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Orcas: Top news

Webinar: Beneath the Surface: The Impact of Captivity on Cetaceans

Join our free webinar on the harm captivity causes whales and dolphins, with Dr. Naomi Rose on January 14th.
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Our 2021 Accomplishments for Whales and Dolphins

2021 heralded many accomplishments for whales and dolphins by the International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute. We did it with your support, and we thank you!
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The Keiko Story by Best-Selling Author Susan Orlean

Best-selling author Susan Orlean has a new book out, "On Animals", including a great chapter about Keiko, the orca star of "Free Willy", who really was set free.
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Breaking News! President Putin Calls for End to Cetacean Captures in Russian Waters

President Vladimir Putin has endorsed efforts to pass legislation in Russia to end the captures of wild whales and dolphins for captivity. A great achievement for cetaceans!
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Do Orcas Have Soft Teeth?
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Photo Credit: Dr. Ingrid Visser, Orca Research Trust, New Zealand

Orcas in captivity show severe wear on their teeth, often leading to infections and other problems. Some in the captive industry claim that orcas have "soft teeth". In fact, orca teeth are very hard indeed, but, in captivity, due to stress and boredom, they often chew on metal gates and concrete edges of their small tanks.
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Kiska: Plight of the Loneliest Orca in the World
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Photo Credit: Dr. Ingrid Visser, Orca Research Trust

Kiska has been alone in her tank for fourteen years, languishing in MarineLand Park in Canada. She should be moved to a seaside sanctuary with other orcas.
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Something Rotten at the Miami Seaquarium
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Photo by Dr. Ingrid Visser, Orca Research Trust

A shocking new report of a government inspection of the Miami Seaquarium in Florida reveals tainted water, dead dolphins, and the feeding of rotten fish to Tokitae (Lolita), the oldest orca in captivity.
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Recent Orca and Beluga Deaths in Captivity
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By Mark J. Palmer

In May, Mystic Aquarium imported five belugas from the Canadian aquarium MarineLand. The International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) of Earth Island Institute and many individuals, scientists and organizations strongly objected to the import, in part because the stress of a move would harm the whales. Now, one of those imported belugas has died from gastric ulcers, a stress-related cause.
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A Family Affair
| By Kayleigh Brookes

Kayleigh Brookes is a nature conservationist, writer, and campaigner living in the United Kingdom. She loves the ocean and all of its wonderful inhabitants, especially orcas. She is passionate about protecting the natural world, celebrating its wonders, raising awareness of issues, and tackling them.
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San Francisco: Join IMMP for World Oceans Day on June 8th
| By Mark J. Palmer

The International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) of Earth Island Institute is joining the Center for Biological Diversity and many other organizations to hold “A Wake for the Whales”, honoring the many whales who have washed ashore on California beaches this year.
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Campaign Top News

International Marine Mammal Project >
  • From freeing Keiko to saving millions of dolphins from dying in tuna nets, to closing down marine parks including the notorious Whale Jail in Russia, the International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute has been in the forefront of efforts to end whaling, the killing of dolphins and protecting the ocean homes of these magnificent beings.
  • From the cold reaches of the Russian coast, to Japan's notorious Cove, to global tuna fleets, to Barataria Bay, to the concrete tanks of SeaWorld - the International Marine Mammal Project had key accomplishments for whales and dolphins, thanks to your support!
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    OPS

  • There's a lot of whale and dolphin jargon out there. Here's some explanations about what we know about cetaceans.
Save Japan Dolphins >
  • Sale of live dolphins caught in the bloody Cove of Taiji, Japan, subsidizes the subsequent slaughter of the remaining dolphin pod. So a dolphin is torn from its family, and then will hear its own family die as it is dragged away to a miserable existence in concrete tanks for the rest of its life.
  • TAIJI DOLPHIN SLAUGHTER: Police in Taiji like to put on a big show for locals by charging around in zodiacs, pretending to catch "eco-terrorists" who might (but never have) interfered with the dolphin slaughter. To them, the hunts are a big joke. Japanese tax dollars at work!
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    The Notorious Cove Fills With Blood During Dolphin Hunts. Photo Copyright: Kunito Seko

