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Title: Recently Spotted 103-Year-Old Orca Is Bad News For SeaWorld -- Here's Why
Source:
The Dodo
URL Source: https://www.thedodo.com/recently-sp ... d-103-year-old--547381307.html
Published: May 12, 2014
Author: Jenny Kutner
Post Date: 2014-05-16 01:13:17 by X-15
Keywords: None
Views: 242
Comments: 11
SeaWorld could be in trouble because of “Granny,” the world’s oldest known living orca. The 103-year-old whale (also known as J2) was recently spotted off Canada’s western coast with her pod -- her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. But while the Granny sighting is thrilling for us, it’s problematic for SeaWorld. First of all, SeaWorld has claimed that “no one knows for sure how long killer whales live,” when simple figures or even living and thriving examples -- like Granny -- can give us a pretty good idea. The Whale and Dolphin Conservation project estimates that whales born in captivity only live to 4.5 years old, on average; many of SeaWorld’s orcas die before they reach their 20s. Perhaps because of their reduced lifespans, the whales are forced to breed continuously and at perilously young ages, which could also diminish their overall health. Another key aspect of an orca’s life -- which is missing in captivity -- is the ability to swim up to 100 miles per day. When Granny was spotted earlier this week, she had just finished an 800-mile trek from northern California along with her pod. According to animal welfare advocates, long-distance swimming is integral to orcas’ psychological health and well-being; SeaWorld, however, has gone on record claiming that orcas do not need to swim hundreds of miles regularly, ostensibly to defend the parks’ cruel practice of keeping massive, powerful orcas confined to cramped tanks. Since Granny was first spotted (as early as the 1930s), she’s believed to have mothered two calves, who in turn have had calves of their own. (One of her grandchildren, Canuck, reportedly died at the age of 4 after being captured and held at SeaWorld). As her pod has grown, Granny has kept up with them -- without being separated through human intervention -- and traveled astonishing distances with her pod annually. Orcas at SeaWorld are routinely separated from their pods, which has been known to cause huge mental and emotional strain and can prevent calves from developing normally. Granny doesn’t simply represent an impressive feat of nature; she embodies what’s wrong with SeaWorld by being a living example of what’s right in the wild. While it’s true that most wild orcas don’t live as long as Granny has, their lifespans are still dramatically longer than those of SeaWorld’s whales (the NOAA estimates that wild female orcas, like Granny, live an average of 50 to 60 years). Their lives are also filled with much more swimming, exploration, variety and bonding with family -- in other words, their lives are likely filled with much more joy. SeaWorld and marine parks profit off keeping orcas and other marine animals in captivity -- despite evidence that captivity not only induces unnatural behaviors in whales, but also endangers trainers. Join us in pledging never to visit SeaWorld or other marine parks until they empty their orca tanks. Poster Comment: Embedded links at source for further info. I had no idea that orca's could live so long!
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#1. To: X-15 (#0)
SeaWorld: concentration camps for sea life.
These jew-run operations are just the evolution of kike snake oil salesmen into marketing tee-shirts with an orca on them to those that already paid 100 zogbucks to walk into the joint. They sell these tees for 40 bucks I would guess. Free Willy. Drown Hymie.
#2. To: Deasy (#1)
-Alex Kurtagic
#3. To: X-15 (#2)
You got the wrong message from SeaWorld: if we can capture and corral these majestic, unstoppable killers, we can control anything and anyone.
#4. To: Deasy (#3)
Yes, I agree: donut-munching/coffee-swilling drone 'pilot' in Nevada sez "Missile away!" over an image he see's in Yemen.....
-Alex Kurtagic
#5. To: X-15 (#4)
I like the analogy. Coming soon to American "compounds" everywhere.
#6. To: X-15 (#0) (Edited)
Oh go no It is fucked up. Any one of you that has ever visited bush garden knows the truth... That beer is free for a reason. Yeah my family took me there.... San antonio.... They have an oasis of water... they could let their pet mammals... gross..... they could let their captive orca swim n the large lakes..... but they keep em confined to goldfish bowls..... OGH god you have no idea how gross it really is. These creatures are intelligent and they swim the earth. Sea world could give them the big pools... but those are reserved for ski shows and feeding ponds.....believe me... the big blubber whales would prefer the open space to anything else. Inhumane is a grotesque und3erstatement.
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Suspect all media / resist bad propaganda/Learn NLP everyday everyway ;) If you don't control your mind someone else will.
#7. To: X-15 (#0)
Great. Half-black, half-white captive nigger whales. Which every once in a while eat a childless white female whale trainer. Works for me. many of SeaWorld’s orcas die before they reach their 20s. Perhaps because of their reduced lifespans, the whales are forced to breed continuously and at perilously young ages, which could also diminish their overall health.
Republicans prefer white genocide to paying taxes or paying more for strawberries.
Democrats prefer white genocide to seeing anyone get ahead.
As the party of principle, Libertarians support white genocide because they oppose zoning.
#8. To: X-15 (#2)
I like it. :) You should be in marketing. Free Willy. Drown Hymie.
Republicans prefer white genocide to paying taxes or paying more for strawberries.
Democrats prefer white genocide to seeing anyone get ahead.
As the party of principle, Libertarians support white genocide because they oppose zoning.
#9. To: X-15 (#0)
Probably not a good idea to keep one long term in a tank, but short term and if you plan on killing it and eating it then I see nothing wrong with it.
God is always good!
#10. To: X-15 (#0)
I really have to question the age of this whale. What, we've been following this whale around since 1910? Come on people, think!
#11. To: farmfriend (#10)
When the study of Southern Resident orcas began in the early 1970s, they already had photos of both J1 “Ruffles” and J2 “Granny” taken in 1971 when both were already full grown adults. Orcas reach full size around the age of 20, so they made the estimated birth year for J1 Ruffles as 1951 (1971 – 20 years). Since Granny and Ruffles associated with one another, they concluded that she might be Ruffles’ mother. Since Granny was never seen with a new calf since the study began, they assumed she was post-reproductive, and that perhaps Ruffles was her last calf. Females generally stop reproducing around the age of 40, so if she had Ruffles when she was 40, her birth year would be about 1911. Again, these are estimations from scientists that require some extrapolation, esp. with J2, but it is generally accepted that Granny was born around 1911 and that she’s now 103 years old. In dog years I think that’s about 700 or so. :) Source: blog.seattlepi.com/bigsci...-over-mothers-day-weekend And killer whales have been observed over decades, according to Wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_whale (see the references to Uncle Tom). Here’s the “scheme”:
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