Tag Archives: Dolphins

Great Barrier Reef: Australia to put in place urgent safeguarding measures requested by UNESCO

Paris, June, 2023 – UNESCO welcomes Australia’s decision to implement urgent new protection measures to safeguard the Great Barrier Reef recommended by UNESCO. The measures include a ban on fishing with gillnets. The Australian government formalized its commitments in a letter addressed to Audrey Azoulay, the Director General of UNESCO this week.
 
“The Great Barrier Reef is a fragile jewel of world heritage. For many years, UNESCO has not ceased alerting the world to the risk of this site losing its universal value forever. We have proposed several concrete measures which provide a roadmap for tackling the problem. I am delighted that the dialogue between our experts and the Australian authorities has now resulted in a set of formal commitments,” said Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO’s Director-General.
 
For many years, UNESCO has sounded the alarm on the Great Barrier Reef.
In 2021, with regard to very worrying data on the reef’s poor state of conservation, experts at the Organization went as far as to recommend the site was inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger. This warning had global resonance.  

The fruits of a long process of discussion  
In March 2022, a UNESCO-IUCN joint mission travelled to the Great Barrier Reef in order to examine the reef in even greater detail, and to dialogue with all the relevant actors: public sector decision-makers, scientists and non-government organizations (NGOs). In their report, the experts confirmed that due to the threats posed by pollution, over-fishing and the rise in sea temperatures, the outlook for the Great Barrier Reef was worrying.   UNESCO and the IUCN also emphasized that the implementation of corrective measures could significantly improve the state of conservation of the reef, listing ten precisely-defined actions the Australian authorities should take.   In July 2022, Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO’s Director-General, met with the new Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese and recalled the urgency of taking action. A discussion between UNESCO experts and the Australian authorities followed, with the aim of establishing an implementation plan for the ten priority measures including costs and timetable.   This process has just been completed. In a letter addressed to Audrey Azoulay, the Minister of the Environment, Tanya Plibersek announced that the urgent new measures for the protection of the Great Barrier Reef UNESCO had requested, would be carried out.
 
Key Measures  
In the letter the Australian government committed notably to: Create no-fishing zones in a third of the World Heritage site by the end of 2024, and to ban gill net fishing altogether by 2027; Reach water quality improvement targets by 2025, by significantly reducing pollutant discharges from farmers and industrialists, and restoring flora and fauna in drainage basins; Set successively more ambitious CO2 emissions reduction targets, in alignment with efforts to limit global temperature increase to 1.5°C. This comes in addition to the measures already announced by the Australian authorities in recent months.   UNESCO will closely monitor the effective implementation of these measures. The state of conservation of the Great Barrier Reef will be examined again by the World Heritage Committee at its 45th extended session (September 10-25, Saudi Arabia).
https://youtu.be/bb01n4uQZL0

USA’s first-ever Olympic Surf Team and Wyland Foundation partner for healthy oceans

Rancho Santa Margarita–To commemorate USA Surfing’s first ever event at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, renowned marine life artist Wyland created a limited time commemorative USA Surf collection with a signature Octopus in his beautiful Japanese-influenced Gyotaku style. This lucky Octopus shows up throughout the collection.

See the full limited time commemorative USA Surf collection by Wyland Foundation here: https://wylandfoundation.org/product-category/usa-surfing/

Proceeds support the ocean conservation partnership between USA Surfing and the Wyland Foundation.

Orders are NOW ready to ship.

WSL and Olympic surfer / artist Courtney Conlogue recently joined Wyland at his studio to talk surfers, dolphins and the Olympics.

About the Wyland Foundation

Founded in 1993 by environmental artist Wyland, the Wyland Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, protecting, and preserving the world’s ocean, waterways, and marine life. The foundation encourages environmental awareness through community events, education programs, and public art projects. This year the Wyland National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation marks its 10th anniversary promoting health of U.S. waters.

Canada Passes Bill Ending Captivity Of Whales & Dolphins

OTTAWA, CANADA (June, 2019) – In Defense of Animals applauds Canada’s passing of Bill S-203, the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act, which passed through the House of Commons in Ottawa, Canada on Monday, June 10, 2019.

First introduced by Senator Wilfrid Moore in 2015, the legislation will officially make it illegal to hold any cetacean in captivity, for reasons other than rehabilitation and scientific research. Breeding or trading reproductive materials of whales and dolphins will also be prohibited. Any breach of this ban carries fines of up to $200,000.

“We applaud Canada for passing this progressive legislation, since whales and dolphins suffer greatly in captivity, no matter the size of the tank,” said Marilyn Kroplick M.D., President of In Defense of Animals. “The overwhelming support for this ban demonstrates how many Canadians are opposed to the inherent cruelty of keeping and breeding cetaceans.”

