Comments by "" (@samrichie1157) on "KPBS Public Media" channel.

  1. ^^ No surprise I didn't get a response...
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  2. Adan Vivero Firstly there is no need to call people names. Try an act like an adult, as this is an adult discussion. Bianca made a fair point. In my experience most SW supporters have limited amount of knowledge on this subject because they only use SW are their only source of information and refuse to look beyond them. When you confront these people with questions or dispute what they say I find they just resort to  either name calling or ignoring the question.
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  3. Jonathan Stephens The only reason I brought up that research paper (on how to capture Icelandic orcas) was simply to correct the person that said it was 35 yrs ago since SeaWorld were involved in orca captures. Nothing else. It does nothing to hurt the anti orca captivity cause by pointing out errors from pro-cap supporters.. I'm guessing my 'free willy' comment is regarding the attempted import of bulga whales captured from the wild? There are a few things to bring up here. Firstly, NOAA (the experts) opposed the import - I'll leave you to research why this was. Secondly, how do you know it wasn't Georgia Aquarium that was involved in the original captures? Seems strange these beluga's have been in a facility in Russia for a few years which any other aquariums around the world buying them, so it's not far fetched to suggest Georgia Aquarium have already paid for them. Thirdly, it sets a bad precedent for US mainre parks to get involved in cetacean captivity, particulary when they have no intention of releasing them. Fourthly, the tactics of the captive display industry has been immoral - paying homeless people to attend the hearings simply to block seats so experts against the import cannot give evidence just shows you the type of people working for these marine parks. And lastly, if these marine parks truly cared about the conservation and respect for these animals, they would make every effort to get these belugas released back into the wild and reunited with their families. 'Free Willy' may seem absurd to you, but if it was down to people like you then these dolphins would still be languishing in some sterile concrete tank somewhere - http://dolphinproject.org/blog/post/all-korean-dolphins-back-with-their-families
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  4. Megan Loves Animals Where is the educational value in watching these aquatic circus shows at SeaWorld? Even SeaWorld's former research director has admitted the education argument is BS (I can provide a link to his interview if you wish).  There is no reason why SeaWorld and other marine parks can't educate, entertain and inspire the public and still continue their conservation arm (the Busch Gardens Conservation Fund) without having to keep orcas in captivity. 
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  5. 13wolfy13 " the buffalo and eagle populations returned after people bred them in captivity. If you would like I can link sources for my argument."  - Please do, I'd like to read about this! "half the Orca conservation now, is from learning from captive Orcas."       - I disagree with this. Most of what we learn about orcas comes from research in the wild now. You cannot conserve a population if you don't study them in the wild. By far the most research done on captive orcas is centered around husbandry care, not say that is a bad thing necessarily, but it does little to nothing to help orcas in the wild. "It's just not smart to approach any wild animal, especially if it's bigger than you. Perhaps when people have learned what they can, Orcas can be safely rehabilitated and released."     -  There are orcas that have been rescued and haven't relied on marine parks to help - Dr Ingrid Visser has spent years studying and rescuing NZ orca (even swimming with orcas as part of her research). Yes there have been occasions when orcas have needed rehabilitation (actually can only think of Springer and Keiko, if you exclude Morgan) but this doesn't mean orcas should continue to be bred in captivity. Biologists have enough knowledge on how to rehabilitate  orcas for release. It is cruel to continue to bred orcas in captivity when it is known this environment is not suitable for them. And if we only studied orcas in the wild we would know nothing about their real lifespans, diets, hunting habits, ecotypes, migratory movements, social structures etc. "Another point I'd like to make is, uncomfortable animals in captivity won't breed"      -   Young females are forced to mate when not even ready by being forced to live in tanks with older sexually mature males. One could argue both Gudrun and her daughter both died from over-breeding.        - Some orcas are born through artificial insemination, so some orcas clearly aren't breeding.       -  The social structure of captive orcas is so messed up that many females give birth when too young and have no proper support, hence why 10% of births in captivity end up being rejected calves. SeaWorld separated a young female from her own mother and sent her to Loro Parque to breed with her uncle - the result was another 2 rejected calves, with one dying.       -  And because they live so abnormally, there's the captive orca that end up breeding with his own mother! 
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  6. 13wolfy13 Thanks for the links, I'll have a read later. I applaud the good work SeaWorld does for other marine life, but this has nothing to do with the subject of orca captivity. I do not want to see SeaWorld go out of business, I want them to evolve and phase out orca captivity (in fact all cetacean captivity). This can happen without affecting their rescue operations (which are mostly funded by government grants and charitable and guest donations anyway).  This is a good article by journalist Tim Zimmerman about Loro Parque, where its orcas are on loan from SeaWorld: http://www.outsideonline.com/1886916/blood-water The young female that I was referring to that mated with her uncle (Keto) and gave birth to 2 rejected calves is Kohana.  It was Loro Parque's deputy director Dr Javier Almunia that informed me in an email that 10% of captive births result in a rejected calf. If there is any specific information you're after let me know.
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  7. ***** Then I guess my comment was aimed at Christian Bontempo !! :)
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  8. masterwellesley What do you mean 'Blackfish is outdated'?
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  9. masterwellesley You seem to be going off on a tangent. I don't think all captive orcas can be released, most can't. But a captive born orca is still an orca and it's unethical to keep them in such sterile artificial tiny environment. But as you say most can't be released, which is why the captive breeding programs should stop and captivity phased out over time. And I like how you posted all those links,which consisted mostly of SeaWorld fan blogs...as your friend Jonathan Stephens doesn''t consider blogs as a relevant source of research. And I've actually posted on the Anti-Blackfish Facebook page a few times as I like to discuss this topic with people 'on the other side of the fence', but disappointly (and unsurprisingly) no one seems to reply to me! In fact I've had more than one post deleted even though it was in no way rude or trolling.
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  10. masterwellesley Exactly how is keeping orcas in tanks doing much if anything to conserve wild populations? And how many orca populations are classified as endangered? Can you tell me? Shark finning is a different issue; although its another form of abuse to marine life for corporate profit, it has nothing to do with orca captivity. Like the ivory trade, shark finning has more to do with 'status' in China and ignorant traditions (which in some ways has a parrallel to how some people still ignorantly want to see intelligent large free ranging marine mammals confined to concrete tanks). And PETA is irrelevant to this discussion, so I have no idea why you even mention it.
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  11. Jonathan Stephens So just to clarify, you do think the living environment for captive orcas is unsuitable? But you feel it is neccessary in case they one day become extinct in the wild?  Just wanted to make sure I interpreted your reply correctly.
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  12. Scorpius155  "Those animals were born in captivity and that's all they know"  - this is not an excuse and it doesn't mean it's all the want. Their high intelligence and abilities was not meant to be wasted in a swimming pool. 
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  13. Cera Maria The information you have given me has come from experts?! So which experts might they be? And please feel free to pick any opinions I have and I will provide sources for this information.
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