The Grindadrap, A Very Hit And Myth Affair. Part III.

stolendolphins DOES NOT CONDONE THE SLAUGHTER OF ANY ANIMAL.

(I am rather keen on facts though.)

     Unless otherwise stated, all comments regarding the Grindadrap were made by SSCS founder Paul Watson and are written in red.

Myth 1: “DENMARK ORDERS DEPORTATION OF WHALE DEFENDERS”

Denmark orders deportation of foreign nationals who broke the law.

Go there

Myth 2: “A Danish Judge convicts five Sea Shepherd volunteers of the “crime” of attempting to save the lives of Pilot whales.
Denmark orders the payment of 200,000 kroner (about €30,000) in fines or imprisonment for 14 days.”

A Danish judge convicts five Sea Shepherd volunteers of the crime of interfering with a legal activity.

Justice

Myth 3: “Sea Shepherd and the five volunteers refuse to pay the fine and demand their right to serve their time.
As Rosie Kunneke said, “We demand to serve the time for our crimes of compassion.”

Since when does the criminal get to choose their own punishment? It’s not your decision, love. Never mind the obvious confusion between one party and another. Mr Watson calls it a “crime”, intimating that he feels it isn’t, while Ms Kunneke declares it a “crime of compassion” intimating that she feels it is.

“Wanna go prison!”

Myth 4: “Denmark refuses to allow the five to serve the time and orders the five to be deported despite the fact that the sentences are being appealed.”

Crafty old Denmark. It is abundantly clear that the Sea Shepherd volunteers acted illegally. There are hours of video footage from various parties documenting that. How is an appeal going to suddenly change that? The laws are clear and the laws were broken. There is less martyrdom to be had from being sent home with your tail between your legs than to be photographed exultantly walking out of prison after doing “porridge” for a fortnight.

Not wanted

Myth 5: “The Danes refuse to answer the question of how can Denmark deport a European Union citizen if Denmark is a member of the European Union?”

Because the Danes probably consider it a really pointless question? In all fairness though, Danish people have repeatedly responded to this question, but their comments have been routinely removed from Mr Watson’s social media outlets.

So, one more time for the benefit of the hard of thinking. Denmark is a country in her own right. She has her own navy, she has her own borders. She is also a member state of the European Union. The EU is not a country. It is a collective of member states. Each state has their own leaders and legislation. If an individual from another member state should break the law then, if the legislation of that country permits it, they can and will be deported back to their country of origin. The only people the Danish couldn’t deport are Danes. There are probably a million precedents, but just think of that Belgian Sea Shepherd volunteer from 2014. You know, the one who was deported for possession of cannabis. He went straight back home. He didn’t disappear up his own fundament in a maelstrom of confusion. He just went home. To Belgium. A member state of the European Union.

Nope, that isn’t the country of Europe either.

Myth 6: “The Faroese whalers and the Danes who support them are proud of the grindadrap (the murder of whales). But they should remember that Pride goeth before a fall as it says in the Bible. (Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.)”

The Sea Shepherd volunteers and the other people who support them are proud of “Operation Sleppid Grindini” (loosely translated as “free the whales” or “let the pod go away”). But they would also be wise to remember that “Pride goeth before a fall”. Surely being convicted of a crime qualifies as a “fall”? 

Additionally, the word “Grindadrap” does not mean “the murder of whales”, not even close. My Faroese friends (the ones who actually speak the language) tell me it translates as “Pilotwhalekill” or “Pilotwhalehunt”. The Faroese clearly understand that it is impossible to “murder” anything that isn’t a fellow human being.

St Valentine’s Day massacre. This is murder.

Not murder.

Myth 7: ” Under the new law tourists are obligated to report whale sightings to the whalers.”

Erm. No they aren’t. As the Faroese government makes clear in a statement published July 2015:
“(It is therefore) highly unlikely that an ordinary tourist, who has sighted pilot whales will be punished for not reporting this”. See full statement in the link below.

http://www.government.fo/news/news/statement-from-government-of-the-faroe-islands-on-grindalogin/

I want the killing to stop.

But I want the facts and the truth to be told, or the killing will never stop. 

Opinions? You Can’t Have One!

Everyone is entitled to an opinion.
Everyone should have the right to express that opinion.

Opinions and healthy debate change things.  They always have and they always will.

Hate and aggression changes absolutely nothing.

Anyone who dares express an opinion about the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (hereafter referred to simply as SS) knows exactly what I mean.
For everyone else, here is a little taster of what you can expect should you try.

This is a post daring to suggest that the members of the SS look hostile.

 

Remember, it’s an opinion.

The first response was reasonable….. But, like almost every single one that follows, inaccurate.

Hey! Whalers are people too!
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/02/three_whalers_injured_in_confr.html

For some reason it starts to turn into a fashion debate

Who knows?

The answer is, of course, no. Which rather adds some credence to the original opinion of them looking intimidating. This obvious fact  goes right over their heads.

Still, the next person decides to talk about the legal aspect. Maybe they don’t like the colour pink?

Erm….the government, dear.

I have to say though, she’s right in that laws aren’t always right, but they are laws and therefore should be recognised  and best not broken.

This person acknowledges that the law was broken. What is it with SS? One says one thing and another says the complete opposite. A cynical person could easily suppose that they manipulate things to their own ends. Not that I’m in any way cynical. Of course. A realist might suggest that they simply don’t know what they’re on about.

Yes it is legal. Tell your friends because they don’t seem to understand.

 

Now we get on to my favourite recurring theme from the SS. That old chestnut “why don’t you….” a fine example is shown here:

Ha Ha Ha. No.

Interesting observation that SS will only work when we all do what we can, So quite clearly SS aren’t working, because we aren’t all doing what we can. Not purchasing a flight for one thing. Does that mean it’s MY fault? I guess it is as I wouldn’t join the SS for all the money I could raise via the Go fund Me site…

Mocking now has to be put to one side, because this post is deeply offensive. There is absolutely NO justification at all for this comment, and I am utterly appalled that 6 obviously like-minded people approved of it. Remember these people are representing SS and supporting SS. For no other reason THIS is why SS needs reining in:

Moving swiftly on let’s get back to the personal insults. This person clearly has some issues, but he runs true to form with name-calling and the good old “why don’t you” and then the not-truth. Well done to you, scored a hat-trick. Are you proud?  Next time, try putting it all in one post, it just makes for better continuity and takes up less space.  Or better still, engage your obvious genius before you start banging out your hate posts. Retard? The best insult, never!

