#Ric O’Barry

[local-hellhound-steals-spaghetti]

Hi I read in one of your reactions to a question I asked about Ric O'Barry & I am quite interested in that book you mentioned where he bragged about developing a cattle prod to hit the dolphins when they misbehaved. Do you have any idea which book it is & approximately where that information is located?

Hi there, I believe it was Behind the Dolphin Smile and To Free A Dolphin as the main sources of some pretty nasty stuff. Also a lot of gross racism.

Ocean on Twitter took these screenshots while going through the books:

I think this is Behind the Dolphin Smile

Ric asks his buddy to make a “dolphin prod” for Patty who had “gone too far”:

Then he brags about the time he punched Patty - literally no one is making him do this and he seems to actually relish it yuck:

I mean it’s no surprise the guy thinks dolphins get abused in human care - he seemed to enjoy punching a dolphin in the back!

Then in his other book about freeing dolphin he bragged about breaking laws, cutting nets and called dolphins in human care “chubby little clowns” that were all overweight and that’s why he didn’t think the ones he threw out into the wild with no prep weren’t emaciated.

So what is it Ric? Are dolphins in human care starved to perform or are they overweight and getting free food for nothing?

This is Buck after he was rescued btw

Then he implies that it’s easier for the dolphins to just “escape accidentally” rather than get permits ti release

He knew the dolphins who had “escaped” were hungry, he knew they were dependent on people. He thought he could starve them out.

Ah yes 4 days of being forced out into the wild is totally enough time to evaluate whether they can make it out there or not. Not like dolphins have massive blubber reserves they can use if they can’t feed themselves for a few days.

Also he has beef with the Sarasota Dolphin Research project that Randy Wells is in charge of because he doesn’t like that they’re getting data of dolphins dying in the wild

It’s wild to me that people read his book and still worship him. So so gross.

[whaleexpertsanonymous]

The best part? All of this was directed at one of Toki’s trainers.

(I don’t want to defend her pool, it’s atrocious, but it actually is chilled to the same temp as SeaWorld’s orca habitats. And contrary to popular belief, algae growth is a sign of healthy water and also helps reduce glare. Aquariums remove it only because it looks “dirty” to guests).

(Also… her teeth? Are beautiful? The best teeth of any geriatric orca in human care hands down. This lady doesn’t even know what whale she’s talking about).

[krakensdottir]

Why you can’t just ‘release’ dolphins

In case anyone who follows me was wondering about the captive cetacean stuff, I thought I’d type up a little thing about why they’re so difficult to return to the wild compared to many other animals.

Because animals differ widely in how easily they can be reintroduced to their habitat. It depends on how many life skills they need to learn, whether they have a complex social structure they also need to learn about first, how dangerous their habitat is, and how much they’ve already been accustomed to humans. Wildlife rescuers take in animals as babies and release them as adults on a regular basis, by taking pains to make sure they don’t bond with their caregivers. But this doesn’t work with all species.

Cetaceans are really complicated for two reasons: they’re predators, so they have to be able to hunt, and they’re extremely social, so they have to learn to navigate a pod structure. If they’re interrupted early in their socialization process, they actually fail to develop these skills. It’s why there’s a cutoff point around the age of 3, below which a stranded dolphin cannot be released. Like, legally. It’s not aquariums deciding this, it’s a national policy. A bottlenose dolphin that strands as a calf is not eligible for release, ever. It will not grow up into a wild dolphin at that point. It’s like the reverse of a feral cat.

(There are exceptions to this rule, typically involving less social cetacean species like harbor porpoises. They can be rescued as calves and later released, because the life skills they have to learn are less complicated. But bottlenoses and most other oceanic dolphins, orcas, pilot whales etc., cannot be released alone, and wild pods often don’t accept them. Hence the policy.)

