Voices in the Ocean
Page 32
The more teeth a family displays: For a concise history of the Solomon Island dolphin hunts, and a detailed account of the February and March 2013 hunts this chapter refers to, please see Marc Oremus, John Leqata, and Scott C. Baker, “Resumption of Traditional Drive Hunting of Dolphins in the Solomon Islands in 2013,” Royal Society Open Science 2 (May 2015), http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/royopensci/2/5/140524.full.pdf.
In July 2003: Richard C. Paddock and Richard Boudreaux, “Any Way to Treat a Dolphin?” Los Angeles Times, October 17, 2003; The Dolphin Trade, television show produced by Joe Rhee and Kimberly Launier (Primetime Live, ABC Entertainment Group, October 27, 2005).
“It’s big”: “Solomon Islands to Export 30 Dolphins to Dubai,” Yahoo News, October 12, 2007.
O’Barry viewed video: William Rossiter, “Greed, Corruption and Captivity,” Cetacean Society International 12, no. 4 (October 2003).
“Like the rest of the world”: Blood Dolphins: The Solomons Mission, directed by Lincoln O’Barry, produced by Raymond Bridgers, Dave Harding, Erik Nelson, Lincoln O’Barry, and Dieu Pham (Animal Planet, September 2010).
“I love animals”: The Dolphin Dealer, directed, produced, and written by Brad Quenville (Vancouver: Omni Film Productions, 2008).
“trying to disrupt”: Associated Press, “Dubai’s Dolphin Import Angers Activists,” USA Today, October 18, 2007.
Online, I had watched a promo video: “Solomon Islands Dolphins Paradise,” YouTube video, 2:05, posted by Christopher Palmer, March 6, 2008, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asCKC4yW9vk (last accessed April 2015).
A Canadian documentary crew: The Dolphin Dealer.
“It’s a shame”: Ibid.
the memory still scalded: There is no indication that Porter and Satu were involved in Makili’s attack.
“We will slaughter”: Blood Dolphins, episode 103: “Solomon Islands,” part 2, Animal Planet, September 7, 2010.
“an amazing project”: “Honiara’s New Kokonut Café,” Solomon Star News, March 26, 2012.
CHAPTER 9: GREETINGS FROM HAWAII: WE’RE HAVING A BLAST!
“Race On to Find Gulf Coast”: Ed Lavandera and Jason Morris, “Race On to Find Gulf Coast Dolphin Killers,” CNN, November 28, 2012. http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/28/us/gulf-coast-dolphin-killings/.
“What’s Behind Spike”: Rena Silverman, “What’s Behind Spike in Gulf Coast Dolphin Attacks?” National Geographic News, March 29, 2013. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/03/130329-dolphin-attacks-gulf-coast-marine-mammals-oceans-science/.
Similar dolphin-loathing sentiments: Luiz Cláudio Pinto de Sá Alves, Camilah Antunes Zappes, and Artur Andriolo, “Conflicts Between River Dolphins (Cetacea: Odontoceti) and Fisheries in the Central Amazon: A Path Toward Tragedy?” Zoologica 29 (October 2012): 420–29.
One startling effect: Ruth H. Carmichael, William M. Graham, Allen Aven, Graham Worthy, Stephan Howden, “Were Multiple Stressors a ‘Perfect Storm’ for Northern Gulf of Mexico Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in 2011?” Plos One, Published July 18, 2012. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0041155.
For the past five years: “Cetacean Unusual Mortality Event in Northern Gulf of Mexico (2010–Present),” NOAA Fisheries online. http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/health/mmume/cetacean_gulfofmexico.htm.
“I’ve never seen”: Lori H. Schwacke et al., “Health of Common Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Barataria Bay, Louisiana, Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill,” Environmental Science and Technology 48 (2014): 93–103.
Perhaps the Navy could build: Unfortunately, this is not a hypothetical example. In 2010, after the Navy announced plans to build its Undersea Warfare Training Range fifty miles offshore from Jacksonville, Florida, right next to the whales’ only known calving grounds, a host of environmental groups sued it—and lost. The training range was allowed to proceed. North Atlantic right whales are a critically endangered species, with only 300 individuals remaining.
By the Navy’s own estimates: Please note that these numbers reflect only one proposal, for one area of the Pacific Ocean (Southern California and Hawaii). The U.S. Navy has also proposed similar plans for the Atlantic, the Northwest Pacific, and other areas. Add to that the navies from other countries, each conducting sonar and missile testing programs of its own.