Don’t you just love a good meaty debate?

Oh, he unliked the page. So much easier when they do all the work for you. Seeing as he never commented on the page other than to write this load of nonsense, it is no real loss to anyone. I am also curious as to why this lovely silver-tongued chap would want me to send my donkey “out there”, for a start I am not sure that a donkey is really going to be of much help, they aren’t known for their debating skills. Secondly, and far more importantly, I don’t actually have a donkey….

Delightfully though he proclaims that SS are “defending torture and protecting their identities from the dangerous people who kill”. Just perfect. All those painful years of schooling weren’t wasted after all.

Here we go again, more “why don’t you….”

Why don’t YOU?

Actually, I DO know the background. It’s a school. That’s already been established. Additionally, if you compare my efforts with the efforts of the SS we are level. I haven’t prevented a grind either.

Now, about half way through this 14 hour confrontation a very special person enters the scene. Again, someone who does not contribute to the page, but has obviously received the same facebook personal message as everyone else and absolutely feels the need to make a complete and utter fool of herself. Repeatedly.

Seems reasonable

 

Ah. Less reasonable.

Right? Or just not wrong?

Is “unhinged” too strong?

Still not wrong.

She finally ran out of hot air, and a troll took her place. What an evening this was turning out to be. This guy needs a mention for his special talent of having an idea and not wanting to let it go. I guess it’s because they don’t come along very often.

SS save whales. Right?

The only time a grindadrap has been called since SS invaded the Faroe Islands, the SS have completely failed to save any one of the 33 pilot whales that were slaughtered. Their tactics actually hindered the slaughter, causing more suffering to the animals. Yeah, go SS!

I have absolutely no doubt that many countries and their conservation organisations would be very much against the slaughter if it was actually illegal. In fact, I know that they are. They just don’t want to break the law. Silly old them, not wanting a reputation as bad as the SS.

Dog, meet bone.

I would have been rooting for 2008 myself. SS weren’t there and absolutely ZERO dolphins died. Still, let’s not tell Dave…

Let it go, Dave.

Records have been kept for centuries, Dave yet you’ve only seen “a couple”. I wouldn’t trust your research, especially as the figure quoted for last year is out by a couple of hundred. Over 1100 is right, but the recorded figure is 1524. Bit of a difference, Dave. Additionally, people with far more knowledge than Dave will tell you that the interest in the Grindadrap by the islanders themselves (so in other words, the people who really matter) was waning before SS decided to wade in with their aggressive rhetoric and “direct action”.

Dear old Dave has now turned into a bit of a stalker, having been seen posting the same old stuff on pages that have absolutely no connection to the Stolen Dolphins of Taiji….you just can’t keep a good man down!

It’s stalker Dave!

Despite having been told that no, the person he addressed is NOT the Stolen Dolphins of Taiji (which by the way they aren’t. I am.) Dave continues singing the only song he knows….SIX DAYS after he first appeared on the SDOT page. Tenacity knows no bounds!

Yeah…..yeah….whatevs Dave

Dave…..2008. No slaughter. No SS. No chance of thanking people for breaking the law either. Especially when they didn’t actually save anything. Honestly….they had one job.

One of the major problems with SS cultists is that they are never wrong. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, they still believe that what they are doing actually makes a difference, and that everyone else is fair game to be derided.

Nasty

That is what thugs do.

I am not sure why these petty thugs find an ancient and peaceful Japanese art-form so offensive. Could it be that it’s because it’s Japanese? I would rather fold 10,000 origami whales than support thugs and bullies.

At the end of the day, that’s all SS are. Thugs and bullies. If you don’t agree with them and their “direct action” then you are on the “other” side. If only life was that black and white……

Is this the best they can do?

Boo!

Scared of the colour white. The internationally recognised colour of PEACE.

At least Dave sings the same song all the time. Even if he is wrong.

 

The final montage has to go to this……person…..who is quite clearly utterly deranged.

 

Make no mistake, this is no isolated incident. Go to ANY SS site and you will find post after post calling for the beheading of Faroese children, tsunamis, snipers, “nukes” and a general “plague on all your houses” along with insults, derogatory comments and a general ignorance of really basic topics such as biology, geography and politics.

The founder of the SS has even shown a remarkable lack of understanding in these most basic subjects. He refuses to accept, in defiance of the obvious, that the Faroe Islands are not part of the EU. They aren’t. They never have been. He asks how the remaining members of the “Faroese Fourteen” can be deported from the EU, when they are EU citizens themselves. If only the SS hadn’t ostracized their Belgian volunteer for taking cannabis to the islands……he would have been able to explain that. The Faroese sent him packing, out of their non-EU country right back to his EU member state of Belgium.

Is it any wonder that more and more individuals are becoming increasingly tired of SS propaganda?

This doesn’t save animals. It feeds the propaganda machine and keeps the donations rolling in….what on earth are these donations used for? We are told that volunteers pay for themselves yet there are Go Fund Me  requests all over the internet asking for money to send this one here and that one there, and then when they get there they want more money for flashy equipment and food!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/CQ0AJ19S8QOR/ref=cm_wl_sortbar_v_page_2?ie=UTF8&page=2

Do these volunteers actually spend any of their own money? Do they not already own cameras? Memory cards? Coffee? Or do they only buy their it-isn’t-a-uniform-even-though-it-is-really from the ebay shop?

How does any of this save one single animal?

In short, it doesn’t. It never will. If you want the Grindadrap to end you HAVE to talk to the people. The grindmen who actually slaughter the dolphins. You MUST engage with THEM if you really want to see an end to this. They, and their government, are the only people who have the power to stop the slaughter. Standing moodily around in your black no-really-it-isn’t-a-uniform does nothing but increase hostility and resentment among a people who are naturally warm, friendly, tolerant and welcoming.

Leave the Islands and the slaughter will decrease and stop. Many of the younger generation aren’t overly interested in the slaughter, but they will defend their tradition when it is threatened by foreigners who have absolutely no right to tell them what to do. Keep up the hate campaign against them, and the slaughter will increase.

