SeaWorld : leader in marine parks worldwide. The group has 3 sites in the United-States and possesses orcas in other marine parks of the world, including Loro Parque, Spain. There is a park in Orlando, Florida; one in San Antonio, Texas; and one in San Diego, California. The first park was the one of San Diego, which opened on the 21st of March 1964. One of their first orca whales was the female Shamu. She was the very first orca…
Three deaths among the Southern resident population It all started when J-35, a member of the Southern Resident population, lost her baby short after the birth, on July 24th, near Victoria (BC). As a sign of mourning, she carries the body of her baby. Although this type of behaviour has been observed before, it has never lasted that long: J-35 carried the body longer than 17 days.Undeniable proof that animals are capable of love. There hasn’t been a succesful birth…
Captivity has been on the news a lot lately. Anti-SeaWorld protests, death of baby dolphins, new act against captivity, etc. Maybe you haven’t given that issue a lot of thoughts: for or against? There was a time when I didn’t give that matter a lot of thoughts either. A time I would apply for a job working with dolphins in a tank, a time I would secretly dream of becoming the head manager of the orca tank at Marineland. Then,…
We can safly say that these past three months have had their share of intense news. First of all, on the 4th of January, we had to admit to ourselves that the orca Granny, had past away. The oldest matriarchal female, also known as J2, had not been seen since October 2016. Scientists had to admit the sad truth. She was about 105 years old. Something to argue with procaps: yes, orcas can live as long as we do. No,…
Breaking news: The orca Tilikum died on the 6th of January 2017. Causes of death have not been communicated yet (though we’ve been used to fact of never knowing them!) Tilikum (“friend” in Chinook) was the main protagonist of the award-winning documentary in 2013, Blackfish. The documentary exposed the truth behind the death of the dresser Dawn Brancheau, killed by Tilikum. “Tilly” was captured at only two years old in Iceland in 1983. We can go ahead and say he…