As for underwater bomb: I read about this response in War of the Whales, a richly detailed narrative about the use of military sonar in the ocean, its impact on cetaceans, and the concerted efforts of scientists and environmental groups to hold the Navy to account. Joshua Horowitz, War of the Whales (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2014), 123.
“To say that dolphins”: Patrick W. B. Moore, “Dolphin Psychophysics: Concepts for the Study of Dolphin Echolocation,” Dolphin Societies (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998), 365.
“swimmer nullification”: “Dolphins Aweigh,” produced by William Brown, 60 Minutes, February 18, 1973. (CBS)
“Marine mammals are actually”: U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program, FAQ page, http://www.public.navy.mil/spawar/Pacific/71500/Pages/faqs.aspx.
Scientists refer to this: For an excellent, comprehensive overview of this problem, see: Michael Jasny, with Joel Reynolds, Cara Horowitz, and Andrew Wetzler, Sounding the Depths II: The Rising Toll of Sonar, Shipping and Industrial Ocean Noise on Marine Life, National Resources Defense Council, November 2005. Available for download at: www.nrdc.org/wildlife/marine/sound/sound.pdf.
CHAPTER 10: CHANGE OF HEART
at least sixteen orcas: Though Marineland is often unwilling to confirm or deny the deaths of its marine mammals, an advocacy Web site, Marineland in Depth, has compiled an archive of news clippings about the park, dating back to 1963: www.marinelandindepth.com/2013/08/the-marineland-news-archive.html. Regarding orca deaths, I arrived at the conservative number of sixteen by comparing these archived news clippings with lists maintained by various organizations that have kept track of Marineland’s orcas over the years. These sources are Ceta-Base, Zoocheck Canada, and the Orca Project Database. (Wikipedia also contains a list of Marineland’s deceased orcas, although it is incomplete.) Additionally, these sites report three orca stillbirths at the park. Several orcas have never been accounted for, and are designated “missing/presumed dead.”
On occasions when Marineland has acknowledged orca deaths, its longtime spokeswoman, Ann Marie Rondinelli, has expressed the park’s sadness. After three-year-old Malik died, for instance, Rondinelli told the press: “We all work very closely with these animals. To us, they’re very special, they’re almost like a family member…You have people crying and quite upset.” Christine Cox, “Marineland Says Orca Whale Was ‘Like Family,’ ” The Spectator, March 11, 2000.
“You have to understand”: Linda Diebel and Liam Casey, “Marineland: Inside the Controversy,” Toronto Star, Star Dispatches e-book, published 2013.
numerous whistleblowers: In the Toronto Star series, Diebel and Casey state that by the end of 2012, fifteen whistleblowers had spoken to them about Marineland.
When Holer refused: Alison Langley, “Marineland Told to Hand Over Whale to U.S.,” St. Catharines Standard, September 29, 2011. In affidavits related to the court case, SeaWorld executives expressed concerns about Ikaika’s elevated white blood cell count, his mental health, and Marineland’s facilities. The whale’s mood was no minor matter, given that Ikaika apparently had a history of aggression—and his father was Tilikum. Liam Casey, “Custody of Killer Whale Plays Out in Court,” Toronto Star, July 16, 2011, and Liam Casey, “Send Killer Whale Back to Florida, Court Tells Marineland,” Toronto Star, September 28, 2011.
“Once an animal turns”: Tony Ricciuto, “Bear Death Act of Nature Says Marineland’s Owner,” Niagara Fal
ls Review, September 3, 1993.
more than a thousand carcasses: Linda Diebel and Liam Casey, “Marineland: Environment Ministry Launches Probe into Mass Animal Graves,” Toronto Star, December 20, 2012. When Ontario’s environment ministry was alerted to the existence of these clandestine burial sites, it launched an immediate inspection, and ordered Marineland to stop burying its animals on the grounds without a permit. “We are concerned about the locations of the sites because [they] are so close to a water course,” reported a government spokesperson. Marineland responded: “One of life’s sad truths is that animals sometimes die in zoos, just as they do in the wild.”
Junior died in 1994: Sands filmed Junior for a final time in May 1994. “The last time I was there, the last time I saw Junior, he didn’t move,” she told me in an interview. “At one point, his rostrum was just millimeters from the periphery of the tank, at one point he just rolled over and opened up his mouth and then rolled back and was just floating. Like he was the floating dead. There was no life left in this animal.” When Sands returned to the Barn two months later, in July 1994, Junior was gone. Two of the park’s trainers told her that the orca had died.
