Just been creating images to help support Orcas

For those of you who don't know Tilikums full story here's a short description of what Tilikum went through during the beginning of his life, this is based off the movie Blackfish and what I saw in the documentary. This is Tilikums story. What occurred first was that Tilikum was placed in a “marine park” in Canada after his capture with two older female orcas. This “park” was a slot in a marina with boats and the whales were contained by a net. This is where the whales entertained during the day, but at night they were placed in a pitch black holding container that measured 20 feet deep by 28 feet in diameter. Tilikum was picked on and abused by the two female whales. One of the forms of abuse is called raking, where killer whales will scratch other whales with their teeth, drawing blood and creating deep ridge like cuts in the victim’s skin. (One thing this film does talk about several times is the orca on orca abuse that happens all too often in captivity, including raking and even killing.) Tilikum was obviously under stress, as were the other two, in such reprehensible conditions. The first death at the fins of Tilikum took place here. A young girl who was hired to feed the orcas, fell into the tank and was pulled under and drowned by the whales. Two eyewitnesses in Blackfish claim that it was Tilikum who participated in most of the foul play they knew this because of his collapsed dorsal fin. This is just some of what Tilikum has faced during his lifespan.

             

This document illustrates how Killer Whales attack other orcas young calfs in Sea World aquariums. Killer whales are not aggressive under any circumstance, not even to their own kind. Such majestic creatures don't deserve to be treated as a prisoner. If SeaWorld executives were incarcerated within our prison system, they would experience luxurious accommodations compared to the conditions that highly social, intelligent marine animals imprisoned at SeaWorld’s marine parks experience. The conditions under which these orcas live cause them to lash out, chew their own teeth to the nubs, endanger the public, and attack their trainers. SeaWorld can dress the issue up however it desires to, but when investors supporting them want out, it’s a sign that it's over. Don't spend your money, save it and help orcas by never buying a ticket to SeaWorld again.

Did you know? That at least 150 orcas have been taken into captivity from the wild since 1961and 127 of these orcas are now dead. In the wild, male orcas live to an average of 30 years (maximum 50-60 years) and 46 years for females (maximum 80-90 years). At least 163 orcas have died in captivity, not including 30 miscarried or still-born calves. Also, SeaWorld holds 23 orcas in its three parks in the United States and owns (at least) a further four at Loro Parque in Spain (ownership of Adan and Morgan not verified). At least forty-five orcas have died at SeaWorld. One of the most infamous capture incidents saw over 80 whales from the Southern Resident population of orcas in Washington State rounded-up at Penn Cove in 1970. Seven were taken into captivity while as many as five whales died. Today this population is recognised as endangered. Only one captured whale, Lolita, is still alive, held at Miami Seaquarium. The longest surviving orca in captivity is Corky, captured in 1969 from the Northern Resident population that inhabits the waters around Vancouver Island, Canada. She is held at SeaWorld in San Diego. None of her seven offspring in captivity have survived. Her family (known as the A5 pod) continue to thrive in the wild, including Corky's brother, Fife, who you can adopt to help support our work. At least 13 orcas have been taken from the wild into captivity since 2002, most recently in Russia.

Help Orcas Stay Wild because there is still a lot worth fighting for.

A former employee from Sea Land (A corporation that was similar to Sea World) stated in the film Black Fish:

"When you know the animal and have a relationship with it. You know, that he's not killing, because he's a savage. He's not killing, because he's crazy or because he doesn't know what he's doing. He's killing, because he's frustrated and has aggravation. And when he's... He has no outlet for it."
Killer Whales are affected mentally, people who attend Sea World shows or any show similar to that believe that when a killer whale attacks, they are attacking for no reason. Even an employee realized that these species suffer when held captive for so long.

               

              

Sea World confines orcas, who could swim up to 100 miles a day in the wild, now have to swim in tanks, and to Orcas that's similar to the size of a bathtub. They would need to swim around 1400 times (around the perimeter of the tank) or 3,105 lengths (back and forth at the longest part of the tank) in the park’s largest tank to equal what they’d swim in the wild.

