leoparduscolocola

[leoparduscolocola]

SeaWorld’s fireworks have killed hundreds of birds, but sure, pro-caps, tell me how they’re all about conservation and how it’s totally ethical to give them your money.

[leoparduscolocola]

“Only in our carnist society could ‘humane’ mean something to do with violence, could ‘live and let live’ mean to allow others to kill, and could a 'personal choice’ involve violating the bodily rights of others.”

— George Martin  (via cynical-veggie)

[leoparduscolocola]

“Was that dolphin — with its head raised out of the water, flippers held high, like a pup begging for a treat — happy? Or was it an aquatic jester doomed to perform forever for its next meal?” ✍️: Hudson Lindenberger

[leoparduscolocola]

Wild Orca Stimboard

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[leoparduscolocola]

CA140B ‘Louise’ chasing after a PWSD

Unfocused but wanted to share since there’s a PWSD in the frames!

[leoparduscolocola]

Genuine question, because I'm struggling to find answers online: Are safaris in African countries good organisations to support, or exploitative? I'm thinking of going to Kenya, and if safaris are like sanctuaries, I would love to do one. But if they're exploitative I'll steer clear. I can't find definitive answers online - PETA have a list of vegan safaris, but not much information on what makes them vegan, other than the meals served. My main concern is the experience itself. So many 'animal experiences' are humane-washed, and the wording on safari websites looks suspiciously similar to the wording on sites for zoos and aquariums. Obviously, it's different because the animals aren't in captivity, but do safari experiences disturb and exploit the animals, or are they worthwhile protection initiatives like they claim to be? Many thanks!

There is no sort of blanket answer I can give you except to say that safaris are not inherently against vegan ethics, it just depends on the organisation conducting them. That said, there are arguments on both sides.

On the one hand, we’d like to be able to say that if we want to do the best thing for animals, that usually means leaving them alone as much as possible. Intruding in wild spaces (especially in loud vehicles) does disturb them, creates noise and light pollution, and tourists don’t always act in the best interests of animals in terms of feeding them, littering, flash photography, shouting etc.

Realistically though, eco-tourism creates a significant incentive for local people to protect wild spaces and wild animals. Local communities can derive an income from conserving species, rather than hunting them, and are more likely to tolerate animals existing near human spaces because they know that their livelihood depends on those animals. It provides many eco-friendly jobs, as welll as funding and incentivising anti-poaching initiatives. It also gives poachers themselves a much safer, alternative means of making a living.

As unhelpful as this may be, this comes down to your own personal ethics. I can see good justifications for both deciding not to take part in a safari because you don’t want to disturb animals, and deciding to support eco-tourism and put money into local economies by going on a safari. If you are opting for the latter, just do your research to find out their policies on wildlife interaction, how close they allow tourists to get, and crucially, if they also offer any hunting activities, as that unfortunately is not uncommon.

[leoparduscolocola]

it's crazy how whenever you ask a seaworld fan why they think blackfish is so inaccurate they can't come up with any unbiased critiques of it from a third-party source. their only critiques come from pro-captivity sources (such as seaworld's "69 reasons you shouldn't believe blackfish" document and awesome ocean). even those criticisms are almost always just basic misunderstandings of how documentary filmmaking works (ex. claiming that showing a different thing on screen to substitute for something there's no footage of is dishonest, or that playing sad music over footage is emotionally manipulative). when a documentary has legitimate factual errors that aren't just matters of opinion, it will be critiqued by people from all sides, not just people who have ties to whatever it is the documentary is criticizing. for example, seaspiracy had pretty significant inaccuracies, so independent experts spoke up to challenge its assertions. support orca captivity all you want, but at least have the decency to admit that your emotional and/or financial ties to captive facilities could make you biased.

[leoparduscolocola]

Female subadult cubs in the water Jim Corbett National Park, India Photographed by Himanshu Agarwal

[leoparduscolocola]

January 23, 2020: Transients- Trial Island

T090B and T090D

T124A3 and T124A3A

T124A and T124A6

T124A and T090C

T124A4

T124C

T124A3A

T090 and T090B

T124A3

T124A

T102

T101B

T101A

T101

T090D

T090C

T090B

T090

Photo Credit: The Center for Whale Research Encounter #1 - Jan 23, 2020

[leoparduscolocola]

Nubian giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis camelopardalis

Observed by michalsloviak, CC BY-NC

[leoparduscolocola]

Here's some interesting news regarding the proposal to split Bigg's and resident killer whales into seperate species within the genus Orcinus: they won't be given species status for now, but they will be given subspecies status. I hope this sparks new studies that will further elucidate killer whale diversity.

[leoparduscolocola]

:| Let’s be realistic about the frolicking orcas on that sign. 

[leoparduscolocola]

I’m finally home and have many, many photos to sort through. Here’s one from this morning though because it was a quiet, amazing morning at Lime Kiln with a close visit by Marina (L47) and Mystic (L115), and shared with some wonderful friends.

[leoparduscolocola]

Hunt for the Super Predator pt 6

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Beluga Whales

Photo by Paul Nicklen Photography

[leoparduscolocola]

In case I don’t get to work on anything more finished before my snark fire dies, have this.