#that man has so many stories to tell

[namu-the-orca]

In regards to the late-stage Bottlenose dolphin captures in the Gulf of Mexico: I've had the chance to speak to someone who actually worked there as a dolphin collector in the 80's. This is George Kieffer, who is a marine biologist with experience studying wild dolphins, as well as training them in various marine facilities. It was a fascinating and informative conversation, and really changed my opinion on how stressful capture has to be.

Of course there are capture methods that are undeniably stressful, think of the drive hunts in Japan. But the way these young Bottlenoses were captured in the Gulf seemed - to me - actually quite humane. It is more or less the same capture method that is still used on the dolphins in Sarasota Bay to this day, for research purposes.

To begin with there was a a very careful selection of which dolphins could be caught. Adults were off-limits because they have a status within the community. They are important members who rely on and are relied upon by others, and taking them out would leave a power vacuum. Babies of course cannot be taken either, if not for the cruelty then for the fact they still need to nurse.

Only the small pods of juveniles were targeted: they are basically on their own, not dependent upon anyone outside their group. They have left their mother and, although they would normally return to her (if female) or team up with a partner (if male), they are not missed by the rest of the community if they disappear, as crude as it sounds.

Once a small pod was located in waters shallow enough for humans to stand in comfortably, a very large net was laid out in a circle around them. At first the circle was so big the dolphins didn't even notice they had been trapped, and they simply continued on their way. Slowly the net was pulled in, making the circle tighter and tighter. However, even when it became clear the dolphins had nowhere to go, they remained calm.

Unlike trapping methods of the 60s, which relied on the dolphins panicking and entangling themselves in the nets, humans now entered into the netted circle to prevent exactly that. And then they just waited for the dolphins to approach. Because no matter how alien the whole experience, the young dolphins were so curious that they voluntarily swim up to the humans. When close enough, the dolphin would be grabbed and brought onto the boat. There they were put on a foam mat and kept moist until the others were collected too. Again, throughout all this, the dolphins remained completely calm. If they freaked out, started breathing too fast or squirming too much, they would simply be released back into the wild and not captured again. However this was very rarely the case, as far as George had experienced. Usually the dolphins vocalised a bit while they were on the boat alone, but as soon as they were joined by another dolphin they quickly calmed down.

What surprised me most however, was to hear how the dolphins were utterly untraumatised by the capture. In fact, some seemed to consider it a game! When George collected dolphins for USA marine parks he sometimes had to return an animal who was considered "too ugly" for display: i.e. with a tattered dorsal fin or a big scar. He'd often come across the same individual again on later capture runs, but rather than turning and swimming away, they would let themselves be captured all over again without a fuss. Some dolphins he captured five or six times and they'd still be as calm as the day they first saw humans on the boat.

After the dolphins were taken to the holding facility to acclimate, they would be closely monitored. They needed to adapt to taking dead fish, and this is an important milestone. If they refused to eat after three days, or were freaking out, these dolphins too would be returned to the wild - exactly to the spot where they were captured, so they would have no trouble finding their way around.

Now, I am still against the collection of new dolphins from the wild - mostly because there is no need. But if collection were to take place, this honestly does not feel like such a bad way, at least from a welfare perspective. The wild dolphins left behind do not suffer from the absence of the individuals taken, the captured dolphins are stress-free and basically choose to live their life in captivity and work with people, and if they do freak out anywhere along the line, they can simply go back home.

It was really interesting for me to learn all this. Wild capture was one of those things I just automatically held for 'bad', but this offered a different perspective. Again, still morally objectionable, but from a welfare perspective... not that bad.

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.

[thatone-highlighter]

I love you albums. I love you songs connected by similar themes. I love you listening to songs in a specific order picked by the artist. I love you reoccurring motifs throughout the same album. I love you album covers. I love you albums with extended editions. I love you songs that reference each other.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Broken Roofs and Fixed Perspectives

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[britcision]

Someone confiscate the Kabumisu Rapunzel AU from me, I am not starting a long form anything until my DPxDC novel is done but also I am ONLY capable of doing it wrong

Because:

Kabru MUST be Rapunzel. Mandatory. Milsiril is not letting that little bitch out of her tower. (Also his Main Character Energy)

Mithrun has less than zero drive to do anything ever up to and including wandering around in lonely tower infested woods to find said lost princess