  • Taiji's town government appears to be doubling down on whaling and the slaughter of dolphins. They have a new International Cetacean Center that appears to be dedicated to killing cetaceans. But the $12.2 million Center is virtually empty -- see our photos.
Dolphin + Whale Project >
  • The recent International Whaling Commission meeting in Lima, Peru, passed an excellent resolution complaining that whaling countries -- Japan, Iceland and Norway -- are using population estimates larger than the IWC Scientific Committee. But a proposal for a South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary fell short by one vote.
  • Cetaceans (whales and dolphins) have evolved amazing and complex sensory mechanisms to live in the ocean. But those senses are badly compromised when cetaceans are held in small concrete tanks for entertainment. Learn about why captivity is bad for cetacean senses.
  • Josh Floum, attorney and president of Earth Island Institute, has led the legal effort to protect dolphins, sea turtles, and other marine life. In legal victory after victory, he's made our oceans safer for all our lives.
Keiko Whale Rescue >
  • We are deeply saddened at the death of orca whale Tokitae. Calls for her release were denied for decades and it’s shameful that she never got a chance to go home.
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    Tokitae (also known as Lolita) has died. Photo Credit: Dr. Ingrid Visser, Orca Research Trust

  • 30 years ago, the movie "Free Willy" was a huge hit. The plight of its orca star, Keiko, touched the public along with the moving story. Read how the International Marine Mammal Project took that spark of concern and returned Keiko to his home waters. SeaWorld and other captive dolphin parks would never be the same!
  • The last captive orca in Canada, Kiska, has died, after being kept alone for twelve years at the notorious MarineLand park in Niagara Falls. If Tokitae (Lolita) goes home to a seaside sanctuary, the only North American captive orcas will be those in SeaWorld's three parks.
Dolphin Safe Fishing >
  • Dr. Angel Herrera is the Director of the International Marine Mammal Project’s (IMMP’s) Dolphin Safe (DS) Tuna Monitoring Program in Latin America. As a representative of Earth Island Institute since 1993, his DS monitoring work spans countries including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panamá, Peru, and Uruguay.
  • For more than 30 years, Trixie Concepcion and her staff have worked to protect dolphins and other marine life in the Philippines, monitoring tuna fishing in the Western and Central Pacific Oceans to ensure the tuna is caught by Dolphin Safe methods, saving the lives of tens of thousands of dolphins annually.
  • The history of the drowning of millions of dolphins by the tuna industry turned a corner in 1990, when US tuna giants agreed to work with the International Marine Mammal Project to establish Dolphin Safe fishing standards that avoid harm to dolphins and other marine life.
Freeing Orca Whales from Captivity >
  • Serial Podcast "The Good Whale" Q+A With Dave Phillips, Executive Director, International Marine Mammal Project. Founder, Free Willy Keiko Foundation. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the new 6-part podcast about Keiko, the good whale.
  • Behind the life and hopes with Keiko, the orca star of "Free Willy", was an enormous effort to bring him home. A new Serial podcast features a 6-part series on Keiko and his legacy. First two episodes drop on November 14th and can be found on most podcast sites. It features the role of IMMP in coordinating the Free Willy Keiko Foundation.
  • There are just 18 orcas left stranded in concrete tanks in North America. They can continue to languish in small tanks doing tricks each day, or they can be retired to seaside sanctuaries, such as the Whale Sanctuary Project.
Freeing Wikie & Keijo >

Topics

Angel - Bans, Legislation - Belugas - Biden Administration - Captivity Industry - Cetacean Habitat - China - Climate Change - Covid-19 - Demonstrations - Dolphin And Whale Trade - Dolphin Safe Tuna - Dolphins - Dugong - Earth Day - Entanglement - Grey Whales - Grindadrap - Iceland - International Whaling Commission - Japan - Keiko - Lawsuit - Marine National Monuments - Navy, Military - Norway - Offshore Oil & Oil Spills - Orcas - Philippines - Pilot Whales - Plastic Pollution - Pollution - Rehabilitation, Release - Russia - Sanctuaries - Science - Seaworld - Slaughter - Solomon Islands - Taiji, Japan - Trump Administration - Tuna Industry - Vaquita - Whales - Whaling - Mystic Aquarium - Marineland - Seals & Sea Lions - Marine Protected Areas - Sperm Whale - Sea Otter - Lolita - Tokitae - Miami Seaquarium - Latin America - Ship Strikes - Ocean Noise - Salmon - Blue Whale - Fin Whale - Right Whale - Us Marine Mammal Protection Act - Environment - Minke Whale - Humpback Whale - Gray Whale