Take the petition! Help stop breeding in Sea World and set Tilikum free! You can even choose to donate money to help spread the word even quicker. Here's the Link

https://www.change.org/p/seaworld-end-captive-orca-breeding-program

            
Photo Credit: LA Times

Did you know? Sea World trainers are no longer allowed to swim in the tanks with killer whales on account of two deaths at sea world that occurred not long ago. These attacks left the audience in panic, luckily even Sea World is starting to make some changes. "SeaWorld would be better off ending its breeding program...and reserving its tanks for injured animals that cannot survive in the wild." This quote was stated in the LA Times written by a contact reporter published on November 9, 2015 titled "SeaWorld's Ban on Orca Shows Should be just the Start of Changes".  The word on this is spreading and hopefully with one step at a time, orca whale captivity and captive breeding will be no more.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the film Blackfish:

"I think that in 50 years, we’ll look back and go ‘My God, what a barbaric time.'"

"Can you imagine being in a small concrete enclosure for your life when you’re used to swimming 100 miles a day?"

"All whales in captivity have a bad life. They’re all emotionally destroyed. They’re all psychologically traumatized. So they’re ticking time bombs.”

Read this great book by David Kirby! Great information on what truly occurs at Sea World. Learn about the way Orcas are treated during training and how they attack when aggravated. I've read a few pages myself! In my opinion its a great book if you need to know more about Orcas. 

Did you know? Orcas that have attacked Sea World trainers have done so because of the aggravation that Orcas suffer from. Many orcas are frustrated from being contained for so long that the anger builds up and takes over their mind. Orcas are in fact a very peaceful creature. Its been proven that orcas have never attacked a human in their natural habitat. However, they have attacked in amusement parks like Sea World on many occasions and intentionally as well. This needs to be stopped help spread the news!

           

Black Fish is a great Documentary to help educate yourself on Orca Whale Captivity! Learn the story of Tilikum! The only male Orca whale left at Sea World that can still breed with other Orcas. Tilikum suffered a lot to get to Sea World, learn his story and how Sea World only keeps him for the amount of money he is worth. (It's currently on Netflix for those of you who have it).

Here are little things you can do to make big changes for Orcas:

1) Tell your friends and families not to visit or support Marine Mammal Parks like Miami Seaquarium, Six Flags and SeaWorld.

2) Call your Congressman and elected officials and tell them not to support Marine Mammal captivity. This can also lead to  a start of a petition, which could end all of this.

3) Support an Anti-Captivity Group. There are a number of non-profit organizations, both large and small, working to improve conditions for captive orcas, and to one-day secure their release to a sea sanctuary or, in a few possible cases, the ocean itself. Naturally, all of them need your financial support, but there are other ways to help too: event planning, fundraising, petition drives, volunteer office or accounting work, publicizing their efforts via social media, etc. You can contact them easily, here: 

- www.whales.org 

- www.awionline.org#sthash.BDp6cP7B.dpuf 

- www.hsus.org

- www.hsi.org

4) Make Your Voice Heard, protesting can help in an extreme way. Take part by clicking the links below (The Second Link is trying to end breeding at Sea World, they need around 29,000 supporters):

- www.takepart.com/article/2013/03/11/can-schoolchildrens-art-free-worlds-loneliest-killer-whale 

- https://www.change.org/p/seaworld-end-captive-orca-breeding-program

5) Educate yourself about Orcas and what they suffer through. Read books, go online, and watch documentaries. Inform yourself. 

                 
Some information on Orcas. Facts to help better understand the way Sea World Works

                        

Did You Know?

Orca Whales held in captivity in locations such as Sea World suffer from bite marks from other orcas! Normally in the wild, orca whales are harmless to humans and other orcas. In fact, orcas have a lot of emotions and stick together like family. However, when trapped within a containment unit they suffer mentally and emotionally which causes them to attack on rage. If one of the orcas fails to obey, the orcas aren't fed and the other orcas take it out on the orca who failed to obey. This results to orcas bleeding from bite marks. Share with your friends and spread the word!

Did you know?

Almost every male orca whale in captivity suffers from dorsal fin collapse. Many SeaWorld employees will state that it is natural and it happens all the time. This is in fact not true and Orcas that live in the wild don't have this at all. Orcas born in captivity will suffer from birth defects such as the picture shown above.

Photo Credit: Theodysseyonline.com

Welcome to my Blog! I post new info everyday on the struggles for Orca Whales and how anyone can help!