A cynical person would say that perhaps that is what SS wants. It keeps the donations rolling in, after all.

A realist wouldn’t use the word “perhaps”.

 

 

 

 

The Grindadrap: A Very Hit And Myth Affair. Part II.

MYTHING IN ACTION

 

It is so very easy to get drawn into the myth of the Grindadrap opposition.

The high drama on the high seas and all that.

The romance of pseudo-pirates poetically penning passionate prose dedicated to ending all whale slaughter with the stroke of a pen…..I could almost swoon. In the best tradition of a Victorian lady reading Browning, naturally.

Which is all well and good, we all need an outlet, but let the facts speak for themselves. For anyone opposed to the slaughter of animals ~ be they pilot whales or sheep ~ the facts are enough. Hyperbole and rhetoric and drama are unwanted and totally unnecessary.

Yet, the mythtery-machine does not run on word-power alone. Oh, no….it demands direct action and celebrity appearances to add credence to its existence. If a little bit of contradiction and not-quite-the-truth should appear in the mix, well that can be effortlessly sifted out via censorship and blatant denial.

Anyone who is following the current Faroe Island saga, no matter which side of the fence you stand, can not have missed the recent high drama regarding a pod of approximately 20 Pilot Whales who (as it turns out) haplessly swam into a Faroe Island fjord, and slap bang into a furious war of words.

Would there be a hunt? Would there be skirmishes? Would there be blood (human)? Would there be live stream? Don’t you just love drama?

Erm. No.

The sea was lumpy. It was getting dark. The hunt was not called. The Pilot Whales were, initially, quite safe in the fjord.

That, however, did not stop an intrepid and really quite dangerous rescue mission to drive the dolphins from their place of safety back out into the open sea. A mission that was completed successfully with no loss of life or limb. So that’s alright then. The hunters (who weren’t hunting) were thwarted and the dolphins were saved from imminent danger (even though there was none) and driven from a place of safety. Driven, I am reliably informed, quite harshly given that they were not in any danger of being hunted at that point. But it’s OK folks, because they were “saved”, and that’s the important thing.  Mythtion accomplished.

The dolphins are, presumably, swimming happily about the ocean, none the worse for their rather odd little encounter with the human race. We don’t know this for certain, although given the amount of high-tech equipment supposedly taken to the islands, I find it lax that not one person thought to maybe try to tag one of the Pilot Whales? Is that just a step too far in the conservation and understanding of these creatures? Or is it more important to be seen to be taking any kind of action and metaphorically slap the face of the Faorese hunters?

Just as a side note, I have been told that the Pilot Whales would “be dead by now” had direct “intervention” not taken place. I find this rather defeatist given that the whole point of “invading” the Faroe Islands is to stop the Grindadrap, “by any means possible”.

Hot on the heels of all this direct action comes a celebrity. Slightly delayed due to the bad weather (the weather that possibly prevented the Grindadrap?) enter stage left…….Pamela Anderson. Famous for appearing in a TV series 20 years ago, Pammie (yes, we in the UK do call her that) strutted her stuff in a press conference designed to tell the world that she wasn’t putting up with this dolphin-hunting any longer. It’s “barbaric” she said “a stain on the country” she opined “end this archaic abomination” she urged all forward-thinking Faroese.

Then she went on a sight-seeing tour.

Still, it was gratifying to see that old habits are hard to shake off

Watching the Bay?

 

I wish Ms Anderson no ill, and I applaud her efforts to raise awareness of the slaughter of which ever animal she wishes. But, how can she, or any other Canadian-born advocate, point their finger and raise their voices at the Faroe Islanders when this is happening in Canada?

Is this not also a barbaric abomination? It must surely be counted as a “stain” too? Yet where are the protests? Where are the “invaders”? Where is the outrage at people standing on a freshly killed whale carcass? Anti-whaling advocates are horrified at the time it takes for a Pilot Whale to die during the Grindadrap, yet this Bowhead took a staggering ONE HOUR AND 45 MINUTES TO DIE, in unimaginable agony.

Abominable stain.

 

It is hypocrisy of the first and highest order.

No wonder the Faroese do not take you seriously. Why on earth should they?

 

*stolendolphins does not support the slaughter of Pilot whales or any other animal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Grindadrap, A Very Hit And Myth Affair. Part I.

I am utterly against the slaughter of ANY animal regardless of species.

I am also against mis-information, censorship and downright lies. The Faroe Island Grindadrap is a complex and sensitive issue which demands that we non-Faroese treat it with respect and due consideration. There is a wealth of information about the hunt, it has been in operation for centuries after all, but sadly not a lot of it is based anywhere near fact.

A collection of “facts” picked up from social media sites…..

“Pilot whales are an endangered species”

 Sorry, but they are NOT an endangered species. The IUCN lists both the long and the short-finned Pilot Whale as “Data Deficient”.

http://discover.iucnredlist.org/species/9250

 This doesn’t mean they are in plentiful supply, nor does it mean that we are down to our last half a dozen. It simply means that we don’t have enough data.

“This is a slaughter that kills whales and dolphins and kills children’s minds”

No it doesn’t. Blind hatred and indoctrination does that to a child’s mind.

Picture Credit Bob Jordan

 “Feeding Faroes children tainted whale meat is tantamount to child abuse”

No. It really isn’t. (It isn’t whale meat either. It’s dolphin. Not that it makes it OK, it doesn’t.) Child abuse is defined thus:

http://www.childhelp.org

 

 Allowing for location interpretations, if Faroese children are being poisoned by dolphin meat, then I can surely charge every single person who has ever bought a child a burger (insert favourite meat-based junk food preference) of “child abuse”?

http://www.smh.com.au

The meat you feed your children is not pure. It will contain steroids, hormones and antibiotics at the very least.  Let’s not even think about the levels of salt, sugar, dubious chemicals and saturated fats contained within the bun and the inevitable soda/shake accompaniment.

  “(…it is inhumane and a pure insult to these beautiful animals to be) forced to shore and then stabbed, shot, ripped open and slaughtered for a delicacy the world can do without.”

