#belugas

[orcinus-veterinarius]

Learning anything about marine mammal training will make you re-evaluate so much of your relationship with your own pets. There is so much force involved in the way we handle domestic animals. Most of it isn’t even intentional, it just stems from impatience. I’m guilty of it myself!

But with the exception of certain veterinary settings where the animal’s health is the immediate priority, why is it so important to us that animals do exactly what we want exactly when we want it? Why do we have to invent all these tools and contraptions to force them to behave?

When a whale swam away from a session, that was that. The trainer just waited for them to decide to come back. If they flat out refused to participate in behaviors, they still got their allotment of fish. Nothing bad happened. Not even when 20-30 people were assembled for a procedure, and the whale chose not to enter the medical pool. No big deal. Their choice and comfort were prioritized over human convenience.

It’s almost shocking to return to domestic animal medicine afterwards and watch owners use shock collars and chokers and whips to control their animals. It’s no wonder that positive reinforcement was pioneered by marine mammal trainers. When you literally can’t force an animal to do what you want, it changes your entire perspective.

I want to see that mindset extended to our domestic animals.

[starheartworkshops]

Hello, Sweethearts! I have new redesigns of some of my stim and fidget pals tab! I hope you enjoy and will bring home these redesigns - reminder that my entire shop is 31% off until Halloween, so the base prices below at the date of posting this are a little lower than usual!

Axolotl and Whale Shark Bracelet - $16 USD

Whale Shark School Bracelet - $16 USD

Rainbow Beluga Bracelets - $13 USD

Every US order $35 has free shipping, I ship internationally, my inbox is always open if you have questions, and boosts are appreciated!

[antiqueanimals]

Walt Disney's White Wilderness: Animals of the Arctic. By Robert Louvain and the Staff of the Walt Disney Studio. 1958.

Internet Archive

[blackandwhiteproductions]

Beluga Whales uwv at SeaWorld in San Diego 17 September 2024

[aquatic-batt]

character design dump!! shoutout to @drofpoop for suggesting I make the last two :3

[moonwatcher3]

Rant :3

INLOVE THE OCEAN SO MUCH OMG

it’s so pretty!!! i love love love it! seawings are one of my favorite dragons because they live in the ocean after all but anyway

BELUGAS.

I HATE THEM.

they’re so creepy. they make me mad 😭 i’m watching one of those ocean videos that records sea animals in aquariums and stuff, they’re showing belugas as i type this. THEYRE SO WEIRD. the way they look when they swim just makes me so freaking mad and uncomfortable and genuinely upset. they want to be whales so bad but jokes on them they got a big giant head a small mouth and ugly way too long bodies. ICK. they look so weird and bony and ew ew ew.

in darkstalker Indigo was so real for preferring to think of Fathoms “beluga” as a dolphin. those guys have horror stories sure but they’re like a billion trillion times cuter and cooler looking than belugas. the video is playing dolphins not in-fact, they’re just so much better than belugas 🥰 if i had to pick one animal to remove from the earth without any consequences i would pick beluga. they might be cool and all to some of yall but i would live my life gladly knowing that belugas had never existed, actually no i wouldn’t BECAUSE THEY WOULDNT EXIST 😡😡

[quillusquillus]

can we talk about how everyone says beluga whales are "called canaries of the sea" literally every time they're talked about in documentaries but nobody actually calls them that except the documentaries

[scooby-doo-exploration]

cristalplanetheart

[dykescooby]

I kissed a beluga whale

[orcinus-veterinarius]

Are dolphins still being captured for aquariums/parks and is it ethical (or complicated?)

Thanks for the ask! Yes, captures unfortunately do still occur in unregulated countries, though far less frequently than in the past. One of the most infamous examples is the annual dolphin drive in Taiji, Japan. While the main purpose of this hunt is to kill animals for meat, a small number of young, attractive dolphins are kept alive each year for sale. Nowadays, only unaccredited institutions purchase these dolphins, and even the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums now prohibits its members from acquiring captured dolphins. Although Taiji is the most well-known, the majority of cetaceans captured from the wild in the 2000s/2010s came from Russia, which recently prohibited the practice.

Western parks and aquariums have not purchased wild-captured cetaceans in decades. The last captures in US waters occurred in 1989, and the last foreign imports were in the early 1990s (long before widespread public sentiment turned against dolphinariums). I do not believe the practice was ethical, and almost all my colleagues would agree with me. Some of them were indeed brutal affairs, such as the infamous Penn Cove captures, in which several young Southern Resident killer whales (including the famous Tokitae) were taken. Multiple animals were inadvertently killed, and the hunters clumsily attempted to hide the deaths by stuffing the whales’ corpses with rocks. The bodies resurfaced, and following public backlash orca captures were no longer performed in the US.

As awareness of animal welfare grew amongst scientists and the general public in the 70s and 80s, collections of smaller cetacean species became considerably less vicious. They were typically supervised by a veterinarian, and care was taken to ensure animals were not physically harmed. However, these were still undeniably stressful to the animals.

I’m glad the practice stopped. Dolphins are not endangered, and I don’t think we can justify the trauma of removing healthy young animals from their pods. Of course, I make exceptions for individuals that are ill, injured, or a danger to themselves or humans (like Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s Izzy)—and these situations are never taken lightly. And if a species ever became endangered (highly unlikely for bottlenose, but a possibility for belugas), that would also be cause for reevaluation.

Dolphins do quite well in modern accredited aquariums. In the United States, all managed dolphins were either born in human care or have been out of the wild for over 30 years (excluding non-releasable rescues). While there are valid concerns about cetacean captivity, ongoing wild capture is not one of them.

[dogitraining]

If you want to train your dog well in 7 days then LEARN MORE

Getting the hang of anything about marine well evolved creature preparing will make you reexamine such a great deal your relationship with your own pets. There is such a lot of power engaged with the manner in which we handle homegrown creatures. Its vast majority isn't even purposeful, it simply comes from eagerness. I'm at fault for it myself!

However, except for specific veterinary settings where the creature's wellbeing is the quick need, for what reason is it so vital to us that creatures do precisely exact thing we need precisely when we need it? For what reason do we need to concoct this large number of instruments and contraptions to drive them to act?

If you want to train your dog well in 7 days then LEARN MORE

At the point when a whale swam away from a meeting, that was that. The mentor only sat tight for them to choose to return. On the off chance that they absolutely wouldn't partake in ways of behaving, they actually got their portion of fish. Nothing terrible occurred. Not in any event, when 20-30 individuals were gathered for a method, and the whale decided not to enter the clinical pool. Not a problem. Their decision and solace were focused on over human comfort.

It's practically surprising to get back to homegrown creature medication subsequently and watch proprietors use shock restraints and chokers and whips to control their creatures. It's no big surprise that encouraging feedback was spearheaded by marine warm blooded creature coaches. At the point when you in a real sense can't drive a creature to do what you need, it significantly impacts your whole viewpoint.

I need to see that attitude stretched out to our homegrown creatures.

If you want to train your dog well in 7 days then LEARN MORE

[antiqueanimals]

Walt Disney's White Wilderness: Animals of the Arctic. By Robert Louvain and the Staff of the Walt Disney Studio. 1958.

Internet Archive

[blackandwhiteproductions]

[awetistic-things]

the dolphin hate is crazy 😭