{"id":8707,"date":"2014-03-12T08:44:31","date_gmt":"2014-03-12T12:44:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8707"},"modified":"2014-03-12T08:44:31","modified_gmt":"2014-03-12T12:44:31","slug":"california-lawmaker-to-propose-ban-on-orcas-in-captivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8707","title":{"rendered":"California Lawmaker to Propose Ban on Orcas in Captivity"},"content":{"rendered":"

If passed, the bill would be the most comprehensive protection law for captive orcas in the United States in more than 40 years.<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

By David Kirby<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/div>\n
David Kirby has been a professional journalist for 25 years. His third book, ‘Death at Seaworld,’ was published in 2012.<\/p>\n
full bio<\/a> follow me <\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n

In a surprising move that is sure to send shock waves across the entire captive whale and dolphin industry, a California lawmaker will propose legislation to outlaw Shamu shows at SeaWorld San Diego.<\/p>\n

State Assemblymember Richard Bloom, D\u2013Santa Monica, will introduce Friday the Orca Welfare and Safety Act, which would make it illegal to \u201chold in captivity, or use, a wild-caught or captive-bred orca for performance or entertainment purposes.\u201d The bill would also ban artificial insemination of captive killer whales in California and block the import of orcas or orca semen from other states.<\/p>\n

Violators would face a fine up to $100,000 and\/or six months in a county jail.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is\u00a0no justification for the continued captive display of orcas for entertainment purposes,\u201d Bloom declared in a written statement prior to a press conference to be held at the Santa Monica Pier.\u00a0\u201cThese beautiful creatures are much too large and far too intelligent to be confined in small, concrete pens for their entire lives. It is time to end the\u00a0practice of keeping orcas captive for human amusement.\u201d<\/p>\n

ccording to Bloom, the law would be \u201cthe most comprehensive protection law for captive orcas in the United States in over 40 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the terms of the bill, all 10 orcas held in tanks at SeaWorld San Diego, the only California facility that has whales, \u201cshall be rehabilitated and returned to the wild where possible.\u201d If that is not possible, then the whales must be \u201ctransferred and held in a sea pen that is open to the public and not used for performance or entertainment purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exempt from the legislation are any orcas held for rehabilitation after a rescue or stranding, or for research purposes. But even these animals would have to be returned to the ocean or sent to a sea pen.<\/p>\n

It is not the first time state lawmakers have tried to outlaw the captivity of killer whales, the world\u2019s largest dolphin. South Carolina passed a bill in 1992 against captivity for dolphins and porpoises following efforts by the South Carolina Humane Society to stop a proposed dolphin park in Myrtle Beach. Just last month, New York state Sen. Greg Ball, R-Carmel, introduced a bill to ban orca captivity in that state.<\/p>\n

Of course, there are no captive orcas in South Carolina or New York, making the California bill far more than a symbolic gesture.<\/p>\n

At least five countries\u2014India, Croatia, Hungary, Chile, and Costa Rica\u2014have also outlawed all cetacean captivity, while Switzerland has banned captivity for dolphins.<\/p>\n

Dr. Naomi Rose, marine mammal scientist at the Animal Welfare Institute, said the bill was inspired by the orcas-in-captivity documentary Blackfish<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Blackfish<\/em> effect has never been in greater evidence\u2014everything has led to this, the first serious legislative proposal to prohibit the captive display of this highly intelligent and social species,\u201d Rose wrote in an email. \u201cSeaWorld should join with this effort rather than continue to fight it. They can be on the right side of history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assemblymember Bloom reached out to Gabriela Cowperthwaite, the director of Blackfish<\/em>, for help with the bill, who in turn consulted with Rose.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not<\/em> initiate this proposal,\u201d Rose wrote. \u201cBut once they reached out to us, we dove in wholeheartedly and assisted in every way we could\u2014helping with the bill language, information, and fact-gathering, and getting support from various sectors of the public, including the scientific community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rose also gave credit to former SeaWorld trainers featured in the documentary for supporting the legislation. Rose, Cowperthwaite, and former SeaWorld trainers Carol Ray and John Hargrove were scheduled to appear with Bloom at the Friday press conference.<\/p>\n

Should the bill become law, SeaWorld might want to look at other highly successful aquariums that do not keep cetaceans in swimming pools. The Monterey Aquarium in northern California, for example, is routinely packed with visitors, without a single whale or dolphin in sight.<\/p>\n

In South Carolina, where orcas will likely never entertain people, staffers at the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston routinely direct visitors to local waterways if they want to see dolphins.<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n

6 ways you can help save captive whales right now<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If passed, the bill would be the most comprehensive protection law for captive orcas in the United States in more than 40 years.
\n 
\nBy David Kirby<\/p>\n

David Kirby has been a professional journalist for 25 years. His third book, ‘Death at Seaworld,’ was published in 2012.
\nfull bio follow me <\/p>\n

In a surprising move that is sure to send shock waves across the entire captive whale and dolphin industry, a California lawmaker will propose legislation to outlaw Shamu shows at SeaWorld San Diego.
\nState Assemblymember Richard Bloom, D\u2013Santa Monica, will introduce Friday the Orca Welfare and Safety Act, which would make it illegal to \u201chold in captivity, or use, a wild-caught or captive-bred orca for performance or entertainment purposes.\u201d The bill would also ban artificial insemination of captive killer whales in California and block the import of orcas or orca semen from other states.
\nViolators would face a fine up to $100,000 and\/or six months …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[138,60,171,59,90,172,176,40,85,82,498,154,204,11,32,31,17,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alert","category-conservation","category-divetalking-2","category-dolphin","category-earth","category-education","category-extinction","category-featured","category-killer-whale","category-ocean","category-orca","category-preservation","category-recognition","category-reefs","category-reference","category-report","category-training","category-whales"],"yoast_head":"\nCalifornia Lawmaker to Propose Ban on Orcas in Captivity - Divetalking<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Divetalking\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8707\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"California Lawmaker to Propose Ban on Orcas in Captivity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Divetalking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8707\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Divetalking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Divetalking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-12T12:44:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.takepart.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/thumbnail_v2\/public\/profiles\/photos\/david_kirby_120x120.jpg?itok=1e1ahihH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=8707#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=8707\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/02d5721103fd9d171fcc8cfb74d80947\"},\"headline\":\"California Lawmaker to Propose Ban on Orcas in Captivity\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-12T12:44:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=8707\"},\"wordCount\":745,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=8707#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.takepart.com\\\/sites\\\/default\\\/files\\\/styles\\\/thumbnail_v2\\\/public\\\/profiles\\\/photos\\\/david_kirby_120x120.jpg?itok=1e1ahihH\",\"articleSection\":[\"Alert\",\"Conservation\",\"Divetalking\",\"Dolphin\",\"Earth\",\"Education\",\"extinction\",\"Featured\",\"Killer Whale\",\"ocean\",\"Orca\",\"Preservation\",\"Recognition\",\"Reefs\",\"Reference\",\"Report\",\"Training\",\"Whales\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=8707\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=8707\",\"name\":\"California Lawmaker to Propose Ban on Orcas in Captivity - 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