They are not stabbed, shot, beaten, tortured, molested or ripped open. They are driven as close to shore as possible (in specifically designated places) and once beached their spinal cords are severed causing in many cases almost immediate death. Like this…..

http://www.freefromharm.org

The carcass is then opened to allow gasses to escape…..

lail-alsahara.com

No, it isn’t pretty. Find me a slaughterhouse floor that is. This “delicacy” rarely finds its way into the world as the Grindadrap is almost completely non-commercial (some meat has been seen for sale in supermarkets and is offered to guests and tourists on the Islands, so it is only fair to say “almost completely non-commercial”).

 “The Faroe Islands are the Taiji of the North”

 While the herding process is the same as Taiji in as much as the dolphins are herded/driven into a cove by means of boats and sound disorientation, that is where the similarities end.

FAROE ISLANDS VS TAIJI, JAPAN

Hunt is opportunistic.	Hunters specifically leave port to seek dolphins.
Hunt is carried out on boats which drive the dolphins towards designated coves/shallow beaches.	Hunt is carried out on boats which drive the dolphins towards a designated cove.
Entire pod is slaughtered immediately.	Pod may be held for up to 6 days. Dolphins are injured and unduly aggravated by the actions of the hunters. Large pods are often split for selection process. Dolphins drown in the nets. Trainers select dolphins for the lucrative captive marine mammal market. Orphaned calves and juveniles are returned to the ocean without hope of survival.
Pod is slaughtered by means of severing the spinal cord causing almost-always instant death.	Pod is slaughtered by means of “pithing” (driving a spike into the base of the skull) causing a slower and more painful death.
Meat found to be diseased is discarded.	Unknown.
Meat production is not a commercial enterprise.	Meat production is a commercial enterprise.

 

 “The death of a dolphin is worse than that of a cow”

No it isn’t.

The fact that the dolphin is wild and the cow has been kept in unnatural conditions since birth and was born to die in order to feed an ever-growing population does NOT make it worse. If anything, some could argue that at least the dolphin had a life before death, which the poor beleaguered cow never did.

The slaughter of a dolphin is exactly the same as the slaughter of any animal. No living creature desires to die, especially in such a brutal manner and environment as a slaughterhouse.

Emotionally blackmailing people into believing that  death  is less damaging to the cow than it would be to a dolphin is quite simply utter nonsense, deeply disrespectful and highly damaging.

Just ask the cow.

http://www.demotix.com

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Captive Orca vs Wild Orca ~ Comparative Timelines 2. Orkid

Two female orca born into incredibly differing worlds.

It is impossible to make a direct comparison as Orkid is an unnatural hybrid,  one that would never occur in the wild so she has no pod mates to hold up as an example,  instead an Alaskan resident orca of the same age has been used to show the life events denied to captive orca Orkid.

1988

AD-16 gives birth to a female calf, AD-20.

She is named Callisto.

alaskawhalesightings.com

September 23rd 1988

Kandu 5, a wild-caught Icelandic orca, gives birth to a female calf at SeaWorld San Diego.

Credit SeaWorld (via Orka Pod Wiki)

The calf’s sire is Orky a Northern Resident captured in 1968, and recently moved to SeaWorld from the defunct Marineland of the Pacific.

The calf is hailed as the first successful birth at SeaWorld San Diego.

September 26th 1988

The calf’s sire, Orky dies.  He was approximately 30 years old. The necropsy report gives his cause of death as “Acute Bronchopneumonia, Nephropathy”.

The calf is named in honour of her dead sire. She will be known as Orkid. (Orky’s kid.)

August 21st 1989

Icelandic orca Kandu 5 is involved in an incident that will cause her death. During an extremely aggressive altercation with captured Northern Resident Corky, she rams into her (although some reports claim she rammed the wall of their tank). This major collision breaks Kandu 5’s upper jaw and ruptures an artery.

While wild orca do rake and ram each other to maintain social order, this simply would not happen outside of the unnatural environment of a marine entertainment park. Kandu 5 and Corky are from 2 entirely different populations that would never have interacted in the ocean. Moreover, wild orca have the space they need to get out of the way.

At the time of the incident Kandu 5 was valued at $1 million.

Orkid witnessed this violence and stayed with her mother during the agonising 45 minutes it took for Kandu 5 to bleed to death. Swimming helpless beside her as she dies.

Orkid is just 11 months old.

LA Times

Corky, the object of Kandu 5’s aggression has since become extremely close to Orkid and is regarded as a surrogate mother to her.

April 21st 1990

Less than a year later, Orkid’s first recorded offence appears on her SeaWorld rap sheet.

October 23rd 1994

Orkid gets another offence on her rap sheet.

 

1995

Callisto, AD-20,  is joined by a younger brother.

AD-16 gives birth to AD-28.

He is named Barwell.

alaskawhalesightings.com

June 1995

Orkid has tooth removed. (LL3, to be precise)

January 25th 1996

February 9th 1996

July 3rd 1996

November 22nd 1996

November 15th 1997

June 23rd 1998

1999

AD-16 gives birth to another calf, AD-32, the calf is named Sunny.

alaskawhalesightings.com

2000

AD-20 Callisto gives birth to AD-33, the calf is named Keet.

alaskawhalesightings.com

July 31st 2002

2003

AD-20 Callisto gives birth to her second calf.

AD-39 is called Neruda.

alaskawhalesightings.com

2004

AD-16 gives birth to a calf, AD-38.

The calf is named Manna.

alaska whale sightings

May 17th 2004

Yet another Rap Sheet entry for Orkid.

2005

AD-20, Callisto gives birth to AD-41, the calf is charmingly named Happy.

alaskawhalesightings.com

May 6th 2005

“Dunking” is SeaWorld’s mildly whimsical way of saying that the trainer was grabbed and pulled under the water, often to the bottom of the tank. They make it sound almost playful.

November 15th 2006

SeaWorld finally call time on performing in the water with Orkid. After countless incidents and doubtlessly many more than made public, Orkid is clearly not safe to be in the water with. The trainer in the video (Brian Rokeach) was submerged for almost 30 seconds and was lucky to escape with torn ankle ligaments.

