Watch as Two Divers Narrowly Avoid being Eaten by Humpback Whales [VIDEO]

A pair of dive instructors killing time in the water before their next class had a close encounter with a much bigger pair: two humpback whales breaching the surface to feed within arm’s reach of the men.

Whales breach near divers

A school of tasty sardines swam to where the men were in the water, followed in hot pursuit by the whales.

The encounter was caught on film by crew members aboard their diving boat while the group was about two miles out from Morro Bay along the Central California coast.

Shawn Stamback, one of two men in the water, told Pete Thomas Outdoors that he has seen the humpback whales feeding about a quarter-mile away when he and Francis Antigua got into the water with snorkeling gear and cameras to pass time before their next scuba dive.

“We were just floating around in the water, hoping to get some shots of the whales in the distance, when all of a sudden the sardines started going crazy,” Stamback said.

In the video, which has been edited to show footage from the surface and underwater, countless sardines appear out of nowhere, skipping violently across the water and swarming a camera under the surface. The footage cuts to above water in time to see the two humpback whales breaching the surface like a pair of synchronized swimmers, each narrowly missing a mouthful of diver as they devour the fish.

The whales can be seen briefly in the background as the video begins, but they quickly disappear from view. After the ordeal, one of the divers admitted that he knew it was going to happen, but seemed to be unfazed by the close encounter. The man filming the episode jokes, “You’re going to have to do more to clean that wetsuit.”

Humpback whales can weigh up to 40 tons and are common in the waters along the Central California coast. The mammals feed on krill and small schooling fish.

Harassing whales or interfering with their behavior is illegal and boaters are advised to stay at least 100 feet away from the creatures if seen in the water.

Monica DeAngelis, a mammal expert with the National Marine Fisheries Service, told Pete Thomas Outdoors that it was unclear based on the video whether the divers were violating any laws.

“[But] they certainly are lucky no one got hurt,” she said. “In addition, they were clearly closer than the [100-foot] recommended guidelines.”

The men were unharmed in the incident, though the close encounter is sure to be a story they will not soon forget.

News Link:-http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/3105/20130722/watch-two-divers-narrowly-avoid-being-eaten-humpback-whales-video.htm

Whales almost eat Divers (Original Version)

Published on 20 Jul 2013

While Diving Souza Rock on the Central california Coast Divers have a close call with HumpBack Whales.

Camera men: Jay Hebrard Francis Antigua Jeremy Bonnett Shawn Stamback
Aboard the Dive boat “Magic” of SLODIVERS

Make a Splash: Free Lolita!

The show is designed to make people believe Lolita is having fun.

Meet Lolita: an intelligent and sensitive orca, confined to the smallest orca tank in North America.

This life means daily misery for Lolita, but big bucks for the Miami Seaquarium. And, even though her shameful living conditions clearly violate the Animal Welfare Act, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) continues to hand out AWA licenses to the Seaquarium.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund is outraged and petitioning the USDA to give Lolita the justice she so rightly deserves.

Lolita was one of seven orcas kidnapped in the notorious 1970 Penn Cove round up in Puget Sound, Washington. In this horrific event, when four orcas (three calves) drowned in the nets, their bellies were slit in an attempt by human captors to sink the bodies and perhaps to hide this shameful waste of life. However, the bodies of the dead orcas washed ashore and lead to righteous public outrage. You can hear the cries of Lolita and her family in the devastating video footage of her family’s capture.

“For some reason I couldn’t see the video that would play on that page; so I have included this video instead, which has some of the soundtrack from that capture!”

Killer Whale Captures

Uploaded by alanhclips on 31 Aug 2009

Footage shot by KING TV in the early 1970’s of the early killer whale captures in Puget Sound.

“In this video one of the divers from that day, explains what happened, he still shed tears to this day!”

