A win for the SeaWorld Orcas

SeaWorld To Change Its Criticized Orca Show After Next Year : The Two-Way : NPR:

SeaWorld has been deluged by negative publicity over how its parks treat killer whales, or orcas. The 2013 documentary Blackfish — which delved into the death of marine-mammal trainer Dawn Brancheau — highlighted the alleged toll years of captivity can take on the animals.

The company's market value has plummeted since the documentary was shown on CNN. And some lawmakers began taking up the animal-rights activists' cause. Last year, California state lawmakers pushed legislation that would prohibit SeaWorld from using orcas in its shows. And this past Friday, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., introduced a bill in Congress that would "prohibit the breeding, the taking (wild capture), and the import or export of orcas for the purposes of public display."

On Monday during a webcast, SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby announced changes to the orca shows. Manby said the new show would be "informative" and take place in a more "natural" setting. Manby did not specify whether the changes would apply only to its San Diego park or if they would be extended to its two other parks, in Orlando and San Antonio.

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An increase in the number of irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong

Some good news this week about the Irrawaddy dolphins of the Mekong River. A joint report from the Cambodian government and the World Wildlife Foundation tells how, following decades of seemingly irreversible decline, the population is increasing. They report the number of dolphins in the region has risen from 80 to 92 in the past two years—the first increase since scientists began keeping records more than twenty years ago. The first official census in 1997 estimated that there were 200 Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong, a figure that fell steadily due to bycatch and habitat loss. By 2015, only 80 dolphins remained. The recent census showed that more dolphins are surviving into adulthood, and there’s been a significant drop in overall deaths. Nine calves were born this year, raising the number of dolphins born in the past three years to 32. Seng Teak, Country Director of WWF Cambodia, said the census had positive implications for the Greater Mekong region, wher...

A blue whale spotted in Tasmanian waters - only the eighth sighting in six years

There have only been eight blue whale sightings in southeast Tasmanian waters in the last six years so the Marine Conservation Program was naturally a little bit excited this week.

The blue whale in the red sea

Huge Blue Whale Sighted in the Red Sea for the First Time | Smart News | Smithsonian : "On Tuesday morning, a fisherman off the coast of Eilat, Israel spotted something unexpected: a huge whale swimming along in the Red Sea. Experts were even more surprised to discover that the creature was a blue whale—marking the first time that the world’s largest mammal has been seen in the Red Sea, as Zafrir Rinat and Almog Ben Zikri report for Haaretz. Two days after it popped up in Israeli waters, Egypt’s environment ministry announced that the animal had also been sighted in the Red Sea’s Gulf of Aqaba, according to Aham Online. The ministry revealed that the whale measures 24 meters (nearly 80 feet) long, and belongs to a subspecies known as the pygmy blue whale. Monitoring teams in the South Sinai and the Red Sea have been deployed to track the whale’s movements." 'via Blog this'

Whales and other cetaceans

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