Marineland has never commented: When asked about Junior by the Toronto Star, Marineland’s spokeswoman, Ann Marie Rondinelli, deflected the questions, saying: “We are focusing on what we do best—ensuring our guests enjoy their visits to our park, confident in the knowledge that all of our animals are well cared for.” Linda Diebel, “Swimming Alone,” Toronto Star, August 25, 2012.
Over the years: This tally comes from Zoocheck Canada, an advocacy group that regularly monitors the country’s marine parks, sending in scientists and other experts. Though Marineland has never responded to requests to confirm or deny the deaths of several orcas whose status is “missing/presumed dead,” Zoocheck breaks the numbers down as follows: “Total orcas ever exhibited: 29. Exported or re-exported: 8. Died/presumed dead at Marineland: 19. Total dead/presumed dead: 26 (90%). Total still alive at Marineland: 2. Total still alive elsewhere: 1.” When I visited Niagara Falls in May 2013, a single orca, Kiska, remained, and not two as stated. http://www.zoocheck.com/campaigns_whaleswild_mlinventory.pdf.
Diebel and Casey found a video: Linda Diebel and Liam Casey, “Marineland Whale Bleeding for Months,” Toronto Star, October 18, 2012. Santos described Kiska’s tail as “gushing” blood from wounds that were worsening. The orca, Santos said, repeatedly scratched herself against sharp fiberglass grates in her tank. Video clearly showed blood streaming from Kiska’s tail flukes. Marineland refuted the allegation, calling it “seriously inaccurate.”
orcas stick close: On occasion transient orcas do leave their mothers, particularly females with their own offspring.
“the most amazing animals”: Robert Pitman, “The Top, Top Predator,” Journal of the American Cetacean Society 40, no. 1 (Spring 2011): 5. http://www.orcanetwork.org/Main/PDF/WhalewatcheVol40No12011.pdf.
One recent study: S. De Guide, A. Lagacé, and P. Béland, “Tumors in St. Lawrence Beluga Whales,” Veterinary Pathology Online 31 (1994): 444–49.
“Kiska is now quite elderly”: “Marineland Opens Up About Kiska,” Niagara Falls Review, July 24, 2014.
His words trailed off: I had never quite grasped the logic behind Porter’s Free the Pod campaign, mainly because the easiest way to let dolphins go is simply to remove the nets, and he could have done so at any moment. According to Porter, however, the situation was more complicated than that. If the villagers and the government were not paid off, he claimed, the dolphins would have been promptly recaptured. “They would round up all of them,” he told me. “The fishermen aren’t gonna let dolphins go that are good for teeth.” When I asked him if he was describing a type of extortion (pay us or we’ll kill your dolphins), he seemed surprised—but that is exactly what it sounded like to me. Ultimately, after listening to Porter talk extensively about Free the Pod, I still don’t understand it, or why releasing the dolphins even in the absence of payola wasn’t a better option than having them all die in Gavutu’s lagoon.
Lolita’s mother: For more information about the Southern Resident population, and orca research in the Pacific Northwest, see the Center for Whale Research’s Web site: www.whaleresearch.com.
It was possible, even likely: To read the details of this plan, see: http://savelolita.org/the-plan.
In 2014, the National Aquarium: Virginia Morell, “Q&A: National Aquarium CEO Discusses Dolphins’ Retirement,” nationalgeographic.com, May 21, 2014. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/05/140520-bottlenose-dolphins-national-aquarium-sanctuary-captivity-oceans-science/ (accessed April 2015).
“No cetacean should be held”: To read the entire declaration, see: www.cetaceanrights.org.
“Dolphins are nonhuman persons”: Associated Press, “Whale and Dolphins Should Have Legal Rights,” The Guardian, February 20, 2012. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/feb/21/whales-dolphins-legal-rights.
CHAPTER 11: THERA
“We think we have understood”: Thomas Berry, The Sacred Universe (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009), 171.
“The Minoans were not”: Craig S. Barnes, In Search of the Lost Feminine: Decoding the Myths that Radically Reshaped Civilization (Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing, 2006), 1.
“Large dolphins and numerous”: Arthur Evans, as quoted in Joseph Alexander MacGillivray, Minotaur: Sir Arthur Evans and the Archaeology of the Minoan Myth (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000), 217.
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