Activists trying to free Lolita the killer whale

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Hi lock_washer,

You state: "The Baija 'The Chinese river dolphin' just went extinct."

Do you perhaps actually mean the "baiji."

Also, "just" may not be the most precise term -- one hasn't been found in over 2 years.

Regards,

DocVikingo
 
I stand corrected DocVikingo.

I did mean the baiji...I mispelled it. I have also heard it referred to as the "white flag dolphin" You are right when they haven't found one in two years. Supposely there was another siting recently, but haven't heard anything more about it. I know that Chinese are trying to take the finless porpoise in captivity to save it.

Lock Washer
 
I agree with Lock......I understand the reasons for returning the orca, but I dont see why put so many $$$$ Resources into one animal that is OK. Why not put that dollr into saving animals that are going extinct? or the brutal deaths of millions of underwater animals. I think that the 20 million that was spent on Keiko, could have been better spent saving MANY animals than an attempt to put one with its family.

I have no issues with connecting an orca to its original POD, but where are the priorities? I would rather watch 500 dolphins be saved from death than 1 orca go to its family, an orca that is doing great in captivity......To me its a numbers game

Im not nearly as educated on this as some of you others and I applaud all efforts towards ocean life, but I just dont understand why we the focus cant be towards things that are going extinct or need more help....
 
The Star Fish

Based on the story by Loren Eisley...

I awoke early, as I often did, just before sunrise to walk by the ocean's edge and greet the new day. As I moved through the misty dawn, I focused on a faint, far away motion. I saw a youth, bending and reaching and flailing arms, dancing on the beach, no doubt in celebration of the perfect day soon to begin.

As I approached, I sadly realized that the youth was not dancing to the bay, but rather bending to sift through the debris left by the night's tide, stopping now and then to pick up a starfish and then standing, to heave it back into the sea. I asked the youth the purpose of the effort. "The tide has washed the starfish onto the beach and they cannot return to the sea by themselves," the youth replied. "When the sun rises, they will die, unless I throw them back to the sea."

As the youth explained, I surveyed the vast expanse of beach, strectching in both directions beyond my sight. Starfish littered the shore in numbers beyond calculation. The hopelessness of the youth's plan became clear to me and I countered, "But there are more starfish on this beach than you can ever save before the sun is up. Surely you cannot expect to make a difference."

The youth paused briefly to consider my words, bent to pick up a starfish and threw it as far as possible. Turning to me he simply said, "I made a difference to that one."

I left the boy and went home, deep in thought of what the boy had said. I returned to the beach and spent the rest of the day helping the boy throw starfish in to the sea.
 
I think we all face the sad hypocrisy in the conservation movements: who deserves more care, who deserves more money, what do we focus on, who will give us money, and how do we pull the heartstrings to get funding. At this point, every species in the ocean from the smallest plankton to the largest mammal are in danger of complete eradication. The absolute slaughter and destruction of apex predators is already having effects in many parts of the world, but that isn't really a good lead story in the press world. In my opinion, I think that we need to focus on those fish/mammals/turtles not yet caught and how do we keep them from becoming bycatch or destroyed for nothing more than their fins, livers, shells, etc. Supporting organizations that are lobbying countries to improve their fishing practices, helping fund research so that these organizations can prove through scientific fact what's going on, refusing to buy seafood from your local stores, especially from companies that are known for non eco-friendly practices is just a beginning on how we can start. The good thing about this country is that we have a choice. If you do not like how an organization spent the money then support an organization that is focused on the cause you are most passionate about. Regardless, at least someone had the passion to get something done, and at least the world knows that there are many more creatures out their that need saved. They may not always have good outcomes but at least they tried. I, myself, focus my energy into my long time passion of sharks. I have started taking my dive vacations with research organizations and assist them in collecting data vs. just looking at the pretty fish. I finacially support the groups that I feel for me, do the most with my dollar spent.

So, all in all, bad mouthing one group vs. another is nothing more than counterproductive dribble. Let's learn and improve from past errors and work together towards the greater good!

I just want to say, God bless all those that fight the good fight! Thank you for all your hard work!

Happy diving with my beautiful sharks!
Carolyn:sharks:
 
I read your objections to retiring Lolita and there's a lot of history there, and in some cases an aversion to facilitating transfer to a marine park, but I can't see the connection with Lolita. Unless the theory is that this campaign is all about bashing marine parks. It's not. There is a whale in Miami that belongs with her family out here, or at least to have the chance to immerse in the waters she was born and raised in, with human care and attention indefinitely if necessary. Nobody can say for sure what might happen when that first contact is made. We can assume some vocalizing and some tentative approaches. If the go-ahead is given and she is allowed to go out to meet them, there might be some time of transition and trust-building, and there might even be some aggressive moves in the worst case, although hostile contact is unknown among Lolita's family.

Through it all there should be people observing from a distance, and the feed and care station stays open 24/7. It may take a week, or a month or a year. Lolita could get to California and back in a week or two after she regains her metabolic and cardiovascular strength, so if she's missing for a few days that's not a huge problem.

She will teach us, and the world will be watching, and they will see whatever happens, and I am pretty sure that any of the potential possibilities will be a revelation for most people. She will teach us about her abilities and about the social bonds that hold her family together, however events unfold.

Your rendition of Luna's story is accurate as to facts, but you see a completely different way that his death could have been prevented. You seem to feel that if all the players had allowed these whales to have gone to a marine park they would have done much better. Well, they probably would have lived a while longer, but captivity kills orcas before their time, and when you can appreciate the awareness and consciousness of the species you can see that the captive environment is extremely stressful.

A better answer to Luna's tragedies, and to Keiko's, would have been to give them all the companionship they wanted, without the standard fear that they would become habituated and imprint on humans like baby geese and become unable to ever rejoin their natural families. In the absence of their families, human companionship is the next best thing, and to deprive them of that in the theory that it will somehow spoil them, which happened with both Keiko and Luna, just puts them into high stress and leads them to do dangerous things. The conventional wisdom that handlers needed to turn their backs on the whales is widespread, so I'm not going after the industry or anyone in particular here, just the acceptance of that antiquated bit of folk wisdom parading as science. When we're talking about orcas especially, we need to rethink what we think we know.

One more point. you can release orcas even after long-term captivity. That's another obsolete assumption that doesn't consider an orca's 12-18 pound brain, their extreme memory retention, and the relationships all that intelligence is dedicated to building. The message signed "Dr. Lanny Cornell" is exactly right.

That's the kind of thing Lolita can teach us.
 
The instinct for survival of the whales is 100 times stronger than men,
Lolita will survive simply because the ocean is her environment If a man after being in jail 36 years is freed and can be adapted to back society, whales more easily can be adapted simply by its high survival instincts.


Dr.Mukhametov

Russia
 
The instinct for survival of the whales is 100 times stronger than men,
?????
 
The instinct for survival of the whales is 100 times stronger than men,
Lolita will survive simply because the ocean is her environment If a man after being in jail 36 years is freed and can be adapted back to society, whales more easily can be adapted simply by its high survival instincts.


Dr.Mukhametov

Russia



I like the idea of 100X time stronger. However, evidence is necessary here. Having worked with cetaceans...


X
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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