April 10th 2007

2008

AD-20, Callisto gives birth to AD-43, otherwise known as Lorca

alaskawhalesightings.com

AD-16 dies. Since the death of her mother when she was 20, so different to that of 11 month old Orkid, AD-20 has had at least 1 more calf.

alaskawhalesightings.com

AD-46, born 2011.

While wild orca Callisto has been having calves at a healthy rate since she reached both physical and mental maturity, Orkid has not. She has been AI’d (artificially inseminated) on numerous occasions and not one of these highly invasive procedures has ever resulted in a confirmed pregnancy.

The entry on her Rap Sheet for April 2007 is a result of her unwillingness to undergo an ultrasound for yet another AI session. The procedure was eventually carried out successfully, but not before Orkid had head-swiped a trainer and knocked them over a wall.

Without doubt, the most chilling entry on her Rap Sheet is the one listed on July 31st 2002. Curiously, SeaWorld massively underplays the whole incident and even go so far as to call it a “rehearsal” for this incident:

This happened on August 7th 2002.

Not only is this incident missing from her Rap Sheet, SeaWorld don’t even list the injuries sustained giving a certain amount of credence to the claims of the movie “Blackfish” that the trainers are unaware of how dangerous the orca can be, because they aren’t given all the facts.

Despite all the recorded evidence, let alone anecdotal, SeaWorld are once again allowing trainers into the water with Orkid.

They just don’t do it in public…….yet.

 

*****Many thanks to the whaleasses for their boundless knowledge and assistance.

As ever, all and any errors are mine.

 

 

Captive Orca vs Wild Orca ~ Comparative Timelines 1 Corky

3 female orca, all  from the Northern Resident Killer Whale community……  3 very different lives.

A-16 (A-5 Pod, A-23 Matriline)

I-20 (I-18 Pod, I-18 Matriline)

G-2 (G-12 Pod, G2 Matriline)

 

1963

G-2 born in the ocean into the G-12 Pod.

Pic acknowledgment:
http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/

1964

A-16 born in the ocean into the A-5 Pod.

1964/5

I-20 born in the ocean into the I-18 Pod.

Pic credit http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/

December 11 1969

A-5 Pod enter Pender Harbour British Columbia. After a struggle that lasted almost all night:

A-16 and 5 other orca are selected for capture.

Picture credit orcalab.org

A-16 is taken from the wide ever-changing ocean, her pod and her mother’s side…..from everything she has ever known for her entire life and placed in a small never-changing tank, hundreds of miles from home.

Picture Credit vintagetravelpostcards.blogspot.com

 

A-16 is housed with 4 other orca, all Northern Residents and all taken from the ocean either at the same time as A-16 or 1 year previously. They are Kenny, Patches, Corky and Orky 2. (Orky 1, the resident bull had already died by the time A-16 had arrived.)

1970

Corky dies at Marineland of the Pacific.

A-16, in a feat of breath-taking imagination, is named Corky 2. (The numeral has subsequently been dropped.)

1971

Patches dies at Marineland of the Pacific.

1972

Kenny dies at Marineland of the Pacific.

Orky and Corky are trained to entertain the public visiting Marineland of the Pacific, which they do until the park closes in 1987.

Photo courtesy of former Marineland employee Tad Smith

 

1977

Corky gives birth to a male calf.  17 days later it is dead.

G-2 gives birth to a female calf, G-34.

Pic courtesy of http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/

G-34 is alive and still living in her ocean home. She is now a grandmother.

October 31st 1978

Corky gives birth to a male calf. 12 days later it is dead. Naturally he was called “Spooky”.

Corky and Spooky
Pic credit: Unknown at this time.

1979

I-20 gives birth to a female calf, I-21.

Pic courtesy of http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/

I-21 is alive and still living in her ocean home. She had her own calf in 2006.

April 1st 1980

Corky gives birth to a premature and stillborn female calf.

1981

G-2 gives birth to a male calf, G-28.  He has not been seen since 2001, and must be presumed dead.

June 18th 1982

Corky gives birth to a female calf.
She is named Kiva.

Picture via Jovana Ivastanin/Tumblr

August 3rd 1982

Kiva dies.

July 22nd 1985

Corky gives birth to a female calf. it is dead a month later.

1985

G-2 gives birth to G-36. The calf does not survive.

 

1986

I-20 gives birth to a male calf, I-52.

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/

I-52 is alive and still living in his ocean home.

Corky suffers a miscarriage.

1987

Marineland of the Pacific closes. Orky and Corky are moved to SeaWorld San Diego.

Corky suffers another miscarriage shortly after arriving at SeaWorld.

 

September 26th 1988

Orky dies at SeaWorld San Diego. He was approximately 30 years old. The necropsy report gives his cause of death as “Acute Bronchopneumonia, Nephropathy”.

 

1989

G-2 gives birth to G-43. The calf survives for 3 years.

Corky is involved in a violent exchange with Kandu 5, the dominant Icelandic captive attempts to rake Corky but instead breaks her jaw rupturing an artery. Kandu 5 bleeds out for a painful and heart-breaking 45 minutes.

1990

G-34 gives birth to a female calf, G-49.

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/

G-2 is now a grandmother.

1991

I-20 gives birth to I-66. The calf does not survive.

1994

G-2 gives birth to G-53

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/

 

G-53 is alive and still at home in the ocean.

1997

I-20 gives birth to a female calf, I-83.

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/

 

I-83 is alive and still living in her ocean home.

2003

I-20 gives birth to a calf, I-101.

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/

I-101 is alive and still living in the ocean.

G-34 gives birth to G-70.

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/

G-70 is still alive and living in the ocean.

2005

G-2 gives birth to a calf, G-77.

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/

G-77 is still alive and living in the ocean.

G-49 gives birth to a calf, G-71.

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/

G-71 is still alive and living in the ocean. G-2 is now a great-grandmother.

2006

I-21 gives birth to a calf, I-119.

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/

I-20 is now a grandmother.

2008

I-83 gives birth to a calf, I-126.

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/

I-20 is a grandmother for the 2nd time.

Corky, meanwhile swims round and round her tank, a pointless journey with no destination. She isn’t travelling to feeding grounds or meeting other family members such as her little brother A-60 who she has never seen. She just swims round and round akin to an over-sized goldfish in an under-sized bowl or she performs banal tricks for the paying public.