They also bond to humans, like, hard. If a cetacean was captured or rescued as a youngster, or born in human care, it’s pretty much impossible to de-socialize them to humans. Every effort was made to do exactly that with Keiko, the whale who played Willy, and he just would not do it. Teaching him to hunt, trying to get him to interact with wild whales... he played along to some extent, but he wouldn’t take the final step of breaking ties with humans. He kept seeking them out. And since that wasn’t according to plan, he wasn’t allowed to return to human care. Wasn’t an option, it would’ve looked bad. Instead, when he refused to integrate, he was confined to a netted cove, where he died. This is on top of multiple cases of attempted releases, mostly of bottlenose dolphins, that resulted in the animals either starving, stranding, or coming up to humans in the wild and begging them for food and attention. (Including one in the 90s that was conducted by notorious anti-captivity advocate Ric O’Barry. The project failed miserably, one animal was killed in the attempt, but he didn’t learn his lesson and is still on his bullshit today.)

We’ve seen it again and again. Animals trained to go out to sea, who are reluctant to leave their pen and then reluctant to leave the escort boat. Animals that escape sea pens and come back, literally jump right back in as soon as the novelty of freedom wears off. On a few occasions, wild cetaceans have even tamed themselves. That’s how people used to end up with ‘pet’ dolphins back in the day when it wasn’t yet illegal.

Now, there have been successful cetacean releases. All of those cases involved adult animals which had only been captive a short time, usually after being rescued. They re-adjust just fine. But if the animal has adapted to living with humans, it won’t un-learn those behaviors. It is functionally no longer a wild animal. Ironically, considering their presence in captivity is more controversial than any other animal group, cetaceans are among the very hardest to ‘return to the wild’. And part of the reason seems to be that they don’t want to. Contrary to all expectations, they often choose easy meals and safety over freedom. A lot of wild animals will do this, given the chance, but dolphins are really stubborn about it. Releasing a captive cetacean involves convincing it that it WANTS to be free. And sometimes that seems to be the hardest part.

So yeah, we’ve tried it several times. We know what works and what doesn’t. It’s not a hypothetical, we have a very good idea what will happen if we try to release all captive whales and dolphins (most of which, by now, were born in captivity, since Western facilities haven’t captured wild animals in decades). We know that the odds of success are dismal, and animals will almost certainly die in the attempt. Hence the big clash between people who have practical experience with cetaceans, or in-depth knowledge of their care, and animal rights activists (and the public they’ve been misleading for years now). It doesn’t even matter at this point if you think they should be released. That’s not relevant. It doesn’t work, it’s dangerous, and it flies in the face of all welfare concerns. It shouldn’t even still be on the table at this point. I don’t know how many more times we’ll have to watch it go wrong before we accept that.

[orcinus-veterinarius]

Come to Ric O’Barry, and he will show you the truth…

What is your opinion on Ric O'Barry releasing those three dolphins in Indonesia last week? Ngl I thought it was a bad idea & was terrified for their safety but from what I've heard they seem to be doing fine so idk what to think right now...

I know this is an older ask, but I honestly didn’t follow that release much because of how incredibly upset it made me. Nothing was done properly, and those animals were horrible release candidates—one of them quite literally had prosthetic teeth.

From what I heard, they “disappeared” very shortly after being set loose and are assumed to be dead—not that the Dolphin Project’s supporters were informed of this. @local-hellhound-steals-spaghetti do you have any more info?

[frnwhcom]

Ric O'Barry: The Transition from Dolphin Trainer to Conservationist

Ric O’Barry is a name synonymous with dolphin conservation. His journey from a dolphin trainer for the popular television show “Flipper” to a leading advocate against dolphin captivity highlights a profound transformation driven by personal conviction and a deep love for these intelligent marine creatures. O’Barry’s work has exposed the grim realities of dolphin hunting and captivity, bringing to…

[obaline]

Broome doit mettre fin à sa relation sœur avec Taiji | Projet Dauphin

[morbidology]

