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karen roseme
Mountain climber
san diego
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Topic Author's Reply - May 4, 2014 - 09:22am PT
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Mount Carmel High School recently announced their prom is located at SeaWorld and Meadowbrook Middle School's ASES program had a field trip over spring break.
I find both of these choices incredibly irresponsible on the part of our so-called progressive district. Not only is it promoting animal abuse and cruelty, instead of the ever-important values of conservation and environmentalism, but it also surrounds students in the middle of a controversy. Never should students feel the need of removing themselves from an activity or feel guilt when participating.
Multiple friends of mine at Mount Carmel have messaged me, expressing their disgust at the decision. One of them says he will still go to prom, though he feels horrible about it.
I talked to the ASB Supervisor at my school after rumors of our school's prom being at SeaWorld, and she stated that prom should never be held somewhere where students are wedged in the middle of a controversy. Had I heard about a similar location other than SeaWorld, I would also be taking action.
The documentary Blackfish has sparked a fire already burning, igniting a battle that has been waged for the past 40 years. Though SeaWorld is helpful to our economy and engages in rescue and release efforts, they fail to speak out against the annual dolphin slaughter in Taiji (though they no longer take dolphins), continue to pollute Mission Bay, have violated animal welfare laws on multiple occasions, force employees to work in unsafe conditions, and subject cetaceans to immense stress and shortened life spans in captivity.
According to the NOAA, killer whales are held in tanks one ten-thousandth the 45.3 billion gallons of water, or 80 miles, they traverse a day in the wild. Orcas live far shorter in captivity than they do in the wild, rarely living over the age of 15. They are trapped in a small, confined environment facing extreme stress.
To counter this, they are given Tagamet and other medications with their daily diet. Yet SeaWorld claims their whales are healthy and happy.
It is no wonder these magnificent creatures, who have only attacked a human in one instance in the wild, have attacked their trainers in over 110 instances. They are psychologically distressed.
Orkid, one of the captive-born orcas at SeaWorld San Diego, has attacked trainers on multiple occasions. According to The Vindicator, she had to watch her mother, Kandu V, die when she was less than a year old. Kandu attempted to rake Corky II and fractured her jaw and severed several arteries. For weeks after her mother's death, Orkid circled around the pool, calling out and vocalizing in distress. Yet in shows after the incident the crowd clapped and cheered as she performed without her mother, as if her death was completely forgotten. But Orkid, one of the smartest cetaceans currently held in captivity (in terms of learning trained behaviors), still remembers.
52 of SeaWorld’s orcas have died, not a single one due to natural causes. When another orca is born, they are given the stage name Shamu, covering up the death of their predecessors. As a SeaWorld trainer put it when Kandu died, “The best thing we can think of to do is to get back into some sort of normal routine.”
SeaWorld's breeding program is absolutely despicable. Kalia is only 9 years old and is halfway into a pregnancy. In the wild, orcas do not breed until an average age of 14-15. What SeaWorld is doing to female orcas is the equivalent of impregnating a pre-teen child. It's sick.
In captivity, orcas rarely, if ever, get to choose their mates. Males are masturbated for their sperm and females are artificially inseminated. That, to me, is one of the most cruel aspects of the breeding program. It's a forced rape. Although cetaceans are polygamous and humans are monogamous, what if a human was unable to choose who he/she loved? Killer whales, and all cetaceans for that matter, have no control over their social bonds in captivity. That is why it is common to see unnatural behaviors of aggression.
Instead of this abuse, SeaWorld could display IMAXs, have trips to the tide pools, have their own whale watching boat for visitors, and still keep their rides and benefit the city from their sales and minimum rent of $10 million each year. They could become a true leader in rescue and rehabilitation, and finally speak out against the slaughter in Taiji, instead of remaining silent.
I do not wish for SeaWorld to be closed down, but for them to change their business model in accordance with the bill, AB 2140, which would end the use of orcas for entertainment, SeaWorld’s breeding program, and release all orcas into sea pens or the wild if possible. All cetaceans should be included.
SeaWorld strongly asserts education, but in their responses to Blackfish they have misled their audience, if not flat-out lying.
They claim that keeping cetaceans in captivity has scientific value and will help benefit the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whale population in Puget Sound. They claim scientists have no understanding of why they have declined. Ironically, SeaWorld's captures back in the 70s and 80s tore apart the k-specialist (slow-breeding) population.
Furthermore, there are more adequate ways to provide the ever-important education on conservation and the importance of the oceans. Classes could attend a beach clean-up one day or go whale watching. The Hornblower sees whales almost every day during migrating season and dolphins can be seen on the coast every morning.
If SeaWorld released their captive cetaceans to sea pens - where they could have a more natural environment while still being cared for - and implicated the other changes discussed, field trips to these sea pens would provide a more natural and educational setting.
