Don’t Make Me Put Your Ass In The Sealbarrow

potato chip’s old man groan…

via

welcome to my blubbery blog!!! 🦭🦦🐋🐬🫧

i’m currently a volunteer at an AZA accredited aquarium, i hope to study marine environmental science in the future and work in conservation and education! my primary interests are in northern fur seal biology and southern resident killer whale behaviour, but i love all marine mammals!

i support accredited* zoos and aquariums! i do however hope that we can move away from them in the future. i think that conversations about the ethics of captivity are important and should always be centered around the wellbeing of the captive animals. i encourage caution and use of critical thinking around both anti and pro captivity arguments. i’m always happy to answer any questions about the practices of AZA accredited zoos and aquariums!

*there are some accredited zoos and aquariums (such as seaworld) that i am heavily critical of, but it’s unfortunately a complicated issue that isn’t realistic to have black and white opinions on.

marine mammal rescue, conservation, and research organisations:

alaska sealife is center

vancouver aquarium marine mammal rescue society

center for whale research

SR3

marine mammal care center

Today's Seals Are: Robot Uprising

lets kissy mama

Animal welfare advocacy should be about the animals, not an agenda

Aerial photos of J-pod socialising 

Photos by SR3/SEA (source)

lets lean on a pipe with mama (x)

Wildlife tourism isn’t always a more ethical choice.

I often see people who are under the assumption that wildlife tourism is free from ethical concerns, or that it’s inherently a more ethical choice than visiting a zoo/aquarium.

Wildlife tourism encompasses a wide variety of activities that involves watching wildlife in engage with their natural habitat. This includes safaris, whale watching, birding, photography tours, and a host of other activities. Wildlife tourism by itself can be an ethical way to see wildlife, however that is not always the case. There’s actively many harmful parts of wildlife tourism, that people may overlook since the animals are “free.”

So.. what would be some examples of unethical wildlife tourism?

- Whale petting in Baja Mexico. This activity actively contributes to the habituation of whales and disrupts their natural behaviors. Habituated whales are at a higher risk of encountering boat strikes - which can lead to physical injury or even death.

- Fake/bad acting sanctuaries. Sanctuaries are not always ethical, and many advertise activities such as elephant rides, elephant bathing, and advocate for people to touch/hold animals. The training methods they often utilize use fear or coercion, this is often actively stressful to the animals, and can be particularly dangerous to the tourists engaging with these animals.

- Swimming with whales. Studies show that commercial swim with whale tours can negatively impact the behaviors of some baleen whale species. These behaviors include avoidance and decreased rest time.

Spoiler: Injured wildlife

Is there ethical wildlife tourism?

Absolutely! Wildlife tourism should be done with respect for the animals. There should be careful steps taken to avoid habituation and harassment of wildlife.

Some of my favorite options include visiting a national park, bird watching, and doing careful research to find ethical whale watching companies. Additionally, many AZA accredited zoos offer animal interactions that are done in a safe & non-stressful manner for the animals. These may even include giraffe feedings and up close educational encounters.

J62!!!

source: center for whale research

Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut, also known as “Tokitae” or “Lolita”, was a Southern Resident killer whale likely from L-pod. She was born around the mid-1960s. Many suspect her mother is L25 “Ocean Sun”, but there has never been confirmation.

In August 1970, Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut was one of around 80 killer whales rounded up for capture in Penn Cove, Washington. Based on her size, she was between 2-7 years old at the time. In the capture, led by Ted Griffin and Don Golsberry, 5 whales drowned and 7 whales, including Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut, were taken away.

Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut was purchased by a veterinarian at Miami Seaquarium named Jesse White for $20,000. She was transported to Miami Seaquarium in September 1970. White named her “Tokitae”, a Coast Salish word that roughly translates to “nice day” or “pretty colours” in English.

She was originally kept separately from the other orca, a male Southern Resident called Hugo. Hugo had been captured 2 years prior from Vaughn Bay, Washington.

Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut and Hugo would often talk to each other between tanks, Southern Residents have a unique language which includes specific dialects within their pods, meaning that the two of them were able to communicate in ways that they could not with any other population. Miami Seaquarium eventually placed them together in a single 80-by-35 ft tank. The they mated often, but never had any living calves. Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut was given the stage name “Lolita”.

Hugo experienced severe stress due to his situation. In March 1980, he died after ramming his head into the wall of the tank.

Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut was housed with other cetaceans, but remained the only orca at the aquarium for the rest of her life. Despite her isolation, she held on to her home. She was heard multiple times throughout her decades in captivity singing a song that is only heard within L-pod.

In 2015, NOAA removed the exclusion of captive whales from the Endangered Species Act and included Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut in the listing of Southern Residents. NOAA stated there was a “strong case” that she was a Southern Resident after analysing her mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA. However, because she was captured 2 years before the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut was considered “pre-Act”, meaning she did not qualify under it.

The Lummi Nation never stopped fighting for Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut to be brought home. They consider her a relative. In July 2019, two Lummi women, Squil-le-he-le and Tah-mahs, invoked the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in an attempt to bring Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut home. NAGPRA gave them legal grounds to sue Miami Seaquarium if they refused to return Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut to the Salish Sea.

In August 2019, the Lummi gave her the name “Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut”, which roughly translates to “member of Sk’aliCh’elh” in English. Sk’aliCh’elh being a family of orcas in the Salish sea.

Squil-le-he-le visited Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut in Miami and performed healing songs for her. Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut was very receptive to this. Squil-le-he-le was quoted saying “She was singing with me. She was vocalizing with me,” in an interview with The Planet.

In March 2023, the Miami Seaquarium (now owned by The Dolphin Company) partnered with Friends of Toki and began the process of transferring Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut to a sea pen in her home waters.

This decision was controversial given Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut’s age (around her late 50s) and her chronic health conditions. She hadn’t been transported anywhere in over 50 years, causing concern for the stress that transport to Washington could cause her. There were also concerns that she might not be able to survive the re-exposure to the bacteria in the ocean after living in a tank of clorinated water for so long, or that she could possibly expose the wild Southern Residents to the infections she developed in captivity.

Others, especially the Lummi, argued that she deserved to live the remainder of her life in her home waters, which she clearly remembered.

In August 2023, the Miami Seaquarium announced that Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut had passed away. Her cause of death was attributed to multiple chronic health conditions. On the day of her death, over 3000 miles away, members of all 3 Southern Resident pods (J,K, and L) were gathered together in what is known as a “superpod”. Gatherings of multiple Southern Resident pods have become more rare in recent years.

The Lummi were not consulted before the autopsy was performed.

Finally, in September 2023 her ashes were returned home and there were multiple ceremonies laying her to rest.

No Southern Resident had been seen in Penn Cove since the captures in the 1970s, but in November 2024, L-pod returned. Among them was Ocean Sun.

Footage: Kat Martin, ScubaFilmFactory, Miami Herald, KING 5 Seattle, AnaCarlaNJ, H2Omammals, DaddysJournie, KING 5 Seattle

Audio: Susannah Joffe, sacredsea.org