Before the 1960′s, when the TV series Flipper became popular, trained sea creatures such as dolphins were a very rare occurrence. Richard “Ric” O’Barry was a dolphin trainer at Miami Seaquarium and helped to capture five wild dolphins that would be trained to star in Flipper. He carried this on for 10 years until Kathy, who was the main dolphin to star in Flipper, died in his arms; he strongly believes she committed suicide when she didn’t resurface for air. It was this one event that completely changed his stance on what he was doing. He suddenly realised that imprisoning and training these beautiful and intelligent creatures for human entertainment was abhorrent. On Earth Day of 1970, Ric founded The Dolphin Project which is an organisation dedicated to educating people about the plight of dolphins in captivity. This organisation rescues and rehabilitates dolphins and releases them back to the wild. As well as this, Ric leads an international effort to stop the hunting of dolphins and the trafficking of dolphins to theme parks such as Sea World. He has written two books: Behind the Dolphin Smile and To Free a Dolphin, and also appeared in the documentary, The Cove.

[peregrination-studies]

16, 41, & 63 for the book asks!!

16) a book you'd recommend to your younger self

The Book of Hope by Jane Goodall or Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes by Rick Riordan and illustrated by John Rocco. The first because it’s, well, hopeful, and younger me could’ve used that. Hope on ecology was especially rare in the classes of my youth, and I think Goodall could’ve been a source of inspiration and a positive role model. The second bc MORE PJO CONTENT!

41) a book about nature

Oh this is my time to shine. I have a whole LIST of science books on my Goodreads, most of which are nature-y. I super super recommend World Without Fish by Mark Kurlansky for casual ecology readers with an interest in fisheries or marine biology. My absolute favorite on that list is probably Voices in the Ocean by Susan Casey. It broke my brain, and I LOVE it. This was the book that prompted my interest in things like The Whale Sanctuary Project, Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project, and the Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans. All of these are such a big part of my life now thanks to one Susan Casey’s compelling read. For a very short book on nature (literally just a few pages): The Obligation to Endure by Rachel Carson is FANTASTIC.

63) a book that actually made you laugh out loud

The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Marteen Troost. This one is a travel/adventure read about Troost’s experience in and around Kiribati. Troost is a delight!

Thanks for the ask!! book rec asks

[rjzimmerman]

The people who participate in this annual event (called “The Grind”) in the Faroe Islands, including the men and women who slaughter the dolphins, are mother fucking barbarians who cannot be allowed to do this again. In previous posts in previous years, I have avoided posting the videos of this event, because it’s extraordinarily disturbing to watch these assholes do what they do. But this year, I’m posting it, because I’m livid.

You are warned; the video is graphic, so if watching dolphins being slaughtered, including being sliced while alive and stuck helpless on the beach, then avoid this video. If you don’t want to watch the video or are hesitating, maybe the photo above will convince you not to. The red water along the immediate shore is dolphin blood mixing with the sea, next to the carcasses. If this photo offends you, stay away from the video.

Here’s a link to the blog of the Sea Shepherd, telling us about this event, including its history, purpose and the intense negative reactions resulting from this year’s event.

Excerpt from this story from EcoWatch:

The slaughter of a record 1,428 dolphins in the Faroe Islands is prompting outrage from environmental organizations and even local residents.

Sea Shepherd announced that the killings took place the night of Sunday, September 12 and amounted to the largest single hunt of whales or dolphins in Faroese history.

"For such a hunt to take place in 2021 in a very wealthy European island community just 230 miles from the UK with no need or use for such a vast quantity of contaminated meat is outrageous,"

The incident is part of a Faroe Islands tradition known as the Grind, in which marine mammals, particularly whales, are hunted, BBC News explained. Supporters say it is sustainable and an important part of the cultural heritage of the autonomous Danish territory. Opponents, on the other hand, argue that it is unnecessarily cruel to the animals hunted.

Sunday's hunt, however, was exceptional for several reasons. Faroese marine biologist Bjarni Mikkelsen agreed with Sea Shepherd that it was a record hunt. The previous record was set in 1940, when 1,200 animals were killed. In general, government figures say that an average of 600 pilot whales a year are caught, but the number of dolphins is usually much lower. It stood at 35 in 2020 and 10 in 2019.