Two facilities currently hold cetaceans captive within Canada.

Vancouver Aquarium holds one dolphin captive. The ‘beluga breeding mill’ was shamed in #9th place on In Defense of Animals’ Ten Worst Tanks list, and faced significant public pressure regarding its cruel activities from many concerned citizens including world-famous Dr. Jane Goodall and thousands of In Defense of Animals supporters. The Vancouver Parks Board passed a captive cetacean ban in 2017, prompting the Aquarium to announce its plans to phase out its cetacean exhibit.

Marineland in Ontario is placed as #2 Worst Tank and continues to hold captive more than 50 belugas, five bottlenose dolphins, and Canada’s last captive orca. All of these animals will be grandfathered in, so the passing of the Ending the Captivity of Whale and Dolphin Act will not directly impact them. However, Marineland will be required to halt all captive breeding at its facility, ultimately putting an end to the cetacean captivity industry throughout Canada.

Over 10,000 members of In Defense of Animals contacted Canadian decision-makers to support this historic bill, demonstrating significant public support for this important animal protection legislation.

Keeping dolphins and whales in captivity, forcing them to perform degrading tricks and being placed on perpetual display, is archaic and not in line with scientific discoveries about their significant cognitive and emotional sophistication.

The time has come for the unethical captive animal industry to dissolve–and Canada has taken steps to ensure this will happen. We urge Marineland to abide by the spirit of the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act, and the wishes of the Canadian people who stand by this landmark legislation, and release the dolphins and whales it holds captive to seaside sanctuaries.
For the Silo, Laura Bridgeman/IDA In Defense of Animals.

Animal Organizations Plead For Dolphins Exclusion In New Mississippi Aquarium

Gulfport, Miss. – Last week,  19 international animal protection organizations  joined forces for World Oceans Day  to plead for dolphins to be excluded from the new Mississippi Aquarium, slated to open in 2019. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Born Free Foundation, and Sonar are among the organizations that signed In Defense of Animals’ letter on behalf of the dolphins to Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes and Gulfport Redevelopment Commission Chairperson, Carole Lynn Meadows. Over 175,000 people have now spoken out against the plans to keep captive dolphins at the Mississippi Aquarium.

“Animal organizations are uniting on World Oceans Day to urge Mayor Hewes to keep dolphins in the oceans where they belong,” said In Defense of Animals cetacean scientist, Dr. Toni Frohoff. “There is simply no justification for keeping these highly intelligent and sensitive animals captive. Animal entertainment  is quickly going out of fashion, making any new investment into it a very bad idea.”

Major public opposition has been building against the planned dolphin exhibit at the Mississippi Aquarium in recent months. Over 15,000 In Defense of Animals supporters have written to Hewes and Meadows since the plans were revealed. A former dolphin trainer at Gulfport’s Marine Life Oceanarium has amassed almost 160,000 supporters for her petition calling on Mississippi Governor Bryant not to redirect $17 million of BP deepwater drilling disaster restoration funds to build the Aquarium.

Mississippi Aquarium’s choice of President, David Kimmel (formerly CEO of the Georgia Aquarium) is almost as controversial as the plan to display captive dolphins. Under Kimmel’s tenure, Georgia Aquarium made an extremely controversial attempt to capture and import 18 wild beluga whales from Russia.

“So long as Mississippi Aquarium plans to exploit dolphins, opposition will continue to grow,” said Dr. Frohoff. “City planners should heed the alarm bells before it is too late. The Aquarium is burdened with a controversial President, questionable ability to find funding, competition with existing and new aquariums, and is relying on roughly $57usd million of taxpayer dollars before it has even opened its doors. Keeping dolphins alive in captivity presents a significant financial burden, and in light of declining revenues at SeaWorld, it is simply not worth gambling away Gulfport money.”

While opposition to dolphin captivity grows in Mississippi, a sea-change is being felt across the country and around the world. SeaWorld ended orca breeding last year and announced that it is phasing out orca captivity in all three of its parks in Florida, Texas, and California. Last month, the Vancouver Aquarium was banned from keeping or breeding cetaceans, and now the Canadian Senate is considering a nationwide ban on cetacean captivity. France and India are among several countries that have put laws in place to protect dolphins and other cetaceans from being held captive in recent years. For the Silo, Fleur Dawes.

For more information, please visit www.idausa.org/dolphins

Featured image: travelblog.org

How do you feel about dolphins and other sea life being held and displayed in aquariums and other indoor/outdoor stadiums? Leave your comments below.

www.idausa.org/10WorstTanks

www.thepetitionsite.com/353/506/007