She cannot echo-locate properly and there is no one else left alive in captivity from the Pender Harbour captures almost 50 years ago for her to communicate with. She has no off-spring. She is alone, even with the other orca in her tank, there is no familial connection apart from the tenuous genetic link she might have with Orky’s calf Orkid.

She is unaware that her mother A-23 died in 2000, yet as a wild orca she would have been with her mother for her entire life and would have seen her die and been able to mourn her passing. The life skills her mother and the other pod members would have passed down to her would have been invaluable to her as wild orca. But that was not to be.

In a devastating experiment, Corky was played a recording of her pod from the wild. The results from that are summed up best by British journalist John McCarthy who was held hostage for more than 5 years in Lebanon.

“When the whales at SeaWorld were played a sound recording of a group of whales made at sea, they all stopped moving in their tanks. Then one of them, Corky, began shaking violently. The tape was playing sounds of her family. I have no idea if this creature shares any feelings that we know as humans, but her reaction reminded me of the times I heard messages from my own family when I was a hostage in Lebanon. I would feel great relief at knowing they were well, but also much sorrow and a sharpened longing to be reunited with them. What is clear is that Corky could recognize her family’s sounds after years of separation…Knowing only this much I believe it is pointless and cruel to keep these animals apart for commercial reasons – to exploit them for commercial entertainment.”-John McCarthy.”

Corky is, by all accounts, a calm and gentle orca. She knows the ropes and is, apparently, the orca most often used to build the confidence of rookie trainers at SeaWorld.  The trainers clearly have a huge amount of affection for the orca they are charged to care for, but we cannot replicate their natural environment and we don’t even feed them their natural food. No orca would eat dead fish day and day out, no matter how high the quality.

Corky stopped ovulating just after she arrived at SeaWorld and the trauma of her 7th known pregnancy ending in yet another death. Thankfully, she has never been subjected to SeaWorld’s  AI breeding programme which may have simply ended in yet more lost calves.

She has suffered enough.

A-16 at SeaWorld San Diego

G-2 living the life that A-16 was never allowed to live.

 

3 orca

19 known pregnancies

11 deaths SEVEN of which are Corky’s calves.

***Many thanks to “Miss Mary” for her boundless knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, the Northern Resident Killer Whales. Any and all errors regarding the NRKW’s life events are mine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From an “extreme” viewpoint.

Wolfgang Kiessling, President of Loro Parque has felt the need to defend his company by writing an open letter to “the defenders of nature”.

http://blog.loroparque.com/en/

stolendophins would like to reply.

Wrong from the opening line.

To start with, it has been a LOT longer than “recent months” that we have all been campaigning for better treatment for Morgan. It started way back on day 1 ~ which was June 2010. Not “recent months” by anyone’s standards.

On top of that, Morgan’s story was picked up by an established British newspaper the “Daily Mirror”, the 3rd best-selling tabloid in the UK, and the “Sunday People” a sister paper to the “Daily Mirror”. With a combined readership of almost 1.5 million people per day (plus countless online hits) could this really be regarded as a “minority”?  It would be prudent to point out at this stage that the demographics of both Loro Parque and the newspapers previously mentioned share some very similar components. Not to mention that both editions are widely distributed in Tenerife, home to a large ex-pat community and a holiday hot spot for Brits looking for a sunny break. The very people who would visit Loro Parque in the first place…

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/free-morgan-killer-whale-cruelty–3433963

 

It would have been almost impossible for Loro Parque to have not been an improvement on Morgan’s tank at  Dolfinarium Harderwijk:

Picture Credit: Nekane Manjón

“Loro Parque never asked to incorporate Morgan into its group of orcas…” It didn’t say “no” though, did it? It also fails to admit that the orca at Loro Parque don’t actually belong to the park either. They belong to SeaWorld and are in Tenerife under “breeding loan”. So presumably SeaWorld had a say in whether or not Morgan would be “incorporated” or not? They are hardly going to decline, given that they need a new addition to their tiny orca gene pool….The pod at Loro Parque are highly dysfunctional, inbred and 1 of them has killed a man. I wouldn’t want to incorporate a dead herring into that.

 

Isn’t it time we stopped bringing so many lives into the world then? It’s not like we can go anywhere else…
Zoos are NOT embassies. Captive animals are NOT ambassadors. They are, in many cases, grotesque parodies of the real thing. An embassy is:

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com

Official residence? The animals have somewhere else they can go to get away from the public? Nope.

They were sent to Loro Parque (their “official residence”) on a mission from the King of the Orca? Again, nope.

Tellingly, the origin of the word “ambassador” is Latin. It means “a servant”. So LP are admitting, knowingly or not, that their animals are servants…..Hmm.

Ooops.

Why does Mr Kiessling continue with the oh-so tedious slurs against people who don’t agree with every syllable he utters? Is he aware that it only makes him appear childish and petulant?
Actually, probably not, for as this picture clearly shows he’d rather insert his finger into his nostril…I think we have the measure of the man.

Brad Andrews waves. Wolfgang Keissling……doesn’t. (Picture Credit Dr Ingrid Visser.)

Mr Keissling is clearly blissfully unaware of the lives that the “fanatics”save by hauling out miles of abandoned and illegal fishing nets from the ocean every year, or the beach cleaning operations carried out by an army of volunteers all over the world.

If it’s the saving of an entire species he wants, then perhaps he should turn his gaze toward  Hiroshi Hasegawa. 

This remarkable gentleman saved the Short Tailed Albatross from extinction:

http://www.acap.aq/index.php/en/news/news-archive/57-2012-news-archive/1257-a-tribute-to-hiroshi-hasegawa-three-thousand-short-tailed-albatrosses-are-flying-the-north-pacific

But maybe he doesn’t count as none of the Albatross were ever captured for display?

 

It doesn’t matter what organisations you belong to, that isn’t being questioned. The question is “can you satisfactorily replicate the environment of the animal regarding it’s size, range, social needs and natural dietary requirements?”
The answer to that is a resounding “no, you can’t”. So while I applaud any conservation efforts, they are rather negated by the fact that on the one hand you herald your in-situ conservation yet do very little to improve the conditions for the animals that are ex-situ.