By contrast, Sunday's hunt saw a pod of nearly 1,500 white-sided dolphins driven by motor boats and jet skis for several hours into Skálabotnur beach, where every one of them was killed, Sea Shepherd reported.

Locals told Sea Shepherd that the incident violated Grind laws in three ways:

It was not called by the properly authorized Grind foreman.

Several of the hunters involved did not have a license, which means they were not trained in how to properly kill the animals.

Several of the dolphins were run over by motorboats, leading to a slow and painful death.

Why am I posting this and using ugly obscene language? I’m angry. This thing called “The Grind” represents precisely the sort of outrageous behavior that has gotten us into this biodiversity and climate mess in the first place. Why have we allowed this to continue? Oh, because it’s a tradition, we’re told, and we have to tolerate local customs, we’re told, and we should get off our high urban, liberal horses, we’re told. No, not anymore. I’m tired of seeing photos and reading stories about coyote killing contests and piles of dead coyotes, dead wolves, dead elephants with their tusks cut off, dead rhinos missing their horns, dead baby grizzly bears, dead big cats who are dead because some rich fucking Texas oil man likes to go on safaris in his $10,000 safari costume with his laser beam focused hunting rifle, tired of dead whales being hauled to shore by fishermen and onto careless big ships because they were run over.

While we’re talking about dolphin slaughter, let’s go halfway around the globe from the Faroe Islands to Taiji, in Japan, where the annual Taiji dolphin slaughter started on September 1. While the number of dead animals isn’t as gruesome as the Faroe Island numbers, the event is the same: slaughter, but with the added joy of knowing some of the dolphins are not slaughtered but sold to zoos and roadside seaquariums to live out the rest of their lives in space that, to the dolphin, is the equivalent of a small bathtub or toilet bowl. Here’s the link to the website of Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project, which informs us about this event. (The event was the subject of the documentary, “The Cove.” The link is to the trailer.) Quote from the Dolphin Project website:

“The unnecessary and barbaric annual Taiji dolphin slaughter has begun once again. I woke up this morning to learn a pod of dolphins has already been driven into the killing Cove. So when does this end? How does it end? I’m of the opinion it will end when the good people of Japan rise up against it. And that’s starting to happen. Our work, and yours is about supporting that effort. You can help by participating in Dolphin Defender Month. Check it out. Choose your level of involvement and take action.” ~ Ric O’Barry, Founder/Director of Dolphin Project.

And an infographic:

[donationspetitions]

Donate

Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project rehabilitates captive dolphins and raises awareness about their mistreatment: https://www.dolphinproject.com/about-us/history/

Last updated 4/22/2021

[csnews]

Dolphins escape after possibly cut nets

November 13, 2018

Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project on facebook:

Wakayama Prefecture police are investigating what they believe are cut nets of the pens located in the harbor of Taiji. 5 Dolphins swam free as 2 others remained in the harbor reports news 24 in Japan.http://www.news24.jp/nnn/news162119315.html We will update as we learn more.

[local-hellhound-steals-spaghetti]

When Steve Huxter - former head of animal care and training at the infamous SeaLand of the Pacific - calls you a “pro cap shit stirrer” for sharing very real facts about Ric O’Barry beating a dolphin, killing dolphins through irresponsible release ect….

I mean… Like…. damn dude at least I didn’t abuse killer whales for a living and leave one traumatised so badly that he killed 3 people.

[tepiddreamer]

I just happened to be down the street from this facility this past weekend for a convention, and let me tell you that physically being on site was different than what the news is reporting.

This weekend was the Waste Management Open, or as we call it the Wasted Management, the literal Mardi Gras version of golf. Bunch of rich golfers and drunk college people looking for a reason to get hammered. And not just a few. Try 100K people, all drunk and snooty. Scottsdale isn’t named Snotsdale for no particular reason.

Then, suddenly on Thursday and throughout the weekend a plane dragging a banner flew over the area.