“Orca Stories” from “Baby Wild Films Presents: The Killer Whale People”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUlbZifjoqo

“Another video that show’s part of capture of the whales”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN52iBH4IPY

“A promo stunt goes badly wrong when a theme park secretary is given the opportunity to ride on the back of a killer whale; but it goes terribly wrong & the women ends up having over 100 stitches to close the wound on her leg! I don’t think this whale did this out of malice, I think it’s out of sheer frustration; the pools they swim in are like bath tubs to the orcas!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DqqNDnGO00&feature=related

“Please sign the petition, do anything you can to have these beautiful mammals put back where they belong…in the WILD”

In the wild, orcas spend their entire lives with their mothers and family bonds last a lifetime. In 1996, twenty-six years after her capture, Lolita was played a recording of her family’s calls. Heartbreakingly, Lolita returned the distinct dialect of her family’s calls, in clear recognition of familiar voices. And at more than 80 years old, Lolita’s mother still thrives in a seaside sanctuary in their home waters, just waiting for Lolita to come home.

Performers literally ride on Lolita’s back for profit.

Instead, because she brings in profit, Lolita swims tiny circles in a shallow and barren cement tank that doesn’t meet the minimum requirements of the Animal Welfare Act. Constantly exposed to the burning Miami sun and tropical storms, Lolita has been without any orca companion for three decades.

In the beginning, Lolita had the company of Hugo, a male orca who shared her tank from 1971 until 1980. They mated, but in her stressful environment Lolita suffered unsuccessful pregnancies. In 1980, in what many believe was a desperate attempt to break free from his miserable prison, or commit suicide, Hugo continuously rammed his head into the side of the tank and died of a brain aneurysm  Since Hugo’s sudden death in 1980, which left Lolita sulking at the bottom of her tank in a state “not unlike bereavement,” Lolita has not had a killer whale companion.

As a reward for her own extraordinary will to live, Lolita has been exploited for 42 years. She was abducted from her family and enslaved purely for the profit of the “amusement” park. Despite shameful and inhumane living conditions, Lolita endures – and her survivor spirit has haunted the hearts of people around the world. But given the low quality of her life at Seaquarium, it is likely she will die decades before her time, unless we act now, as we did for Keiko (“Willy”). It is time for us to set Lolita free.

Published on 22 Aug 2012 by ALDFstaff

 ALDF Fights to Free Lolita

This is why ALDF is doing everything it can to help return Lolita to her family. In addition to a petition to stop the USDA’s unmerited renewal of the Seaquarium’s AWA license, ALDF (along with PETA) is suing the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to end the exclusion of Lolita from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of the Pacific Northwest’s Southern Resident orcas.

ALDF is asking the courts to intervene where federal agencies – charged with protecting Lolita – have repeatedly failed her. “The horror of Lolita’s confinement is almost inconceivable” says Jenni James, litigation fellow at ALDF. “It is time for the government to grant her the legal protections she has been denied for decades.”

What You Can Do to Help

• Do not buy a ticket to any amusement park with captive orcas, especially the Miami Seaquarium.
• Educate yourself, educate your friends, and spread the word.
• Arrange a screening of Lolita: Slave to Entertainment at your school, community center, library, or local community television station.
• Do not support companies like Princess Cruises (a division of Carnival Cruises) that endorse animal cruelty at the Seaquarium.
• Contact the USDA and ask them to follow the law provided in the Animal Welfare Act.
• Sign ALDF’s Petition to the:- National Marine Fisheries Service.

More Information

• Award-winning documentary about Lolita, “Lolita: Slave to Entertainment.”
• What happens to Lolita if she is set free? Read the proposed retirement plan, which ALDF supports.
• Watch the Orca Project’s video, “A Better Way to See Orcas.”
• Copies of the lawsuit are available upon request.

