	Born Alive	Phoenix	Sundance	591
9/20/1996	M	Born Alive	Shiloh	Sundance	592
8/21/1997	M	Born Alive	Nova	Sundance	1074
3/16/1998	M	Born Alive	?	?	1077
9/21/1998	F	Born Alive	China	Sundance	1080
7/24/2000	F	Born Alive	Phoenix	Sundance	1082
8/30/2000	F	Born Alive	Ripley	Sundance	271
9/11/2001	M	Born Alive	Phoenix	Unknown	1087
10/5/2004	F	Stillborn	Nova	Sundance	1095
2/23/2005	F	Born Alive	Ripley	Kimo	1097
5/17/2007	F	Born Alive	Nova	Unknown	1176
10/23/2009	F	Stillborn	Nova	Sundance	1451
12/23/2009	F	Stillborn	Ripley	Unknown	1452
3/16/2010	F	Born Alive	Kalei	Unknown	1453
6/14/2010	Uk	Stillborn	Ripley	Kimo	1457
11/22/2010	F	Born Alive	China	Kimo	1450

Although listed in the MMIR as death cause undetermined,  the article "Bringing Up Mommy," tells a different story about what happened to Nova's calf.  Jodie Baker, a staff member at the zoo, says "When it was being born it appeared that it got struck, and when the contractions were coming on it developed a hemorrhage at the base of the spine." (Note: Could struck be a typo and it should be stuck?) Although staff members thought the baby looked good and claimed Nova appeared to have great motherly instincts, the baby only lived 15 minutes.

After 12 years and 11 dead babies, the staff at the Zoo blamed all the deaths on the dolphins. They claim (per "Bringing up Mommy") that the female dolphins just didn't know how to be good mothers. After consulting with numerous experts, they came to the conclusion that dolphins just do not naturally have motherly instincts.  It was 2000, and 3 of the 4 females at the zoo were close to giving birth again. (Note: Shiloh the Zoo's 5th female died in 1997) Phoenix and Ripley both gave birth to live babies, but they both died the same day they were born. Then on November 16, 2000, Nova gave birth to her 4th calf, and it survived. After years of trying to breed these dolphins, Kalei was the result the zoo was looking for. The staff claims that the other adult females immediately started copying what Nova and her calf did. The females paired up and pretended to be mother and calf, swimming in formation and practicing nursing. In August 2001, it was China's turn, and she gave birth to Indy, who also survived. A month later, Sept 11, 2001,  Phoenix gave birth, but the calf did not live. On Feb. 2, 2002, Ripley gave birth to Jett, the zoo's 3rd calf to survive.  One might at this point conclude that these females finally gained their motherly instincts. Maybe it took the dolphins 3 or 4 tries to "get it right". However, since Jett was born in 2002 there have been 8 calves born at the zoo, and NONE have survived.

In the face of this information, we ask the simple question:  WHEN IS ENOUGH - ENOUGH?  It is clear that the Indy Zoo dolphin breeding program is NOT working. These dolphins have been pregnant time and time again, with heartbreaking results:  25 births with only 3 surviving - or a 12% success rate. How can anyone be OK with this?  At what point will someone step in and stop this epic failure? Facilities claim that dolphins are in captivity for educational purposes. They claim that by having them they are able to study dolphins, as well as teach the public how dolphins live in the wild, thus helping the public to better understand and care about them. How can this facility teach the public about dolphins, if they themselves do not understand them? How much longer will they put these dolphins through this heartache before they realize, IT IS JUST NOT WORKING???

The Indy Zoo has reached out to many other dolphin facilities and experts for help. The most interesting response they received came from a group of High School students. In the article "Students on the Case of Dying Dolphins," students from a local high school broke down the genetic diversity of the Indy dolphins and came to the conclusion that the death of many of the dolphin calves was due to inbreeding. We applaud the students and their teachers for this amazing work. However, after over 50 years of holding dolphins in captivity, does it really take a group of high school students to figure this out? How can the captive industry claim to have a successful breeding program, when this sort of thing is happening? 

We at Save Misty The Dolphin want to expose what is truly going on in the captive industry. The public MUST know the truth. These facilities have been able to hide the truths due to loose regulations and poor recorded keeping. Information is often not reported on MMIR's.  In some cases, such as this, animals are left off all together. This should not be allowed! It is up to the public to demand the truth. It is our goal to uncover and expose these truths. It is our goal to expose these facilities, and educate the public. If it takes us going through records of every facility out there, that is what we will do. These dolphins were taken away from their families. Their freedom was stolen and they were sent to "educate" the public about their wild families. We owe it to them, to Misty, and to ALL animals in captivity, that the truth is always told!  

NOTE: In 2007 Phoenix died. Sundance died in 2010. Currently the Indy Zoo has 8 dolphins. Orginal dolphins: Kimo (M), Ripley (F), Nova (F), and China (F); Calves born at Indy: Kalei (F), Indy (F), and Jett (M); along with Taz (M) a dolphin that had stranded in Florida and was sent to Indy to join their breeding program.

TELL THE INDY ZOO TO STOP BREEDING THESE DOLPHINS!

Sign the End the Dolphin Breeding Program at the Indy Zoo Here

Send the Indy an E-mail Here

Call the Zoo 317-630-2001

Write to the Zoo:

1200 West Washington Street

 Indianapolis, In 46222

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UPDATE: On June 3rd 2011 Nova gave birth to her 8th calf. On June 23rd 2011, the 20 day old calf died of "unknown causes". This is the 7th calf Nova has lost since 1993. Nova has one offspring, Kalei who was born in 2000, who is still living. Kalei lost a calf in 2010.

Nova's calf dies
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Sources:

2009 and 2010 Bottlenose Dolphin StudBook

Bringing Up Mommy article from the Indianapolis Monthly April 2002 (MUST READ!)

What's a nice dolphin like you doing in a place like this? article from the Indianapolis Monthly May 2005

Indy Zoo 2009 MMIR

Student's on the Case of Dying Dolphins

Pheonix Dies 6/24/2007

Links of Interest:

Being a Non-Profit Org. the INDIANAPOLIS ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC is required to fill out Tax Form 990. Here are the ones available. These forms list all financial info for the Org.

2009 990 Form
2008 990 Form
2007 990 Form

Federal Register Entries pertaining to the Indy Zoo:

Dated 1/7/1994 in Regards to permit # 628
Dated 1/12/1994
4/1/1999 Not Dolphin related