Ric O’Barry and crew were quick to take credit for the actions (in reality it was being funded by a local coalition who has opposed Dolphinaris since day one). Due to the location of Dolphinaris being on tribal land and LITERALLY ON THE EXIT RAMP OF THE FREEWAY (AZ-101) protestors have always been moved down the street. Peaceful protests. A mile away.

A mile away from the facility.

These are peaceful protest on the corner of Hayden and Via De Ventura. But no one knows what they are really talking about. Because they are so far away from the facility. And drunk golfers. So they honk their horns and wave with a smile on their face, not knowing what they are even doing.

In the mean time a more sinister problem is occurring, and no one is reporting it. Odysea, who is right next door to Dolphinaris, is getting the brunt of the hate and uneducated harassment from those who think they are involved. Odysea was against Dolphinaris from the start, and they are 2 separate companies, they even had a severe issue with a combo ticket being sold at Costco that gives access to all 10 attractions in the facility. You cannot purchase tickets for either facility inside their doors. Vehicles have been keyed, tagged, windows smashed in, tires slashed.

Trainers, care-takers, animal experts, water quality techs, janitors: all receiving death threats and verbal abuse as they walk to their vehicles by errant protestors who snuck onto the properties.

And that isn’t correct. You can point fingers all you want, and even blame them for sweeping the deaths under the desert rug that is Dolphinaris, but these are real people. Who are just as upset about the deaths as anyone else. No one knew these animals as well as the trainers. I don’t blame the trainers directly, but more of a systemic corporate program who wasn’t prepared to correctly care for these animals and didn’t truly care if the animals lived or died. So yeah, hate on the facility all you want, but don’t tell the trainers they deserve to die a horrible death while driving home from work.

Also the whole ‘these are rescued animals.’ No.

4 of them were captive born. One at SWO, another at Six Flags.

So yes, I am glad this facility has temporarily closed its doors, but that does not mean it is closed forever. AZ has very lax laws on exotics animals (you can get a exotic animal license for $30 in Pinal county, time to get me a tiger), and transferring in more animals won’t exactly be a issue in the future. And considering Venturas Entertainment shady forced stranding and rescue of its animals in its other facilities, I wouldn’t be surprised if a few ‘rescued’ dolphins make their way back into this facility. From Mexico.

Yeah, these guys seem real interested in dead dolphins. Keep drinking I guess.

Man I cannot wait to share my story about the Tyson Chicken execs sharing the same venue as a bunch of us furries.

[orcinus-veterinarius]

is there anything we can do to stop the SWIMS act from going through if it gets seriously considered? It’s so ridiculous to me that people who get all their info spoon fed from blackfish and ric o’Barry can introduce these bills that could seriously affect conservation work and blatantly ignore all of the other (much more pressing!!!!) issues

If you’re a United States citizen, write your state representative and senators. Urge them to dismiss the bill or vote against it should it come to that. Explain the importance of zoos and aquariums to conservation and public education (be sure to mention your state’s AZA facilities as examples, even if they don’t house cetaceans. They’re all partners). Tell them exactly what you told me… how it’s wrong and unfair that documentaries have swayed the public’s opinion against the vital work these organizations do. Point them toward the Chicago Zoological Society’s Cetacean Welfare Study and the AZA accreditation guidelines for evidence of the superior care these animals receive.

And finally, ask them to focus on the real issues and protect our wild whales from the actual threats against them.

If the bill becomes a true issue, I will be drafting a letter to my state congressmen and will post the template here as a model! The SWIMS Act has the backing of a lot of very powerful ARA organizations (including PETA and HSUS) with very well-equipped lobbyists, so it’s important that congresspeople hear from the other side as well.

[worldstop10]

Ten Weird and Curious Cases Of Suicide By Animals

New Post - Ten Weird and Curious Cases Of Suicide By Animals

Many zoologists argue that animals don’t have the same intelligence levels as human beings which would make them knowingly end their lives. They argue that the animal would have to know that the action they are taking will kill them for it to be considered suicide. However, many people have heard the story of Ric O’Barry, the dolphin trainer for the famous dolphin Kathy from the 1960s film…