If this is true, then why is this planet going to Hell in a handcart?

 

Loro Parque is, first and foremost a commercial venture. The sole purpose is to make money. It donates a miniscule amount of profit to “nature” and gives nothing to its captive orca. Visitors to the park who have reviewed it on Tripadvisor  make almost no mention of how educational they found the orca show nor do they seem to be lining up to get out there and “defend nature”.
www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g187481-d190893-r203094408-Loro_Park-Puerto_de_la_Cruz_Tenerife_Canary_Islands.html#REVIEWS

The aim of Loro Parque, as it is will all captive and commercial ventures, is to get you to return.

If 700 million people were inspired to “defend nature” then they would want to defend it from exploitation and therefore never return to a zoo again.

If 700 million people were inspired to “defend nature” then there would be plenty of people to help stop the slaughter of elephants for their tusks, rhino for their horn, tigers for their skins and bones, sharks for their fins, birds for their plumage, foxes for their pelts…the list is endless.

If Loro Parque cared about anything but money then it would become a charity, committed to improving the lives and well-being of its/SeaWorld’s orca and plough the profits back into the “nature” it claims to “defend”.

 

 

 

The Book What I Wrote Part II

“WHY I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO IS EVER RIGHT”

There are so many ways to raise awareness regarding animal rights and welfare, some people can obviously do more than others but everyone can do something in their own way. Protests. Petitions. Fund raising for charities. Running in marathons. Walking vast and crazy distances. Rejecting meat and animal products from their diet. Holding silent vigil for lost lives. The list is endless as more and more people think of inventive ways to get the message across. Even just by sharing a post on Facebook or a Tweet on Twitter makes a difference. Many people learned about the horrors of places like Taiji and the Solomon Islands through social media and Blackfish owes a debt to the “keyboard activists” who shared and kept the movie’s momentum going in the early days, long before the Blackfish effect took hold.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…..Protests WORK. To dismiss them in favour of past experiences which merely glamorize the captive industry is to slap the faces of everyone who, in their own time and on their own dime, work hard to raise awareness.

Raising awareness and blood pressure

Peaceful, colourful, respectful in Las Vegas

I think you’ll find you’re wrong.

Don’t go there. Just don’t.

While we’re on the subject of protesting, please try to remember that if you make disparaging remarks towards anyone who protests then you are aiming your condescension at all protesters whether they are equal rights, animal welfare, anti-abortion, gay pride or any other movement who feel strongly enough about their cause to want to raise awareness.
Protests work.
Posting pictures of yourself with captive orca and making rude remarks about people who actually want to make a difference doesn’t work.

So Only What You Say Is True? Nah!

Not getting it, are you?

The “end-all answer of sea pens”? Seriously, you are comparing the exhibition pen in Taiji (of all places) where Nami lived for almost 25 years.

Picture Credit: Taiji Whale Museum

With this, a purpose-built sea pen that was never meant to hold Keiko so that he could perform tricks for paying customers.
It’s no wonder that Nami ate rocks.

Keiko’s Seapen

There is no comparison. Keiko was headed for release. Nami never was. She left her sea-cage and died less than a year later in the care of the Port of Nagoya Aquarium where she was housed in the hopes that she would breed. Keiko left his concrete cell and died a wild whale 5 years later of pneumonia, a common enough cause of death for wild orca. Crucially it rarely, if ever, involves the ingestion of stones.
Perhaps that is one of the reasons why Keiko and Nami are only ever compared with each other by the author of this manuscript, who it is alleged is none other than Bridgette Pirtle. As far as I am aware she hasn’t claimed ownership. I don’t blame her.

Again. No.

Admittedly, due to prolonged captivity in concrete cells orca teeth can suffer drastically and need daily attention to prevent potential fatal infection, but this husbandry is performed from the edge of the pool. There would be no need for anyone to enter the water in the first place. This isn’t an opportunity to resume waterworks for the spotlight-hungry, it’s a rehabilitation process designed to return the orca to as near as normal setting as possible.  To prevent the need for a rescue simply install movable guard rails in the spot where husbandry procedures occur and never perform the action alone. How hard is that?
We don’t want the animals thrown back and left to get on with it. We never have. We don’t say that. We want them rehabilitated and returned if it is possible. Given the cruelty involved in keeping orca in captivity in the first place, we are painfully aware that many of them can never be completely free. Some of us also recognise with ever-increasing sadness that there may be some who couldn’t even survive the trauma and stress of moving, never mind rehab. But that should not condemn the rest to a life as a grotesque parody of what a real orca is. A real orca isn’t “Shamu”. It’s Ocean Sun….it’s Blackberry…..it’s Holly….it’s Fife….it’s all the free orca.

Working with an apex predator is dangerous.

You sure?

Hang on….no it isn’t.

Erm…dangerous but not jeopardising. Right.

Oh. That’s awkward.

Really??

 

The truth is that the “truth” keeps changing depending on which side Bridgette (if this is indeed her manuscript) is on. She’s been on both, so quite how she expects to be taken seriously is eyebrow raising to say the least.

“I don’t bully” she says, but libel is OK?

Libel. Right there.

stolendolphins has never bullied anyone. It’s very hard to bully someone when you weren’t even involved in the alleged incident in the first place. Still, don’t let the truth get in the way whatever you do.

Threats and intimidation are OK though…

As for cheating, well…..

Cheating? I rather think it is…

12,523 fake people can’t all be wrong. Still, so long as  nobody “fakes a past” though, eh?….just fakes twitter followers in a desperate attempt to appear genuine. Sounds like someone needs to reassess their understanding of the word “truth”. Perhaps I could recommend an extended break from all forms of social media? Let’s say until after the birth of the baby? Which gives us a lovely break up until August. No, hang on….I mean October….Aw, dang it to heck….let’s just say when the baby graduates from college. That at least will be far more cut and dried….and longer. Much longer.

 

 

Edited to remove the names of people with whom I have no ax to grind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Book What I Wrote. Part I

Well, here’s a turn up for the er, books. Bridgette Pirtle has, after months of speculation, allegedly started writing her tome of truth and wisdom.

