And good morning to you all! I’m currently working on the step by step guide to dolphin activism by Ric O’Barry. It is actually a very big piece to translate into French. Here’s link for the English readers.

Take some time alone to read it, because Richard O’Barry was quite precise on his guide! But, if like me, your life changed the day you found out about the truth concerning dolphins and orcas in seaquariums, I am sure you will take the time to read everything. My advice to you, just start reading the beginning, and before you know it, you will have read the whole thing. 🙂

I also want to share this with you: I watched this morning the extended version of Keto’s endoscopy online and I was really shocked about what I saw. 

“When the park opened (1972), for many months the orcas would find spots in the paint (and still do, as shown with Morgan ) and chew the paint off out of either boredom or hunger. The paint problem started off because the park owner directed them to fill the pools and add the orcas sooner than they were supposed to, so it didn’t set right.

The trainers feared the animals were ingesting this paint, so they had to get endoscopes shoved down their throats to check and see if any paint was in his digestive tract.
If you watch the full 3 minute video (not the short clip) you can hear Keto screaming and growling in aggression/pain at his trainers, then thrashing about in an attempt to get this bit off of him. I can only imagine how scared/uncomfortable/stressed/angry he was about this, and he had every right to be.

To put an orca in such an uncomfortable and painful position such as this is total cruelty. It had to be done because of the effects of captivity.” (Source, Freedom For Whales Tumblr)

I consider this as animal abuse.
1^st fact: The staff knew about those stains and yet didn’t do anything to change that.
2^nd fact: They knew orcas were bored as hell and would chew the concrete.
3^rd fact: The owner knew perfectly well what it meant to fill a tank in which the paint was not entirely dry yet.

What do those facts tell you? They tell you that the trainers and the owner knew from the beginning, that there was a risk orcas would swallow paint. But instead of preventing such an event, they just went on with it and performed an endoscopy, which revealed to be traumatic and painful for the animals. Would you qualify this attitude as a loving and caring attitude towards the animal? I doubt it.

Trainers only pretend to care the animal (or are made to believe that they care). If they really did love it, they would not allow captivity and exploitation. Period.