Until SeaWorld makes these changes, I ask that the district remove all ties with SeaWorld, whether it be field trips, prom, or any other activity. Regardless of our differing opinions on the welfare of the animals held captive in SeaWorld, students should not be forced to take sides in a controversy. There are better, more educational alternatives.
Sincerely,
Zach Affolter
Grade 11
Westview High School
https://www.change.org/petitions/poway-unified-school-district-remove-all-ties-with-seaworld
Very well said Zack!
Please sign his petition!
https://www.change.org/petitions/poway-unified-school-district-remove-all-ties-with-seaworld
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karen roseme
Mountain climber
san diego
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Topic Author's Reply - May 6, 2014 - 08:19pm PT
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Zach, the 11th grader who wrote that petition got interviewed on channel 10
Interview went good...was so nervous at first but I think it went good Talked about how SeaWorld could become a more effective leader in rescue and release and how students shouldn't be surrounded in controversy and stuff about my petition Was able to squeeze in stuff about Taiji and how SeaWorld has said nothing about it.
It will be on channel 10 at 5pm in San Diego...will be recording it though
Have an interview with Al Jazeera about Taiji and whaling in Japan at 7pm tomorrow...whoever tipped the media off about me (ABC said someone did) I thank you deeply
I will post the link when it airs.
great job Zach!
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karen roseme
Mountain climber
san diego
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Topic Author's Reply - May 7, 2014 - 09:57am PT
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EMPOWERED BY Spread the Word: Protect Endangered Whales From Seismic Blasts
Seismic air guns used to scour for oil and gas underneath the ocean's floor are so loud they could injure, deafen or kill 138,500 dolphins and whales residing along the Atlantic Coast. This includes endangered North Atlantic right whales whose numbers have dwindled to 450.
Thanks to you, a campaign to cancel plans for seismic testing is gaining momentum. Now we need your help to get the word out.
https://col127.mail.live.com/ol/Mail.mvc?n=1877846776#tid=cmF9tX1YfU4xGLPtidZ1x5_A2&fid=flinbox
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karen roseme
Mountain climber
san diego
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Topic Author's Reply - May 13, 2014 - 10:17am PT
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Nice one Jim!
Go Granny Go!
Despite being a 103-year-old great-grandma, the orca named J2 -- or, more affectionately, Granny -- is in great shape. In little over a week, Granny and her pod have traveled 800 miles.
This weekend, Granny was spied swimming off the coast of Canada, after a trek up from northern California. The centenarian cetacean can be identified by a white marking on her back and a notch in her fin.
Michael Harris, the director of Pacific Whale Watch Association, tells Canadian newspaper The Province that her life span is an estimate based on her children’s ages. Whale experts have also confirmed Granny in photos dating back to the 30s.
https://www.thedodo.com/worlds-oldest-orca-shes-103-sp-547183194.html?utm_source=CoveFB
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nature
climber
Boulder, CO
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May 13, 2014 - 11:32am PT
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yeah... a Granny sighting. very cool...
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skcreidc
Social climber
SD, CA
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May 13, 2014 - 11:53am PT
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Granny sighting is right! Pretty cool that they have photos of her from the 30's and 40's.
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karen roseme
Mountain climber
san diego
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Topic Author's Reply - May 13, 2014 - 07:30pm PT
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Save Angel
from a lifetime of hell
Angel, a rare albino dolphin calf, confined in a small tank, battered and traumatised from her capture.
Sign the petition to help free her.
 See more at: http://www.action4angel.org/petition/?utm_source=oisd#sthash.1CVhug8I.dpuf
Angel is a beautiful albino dolphin calf who once swam freely alongside her mother in the Pacific Ocean off Japan. But earlier this year, Angel was captured by dolphin hunters.
As she was dragged away in a net, she saw her mother and family being herded into a shallow cove, to be slaughtered in an unspeakably cruel way.
Tell local authorities to release Angel - and end the inhumane practice of dolphin hunting in Taiji for good.
Angel was taken to a local aquarium, the Taiji Whale Museum, where she is now a "freak" exhibit. She's confined in a tiny indoor tank. Eyewitnesses say she floats lifelessly, or swims in small distressed circles with her eyes often closed. With her mother dead, Angel has no one to help her except us.
See more at: http://www.action4angel.org/petition/?utm_source=oisd#sthash.1CVhug8I.dpuf
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karen roseme
Mountain climber
san diego
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Topic Author's Reply - May 19, 2014 - 10:17am PT
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http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/05/16/seaworld-debate-planned-san-diego?cmpid=tpanimals-eml-2014-05-17-seaworld
SeaWorld to Its Critics: ‘OK, Let’s Talk’
An unusual public forum will match a company representative with orca and dolphin captivity critics.
SeaWorld is finally putting its mouth where its money is.
