Menu ☰

Rehabilitation, Release: Top news

…Did the Real-life Saga Behind Free Willy Change the Story for Orcas in Captivity

The Guardian reports on the effort to rehabilitate and release Keiko, the orca star of the hit movies, Free Willy.
Read More >

A Work of Art: Jen MaHarry and Freeing Captive Orcas

VIDEO: 30 years ago, Jen MaHarry designed the iconic "Free Willy" movie poster, showing Willy jumping over a breakwater to freedom. Jen recently designed a wonderful new design for our campaign to retire the remaining captive orcas to seaside sanctuaries.
Read More >

“Liberen a Willy” Abrió el Camino para Detener el Cautiverio de Ballenas

Our Spanish version of Hannah Hindley's essay on Keiko, "Free Willy," and the closing chapter of captive orcas in North America.
Read More >

“Free Willy” Paved the Way to Ending Whale Captivity

Hannah Hindley's full essay on Keiko, "Free Willy", and the need for retiring remaining orcas in captivity to seaside sanctuaries.
Read More >

Why It's Time to End Dolphin Captivity Once and For All

Many captive bottlenose dolphins have been returned to the wild with great success. Thanks to Korean activists and IMMP, Sampal the dolphin made a spectacular return to the ocean after four years in an aquarium, linking up with her pod and even giving birth to a calf.
Read More >

BREAKING NEWS: Agreement Reached to Launch Relocation of Captive Orca Whale Tokitae to a Seaside Sanctuary in Her Home Waters

Plans are in place to bring Tokitae (also known as Lolita) back to her home waters in a seaside sanctuary in the Pacific Northwest. Read about the extraordinary group of people and organizations bringing this about. David Phillips discusses the implications.
Read More >

Sanctuaries for Retirement: Hope For Captive Orcas, Belugas and Dolphins

New seaside sanctuaries for dolphins and whales are open or in the process of being built -- providing a great, expansive home for captive and stranded cetaceans. The expense is high, but the results are well worth the price.
Read More >

Tokitae/Lolita: Another Step Toward a New Home

The Miami Seaquarium owners have stated they are all in favor of efforts to move Tokitae, the female orca who has performed for 50 years, into retirement, possibly to a seaside sanctuary in her home waters. A major barrier to bringing her home has been removed.
Read More >

Tokitae (Lolita) the Orca to Be Retired from Shows
|

Shutterstock Kamira

Tokitae (also known as Lolita) is one of the oldest orcas in captivity, where she has languished for years in the Miami Seaquarium, alone except for dolphin companions. Now, a new owner is retiring Tokitae, so she will no longer do shows for tourists.
Read More >

Russian Conservationists Disentangle 28 Fur Seals
| By Mark J. Palmer

For the first time ever, Russian conservationists have disentangled a number of fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) on Russia’s Seal Island, near Sakhalin Island in the Pacific Ocean.
Read More >

Page 1 of 4 pages First Page 1 2 3 4 > Last Page

Campaign Top News

International Marine Mammal Project >
  • 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!
    |

    OPS

  • There's a lot of whale and dolphin jargon out there. Here's some explanations about what we know about cetaceans.
  • The damages of global warming are already here, and worse is to come. Can COP28 overcome national resistance and lobbying from the oil industry to adopt real solutions to global warming, including an equitable phase-out of the burning of fossil fuels?
Save Japan Dolphins >
  • The Taiji dolphin slaughter was as horrendous as always, but the numbers of dolphins being killed and captures continues to decline. Can we end the dolphin hunts for good?
  • A recent analysis by scientists, adopted by the IWC Scientific Committee, shows what many opponents of the Taiji dolphin hunts have feared -- the hunts are depleting several dolphin species along the coast of Japan, leading the dolphin hunters to go after other species, while still killing the depleted species.
  • The Taiji dolphin hunts are well underway, with a pod of bottlenose dolphins recently herded into the notorious Cove. The Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission is warning that some dolphin species are declining.
Dolphin + Whale Project >
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.
    |

    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 >
  • 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.
  • In order to better monitor tuna vessels to ensure no dolphins are netted or harmed, the International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute is supporting placing closed circuit television (CCTV) aboard tuna vessels.
Freeing Orca Whales from Captivity >

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