Rescued baby killer whale - political storm

[lock_washer]

Thought I would bring this story to everyone's attention.

http://www.king5.com/localnews/environment/stories/NW_041707ENBbabyorcaKC.1ca04036.html

A baby killer whale was rescued from a fishing net and is trying to be rehabbed at dolphin swim park in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Sea World has offered to transfer the animal to San Diego to save it, but the enviromentalist groups are raising legal action to stop the transfer. The only chance this animal has to survive is to send it to Sea World. They have the experience, facilities, and proven research to pull this off. Mexico does not have the finances, facilities, husbandry background or research into the local orca pods to know where this animal came from, and where to return it to. The enviromentalist would rather see this animal die then have it go to Sea World. A pretty sad point of view for them to have.

Lock Washer

 

[RICHinNC]

There was a set of polar bears born in Germany and one died at birth so the mother pushed the other one away as well.

The zoo rescued it and named it Knut. Half the people love it and the other half said they should have let nature takes its course and let it die.

Interesting thought......could we apply the same reasoning to welfare....ooops!

 

[Mr.X]

If humans caused the problem, humans should be the first to assist in rescue and rehabilitation.

The video doesn't say which organization, or individuals are balking at sending the whale to one of the marine parks....perhaps they have a beef with the marine parks? It's understandable having worked at an aquarium. A whole lot of things happen behind the glossy veneer of the marine park entrances.

X

 

[Kim]

It's understandable having worked at an aquarium. A whole lot of things happen behind the glossy veneer of the marine park entrances

That's my understanding too. I don't know about this case but I'm pretty anti marine parks these days, after I found out about Taiji.

I'd guess the chances of this animal ending up as anything more than a tourist attraction if it does survive are probably pretty slim. "Free Willy" sold a lot of box office, but in reality is there really a strong record of such animals being successfully released back to the wild?

 

[lock_washer]

There is no knowledge about the orca pods that pass thru the Gulf of Mexico. There isn't any designated pod with a number system like the northwest or California. Plus Mexico is not going to spend any money to look for orca pods in the area. That would have to be a massive search and waste of resources. In the case of "Free Willy" - Keiko: they spent 20 million dollars trying to release one orca (which eventually died) just to have the "hollywood ending". That money would have been better spent to save the "Vaquita" - The Gulf of California Porpoise that is on the end of extinction.

There is a website that stays on top orcas in capitivity called: orcahome.de
This guy always seems to have the lastest updates on captive orcas.

 

[erparamedic]

If humans caused the problem, humans should be the first to assist in rescue and rehabilitation.

I agree, totally.

I really hope that this orca survives.

 

[Kim]

In the case of "Free Willy" - Keiko: they spent 20 million dollars trying to release one orca (which eventually died) just to have the "hollywood ending". That money would have been better spent to save the "Vaquita" - The Gulf of California Porpoise that is on the end of extinction.

Without trying to be clever that was kind of my point. I'll check your link tomorrow (late here...going to bed...) but my first thought is that it probably doesn't matter too much where the calf is......it's not going back to the wild. The problem I have with marine parks in general is that they need "planned capture" to exist. All those cute dolphins and whales mostly didn't arrive by accident....someone hunted them on purpose for the money. That was what my reference about Taiji was. Taiji is a place in Japan that conducts a horrendous annual dolphin hunt. I don't believe that it would be worth their while to do it if it wasn't for the marine park market. A live animal is worth about 10X that of a dead one. To me, it's marine parks that help to drive the continuation of this practice - while the same people who visit the parks are very often the ones who, when seeing the horror of somewhere like Taiji, complain the loudest. Mr X might have more insight into this as he's worked in one.

Still.....I'll read your link tomorrow.

 

[lock_washer]

I know about the Taiji drive. That is a sick concept along with killing sharks just for their fins. However with captive breeding programs. You don't need to take from the wild anymore. Its because of marine parks that people can see the live animals and be inspired to want to save it. Unfortunately in some cases, the marine parks are going to be the last place of refuge for some animals. The Baiji Dolphin in China is now extinct. The Vaquita down in the Gulf of Mexico is next. Maui and Hector's Dolphins are dwindling in population off New Zealand. Whale Scientist and Activist: Roger Payne said it himself. You get rid of zoos and aquariums: you condemn an animal to extinction.

 

[Mr.X]

Fellas, you're both right about the zoo and aquarium business. It is a business and lives, or dies by profit margin. Whales guarantee a certain % of foot traffic and gross revenue. You get an Orca - you get at least a million + in ticket sales.

IMO the zoo/aquarium biz. is contradictory in many, many ways. I got fired because of my personal views on whales in captivity. If anything, ethics and business do not often go hand in hand, no matter what anyone says in their glossy brochure.

I'll have more to say...have to go diving shortly! Testing some new equipment.


X

 

[Kim]

However with captive breeding programs.

Look....again......I'm not trying to be clever, or looking for a fight. However...from your own link about the orcas:
at least 17 of the 48 in captivity (many it's hard to see where they came from) were captured. It's simply not true that all dolphins and whales come from captive breeding programs.......and for what it's worth, in Taiji they also "dolphin farm" many of their catch these days. The fact in Taiji is simple - a live dolphin that they sell to a marine park/aquarium is worth around US$30,000 last info I had. A dead one is worth about $3000.
Maybe I'm simple but I draw my own conclusions from that and don't think the folks in Taiji would be too happy if they couldn't make the money off the live animals. In spite of many popular misconceptions (what's new?), almost no one eats dolphin here - demand is almost non-existent except for the very local cultures of Taiji and Futo themselves where it's historically been part of the menu for a few thousand people.

Sure - many dolphin populations are under great pressure. This is mostly through pollution and bycatch factors though. While marine parks and aquariums might be able to keep a few species going as long as it's in their financial interests to do so, I really don't think it amounts to much more than window dressing. Now.....if someone was coming with practical solutions to keep such species viable in the wild then that'd be something else - but it's not what I'm hearing.

I'm sorry if I appear somewhat cynical in my assessment, but we appear to live in a world where we can't even agree on basic stuff like man made global warming, pollution effects, over fishing consequences etc......so yes......I guess I'm rather pessimistic these days.

But hey! If you really think that moving this one calf to San Diego will actually help anything....you have my moral support (although what good it'll do I'm really not sure). I suppose doing tricks for a living is probably better than dying in situ (maybe). I'm not fooling myself that this is staving off extinctions in the wild though, albeit we might keep a few specimens hanging on for curiosity value.

I must say though - I'm very interested in what Mr X has to add when he returns from his dive! I might not always agree 100% with what he thinks but it's obviously the thoughts of a very committed individual, and worth listening to!