On June 5 at La Jolla’s Museum of Contemporary Art, a representative from SeaWorld will take on two prominent critics of the park to “talk through the issue” of keeping killer whales in captivity, according to Voice of San Diego, organizer of the unprecedented event.
“As far as we’ve seen, this will be the first time SeaWorld answers questions and offers its perspective directly to the public,” says VOSD’s website. In the past few years, SeaWorld has dispatched staff members to participate in panel discussions on captivity at a few marine mammal conferences, and company representatives have testified before Congress and a recent California Assembly Committee considering a bill to ban orca display in the state.
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nature
climber
Boulder, CO
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May 19, 2014 - 02:33pm PT
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karen roseme
Mountain climber
san diego
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Topic Author's Reply - May 20, 2014 - 10:12am PT
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This is a great event! 1000 people are going in San Diego.
Hope to see you this Saturday!
Saturday, May 24at 10:00am - 1:00pm
4 days from now · 69°F / 60°F Clear
Sea World, San Diego (CA)
500 Sea World Drive, San Diego, California 92109
https://www.facebook.com/events/373224429477448/?ref_notif_type=like&source=1
This is a day for everyone around the world to stand up against marine mammal captivity. The abuse and exploitation of these sentient beings has no place in the 21st century.
Approximately 17 dolphin family members are killed for every one dolphin selected to sell for very large sums to $ea World, Marineland and all the other Marine Amusement Parks that hold cetaceans captive for our entertainment.
If there is no demand, there will be no Slaughter!
For the Dolphin Slaughter to end, people actually have to do Nothing! They just have to NOT buy a ticket!
Dolphins & Whales
• There are currently 42 orcas being held captive worldwide.
• At least 136 wild orcas have been taken into captivity from the wild since 1961.
• 123 of these (or 90.4%) orcas are now dead.
• Orcas & Dolphins are self aware and have language.
• Dolphin calves call their mothers ‘by name’. Dolphin friends call each other by name.
• Dolphins are altruistic. They will not leave a family member in distress and have often rescued humans and other predator species
• Scientists say that due to their high intelligence and complex social structure, dolphins should be designated as non-human persons with rights
• In the wild, Orcas live as long or longer than humans
In captivity, their lives are cut to less than half that.
• Dolphins live 25-50 years in the wild, but only average 5 yrs. in captivity
• Dolphin sons never leave their mother’s side their entire lives
• Orca offspring never leave their mothers side their entire lives.
• Food is withheld from Orcas & Dolphins to ensure they perform
• Many are on medications their whole lives
• Orcas & Dolphins are forced to inbreed. Mothers often reject captive born babies bred from close relatives.
• Wild Orcas swim up to 100 miles/day
• Wild dolphins swim up to 40 miles/day
It would take 5,000 endless circles per day to swim that far in a tank.
Captive dolphins who would swim 40 miles per day in the wild, hunting fresh fish are confined to a tiny chlorinated pool & fed dead fish, destined to entertain or ‘swim with’ humans to survive, never seeing their pod again.
Dolphin Sonar, a useful tool in the wild, disorients them as it bounces off the concrete pool walls. It’s like living in a hall of mirrors. They become neurotic and depressed and aggressively frustrated.
3 trainers have been killed by Orcas so far and numerous attacks have been recorded.
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karen roseme
Mountain climber
san diego
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Topic Author's Reply - May 20, 2014 - 11:49am PT
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BTW...
Big thanks to everyone who came out to the Poway Unified School District Board Meeting to show support for PUSD to bar all future field trips to SeaWorld. Our speakers did an amazing job, and thanks to those who just showed support.
Big things have small beginnings.
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SicMic
climber
across the street from Marshall
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May 20, 2014 - 12:51pm PT
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If you can't get your point across in 500+ posts, perhaps your point is moot.
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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May 20, 2014 - 01:46pm PT
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Anything worth saying once is worth repeating 500 times sicmic.
Captive manatee 500 times bump....count it off.
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SicMic
climber
across the street from Marshall
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May 20, 2014 - 03:38pm PT
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I hear ya Couch. I'm just saying that anything over 100X will lose its impact. Not that the cause is unworthy, just easier to ignore if over played.
Don't go to SeaWorld. Check. See how easy.
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karen roseme
Mountain climber
san diego
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Topic Author's Reply - May 21, 2014 - 12:12pm PT
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Love the Manatee bump Couch.
New developments are happening all the time SicMic.
I think it is a cause worth my time and effort.
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skcreidc
Social climber
SD, CA
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May 21, 2014 - 12:15pm PT
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^^^^ There's the truth right there.
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cuvvy
Sport climber
arkansas
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May 21, 2014 - 04:10pm PT
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If I could make it on May 24th I would go....and buy a ticket. To get a look at what is happening
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