You saw it first on Twitter

The erm, manuscript was delivered to me only hours ago, and I gleefully dived into it straight away. It goes with hardly a mention, that I cannot and will not reveal how I came to be in possession of this thing of wonder, and please note that I have it on good authority only that it was indeed penned by our favourite ex-SeaWorld/pro-Blackfish/anti-SeaWorld/anti-Blackfish/pro-SeaWorld lycra-clad vascillator. So, as there is so much nonsense material to cover, I thought it would be best to section it off into parts…… Let’s start with the contradictions and overt snobbery, shall we? I hope you’re sitting comfortably? Do you have a cup of coffee? a biscuit? Good. Let’s go…….

Bucket scrubbing clearly isn’t for the faint-hearted.

So in just 2 seasons 2 whales were dead. Impressive record of care there. Back to the bucket-scrubbing though, it would seem that once the last bucket has been scrubbed an air of divine superiority descends:

Too posh to scrub

Dancing to your own tune is highly commendable, but please try and remember how the tune goes….

Why is there always a God quote?

So working within an industry that, in reality felt “heavy” and “guilty” was “off”, yet it’s perfectly acceptable to appear on TV and where ever else extolling the virtues of this self-same industry. Apparently, even though it’s wrong, it’s still absolutely hunky-dory to take your children to see them? These double standards are giving me double vision.

Double standards will reach double figures at this rate

The, uh, book, then goes on to talk about maintaining the dignity of the orca, because being in a concrete tank and performing banal circus tricks is the height of dignity for such a large and intelligent creature.

Which insight would that be?

The ONLY way these animals would regain their dignity is to take them out of the pools and put them back into the ocean. As for sharing your insight? Sharing pictures of captive orca and sucking up to SeaWorld on heavily-biased TV interviews and websites isn’t insight, it’s self-promotion.

So it’s all John’s fault?

There’s useful “insight” right there. “Over worked animals”, “poor management decisions” and “exhausted trainers” yet the decision to use that information to to actually do some good, was completely over-ridden by the need for self-gratification “I simply wanted to be back with the whales”.  A golden opportunity was lost because of selfish need.

Says it all really.

COMING SOON

The Book What I Wrote Part II
“Why I Am The Only One Who Is Ever Right”

 

 

Time To Name And Shame?

Several weeks ago I posted a blog about children straying into the adult world.

A group of SeaWorld supporters decided that they would try to interfere with an investigation by OSHA into the conduct of one of their employees.

They plotted and planned to “honey trap” the employee into admitting that their conduct was improper while at the same time “flooding” the OSHA email address with hate mail and wild accusations against the employee.

I was passed this information which, after careful removal of ALL identifying names and profile pictures, I inserted into my blog. My reason was plain, interfering with, and harassing those involved in, a federal investigation is a crime. It might not be on the scale of OJ Simpson but harassment is harassment and it’s still a crime.

The “SWoopies” (sorry, but I cannot be bothered writing out SeaWorld supporters every time) took umbrage at the fact that I was passed this information and that I used it.

I was threatened with lawyers and accused of theft:

But it’s acceptable to harass someone?

 

Even “mommy” felt compelled to join in:

 

No.

There is a whole heap more of this semi-literate nonsense (are children actually taught grammar and spelling these days?) which frankly is too tiresome to even bother with, but you get the gist?

Anyway, I decided that this “kid” needed to move on with his life and wrote him an open letter, in the hope that he’d go back to being a good little boy and stop harassing people. I would like to point out again (for the hard of thinking) that harassment is a crime.

With spectacular ignorance and a complete and utter disregard for life and limb, “kid” continued on with his bizarre harassment. Even going so far as messaging people who merely shared the original blog, in his obsessive quest for what ever it is he is seeking.

 

I presume it is “the truth”, well the truth is that he tried to pervert the course of a OSHA investigation through incitement and harassment. The fact that I picked up on it and refuse (thus far) to reveal my identity is what he is “seeking”. He wants to know who I am so that he can deluge my personal email and Facebook message box with his hatred and bile. On what page does it say that I wish for this to happen?

At no point have I revealed his identity, or that of his fellow “SWoopies”, but he will quite happily reveal and vilify mine?

I have entered into no communication with the child, despite copious messages and threats from him, both in my WordPress comments box and around the internet community.

However, things have taken a further twist. Don’t say it, I already know. He needs a life, right? Well, he’s now targeting a complete stranger who is in no way connected to me or this blog.

There are no other words to describe this other than bullying and harassment.
In this instance I have completely failed to remove his identity, I have the permission of his victim to use this image which is in the public domain via Tumblr in any case.

Highly obnoxious

 

Threats and abuse? This is the work of a child who, back in the day, would have got a severe spanking!

So what if she goes to SeaWorld? If that makes her a “shithead” (what ever the hell that means) then what little ones does that make YOU? What business is it of yours in any case? I know many anti-captivity supporters who regularly visit SeaWorld, but they don’t go there to lord it over captive dolphins and pretend that there is some mythical connection between the captive and themselves. They go to put their own minds at rest over the health and welfare of these astonishing animals, they go to check out new developments regarding trainer activity and to report back to those who can’t or won’t go themselves. Remind me, who released the first pictures of Nakai’s horrific injury? The first time I saw it was via an anti-captivity Facebook page, not SeaWorld’s page.

Wow. such hatred.

Tell me in what universe is it acceptable to use someone’s disability against them?
I know a lot about autism and I can promise you this, it is NOT the kind of disability that can switched on and off at will. It is incredibly debilitating and a life-long disability for which there is only management and no cure.

NO autistic person would use their disability for “favours”. To suggest otherwise smacks of hatred and (bizarrely) jealousy. The condescending attitude reeks of the schoolyard bully, which of course he is.

So, take this as your first and final warning. Unless you publicly apologise to this poor girl who for some reason has attracted your unwanted and unasked for attention I will make sure that everyone knows who and what you really are. Bullying and abuse are completely unacceptable and when it is directed at an innocent and disabled person, well…..even pond life will look down on you.

Doubtless you will, once again, hide behind you age but let me remind you that being 16 (as you claim to be) does not prevent you from breaking laws. You do NOT have carte blanche to do what you want because you are a “kid”.

Remember, this is your first and final warning to cease and desist your hate campaign against both myself and now this poor girl who has committed the “crime” of going against something you claim to “love”.