These can only be resolved by Mithrun also already being inside the tower and then we’re into Beauty and The Beast territory too with the Forbidden Room but instead of Cursed Flower there is Cursed Hottie

Tbh Labrumisu would solve this problem where’s my threesome shippers we need ONE (1) character with some goddamn initiative

(Sadly still can’t be me I do not ship Laios in general he’s just not got that Ship Juice)

Milsiril just has such perfect villain vibes and okay I’m selling myself on the Labrumisu because if Laios comes in to kidnap one of her babies (and her broken former coworker) there’s a 50-50 on whether Milsiril just decides he’s young enough to adopt

This is now a main character hoarding situation Falin and Marcille have to come rescue Laios and also his boyfriends from the crazy sword elf and her army of dolls

Which is why I can’t write this one.

Look at that.

Look what happened in like 5 bullet points.

The rails have been OBLITERATED but also it’s just got such good legs someone take this idea and run with it to somewhere very different and much simpler than I am capable of

[dingodad]

to be fair i think the reasons why i believe quadrants r fake versus why i believe classpects r fake are pretty crucially different. like homestuck kind of goes out of its way to trick you into thinking classpects could be real whereas i genuinely dont think hussie ever expected anyone to read about moirallegience and think wow... so romantic.. i want that in my life ❤ LOL

[vaguely-concerned]

just going about my day idly contemplating how some of the ways hawke can interact with a romanced anders are not at all unlike how they interact with leandra (and a bit of carver too, especially with a purple hawke), and then thought about my hawke in the timeline where he romances anders and was hit straight in the face with 'was he ever actually in love, or was he just desperately trying to renegotiate with his mother's ghost in any way he could' and now i need to lie down. this is the power of dragon age 2

[dykedvonte]

If Ulysses has a million haters, then I'm one of them. If Ulysses has one hater, then I'm THAT ONE. If Ulysses has no haters, that means I'm dead. If the world is with Ulysses than I’m against the world.

[itspileofgoodthings]

I think the writing is gentle, often funny, and sustained (overall) but it’s the acting and the chemistry that takes it to the next level.

[medicinemane]

Should make a pain killer that actually kills (or even touches) pain

[bitchfitch]

somebody shoot me with a gun until I am dead before I write the first chapter of that pirate thing for like. Genuinely the eighth or ninth time.

[thathilomgirl]

[symbologic]

Recently saw a discussion on Twitter about why Skypiea gets more hate in the West than in the East

The easy answer is: Blame dudebros and powerscalers who care more about fights than about story (to which they will argue arcs like Impel Down and Marineford were FULL of story), or privileged people feeling uncomfy about the anti-colonialist themes (even though, let's be real, those themes are probably lost on the average Western reader :/)

But Skypiea hate in the West wasn't always a thing. At the time it was being released, most English-speaking fans who were keeping up with OP scanlations and K-F fansubs genuinely enjoyed it.

I honestly think part of the Skypiea hate has to do with a trend we've seen over the past decade, where Western audiences are so, so quick to label certain story elements as "filler" without considering their thematic importance and how it ties into the story the author wants to tell.

Basically, Western audiences have become obsessed with hyper-optimized, fast-paced storytelling that leaves little room to breathe

If the people and politics of an arc are beyond the scope or interest of the story's main antagonists, it's suddenly dismissed as filler that detracts from "more important" things

This attitude is not limited to One Piece alone.

[334iwatchshit]

being a thor fan is so tough cuase like

yes. he is a literal god. yes. he's my meow meow.

yes. i do like tlat and ragnarok. no. that is not how he would ever act.

and no. marvel will not give us new content,hold your comics close to your heart.

[hxroic-wxlls-fxrever]

“ Oh, fusion? I’ve-a done that, before. “

The result?

MAGNIFICENT

[vexx-the-egg]

Whenever a fandom is like "I've seen straight women act X around eachother therefore this ship is impossible and not gay" I roll my big gay Bisexual eyes like a hamster wheel.

[revclver-jesus]

{{ Btw! I was thinking about this eating breakfast but just a reminder that Takaya canonically carries this model of gun according to the creators lmao

where in the world did he get the most powerful revolver in the world.... how....... did he buy it from the black market I....... }}