News Link:-http://aldf.org/article.php?id=2202

• Related
• https://preciousjules1985.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/speak-out-for-better-protections-for-captive-orcas/
• https://preciousjules1985.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/government-refuses-to-protect-solitary-orca/
• https://preciousjules1985.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/lawsuit-to-free-lolita-the-killer-whale-dismissed/
• https://preciousjules1985.wordpress.com/2012/06/02/peta-aldf-appeal-courts-dismissal-of-lawsuit-seeking-lolitas-freedom/
• https://preciousjules1985.wordpress.com/2012/08/27/40-years-in-a-barren-tank-lolita-the-orca-waits-for-freedom/

Atlanta Aquarium wants to import new whales into confinement

Translated text:-The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, USA, is under fire because of the plan to import 18 beluga whales, captured in Russia, submitting them to a life in captivity and exploit them as if they were machines that have more to play and more pups, which are then utilized in marine parks around the country.

In a National Geographic article entitled ” We import belugas for display ? “Virginia Morell disagrees with the idea that aquariums need more beluga whales in captivity. “Those who are in captivity now go stale, perhaps alone, and die. Replacing them will cause damage and distress to other whales, which are torn from their families, who live very well in the natural environment, “said Virginia.

She describes for readers the life that belugas lead in their natural homes:

“Whales are highly sociable and gregarious. They make long journeys of migration, they have an impressive range of communication and, as the Dolphins (distant relatives), are able to use this feature in a variety of ways, including imitation of each other (a newly published study shows that the belugas can even mimic human). They like to hang out in the summer, shallow coastal waters, in large groups (sometimes gather in thousands) formed by close relatives – mothers, fathers, babies, aunts, uncles and cousins. Sometimes they travel alone to visit other members of the clan apart.

If we compare this to a life where their droppings are diluted in a water tank of a cement where the belugas and other marine mammals spend their days swimming in circles, deprived of everything they like, even the ability to vocalize.

Visitors come from aquariums, spend a few hours in the park, buy some souvenirs and then return home to continue with their lives. The animals aquarium tanks remain the same until the day they die.

Mobilization

Your voice is needed! Help stop the cruel plans of the Georgia Aquarium. Please contact the National Marine Fisheries Service of the United States and inform employees why they should deny permission for the import new aquarium whales.

Please use this link , there is a suggestion message to be sent to the agency.

Information provided by PETA.

News Link:-http://www.anda.jor.br/31/10/2012/aquario-de-atlanta-quer-importar-novas-baleias-para-confinamento

40 Years in a Barren Tank, Lolita the Orca Waits for Freedom

Published on 22 Aug 2012 by ALDFstaff

Lolita the orca is kept in a tank so small that it fails to meet minimum legal size requirements and offers no protection from the burning sun—clear violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Lolita was taken from her family as a young orca and has spent over 40 years in this barren tank, being forced to entertain Miami Sequarium patrons.

Help ALDF free Lolita, visit:  http://is.gd/AwOjCs

For more information on ALDF’s work to free Lolita, visit:http://aldf.org/article.php?id=2132

Speak Out for Better Protections for Captive Orcas Petition Information

Lolita is a solitary orca who has been confined to a tiny concrete tank at the Miami Seaquarium for more than 40 years. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) provides members of the wild Southern Resident orca population and other endangered animals with a host of protections, including protection against being harmed or harassed. Yet, despite being a member of the Southern Residents, Lolita has been denied all of these protections without any explanation by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).

The government’s failure to provide Lolita with the protections enjoyed by the wild members of her pod has enabled the Miami Seaquarium to keep her in conditions that violate the Endangered Species Act. Lolita must be granted the protections under federal law which she is rightfully due and which best ensure her survival and well-being, which—depending on her condition—could include transferring her to a sea pen in her home waters and releasing her back to her family pod.

In the wild, orcas live in tight family units with bonds that may last a lifetime. At Seaquarium, Lolita swims endless circles in a small, barren tank that does not comply with USDA regulations. This highly intelligent and social animal has been without an orca companion since 1980.

Sign ALDF’s petition to the National Marine Fisheries Service, urging them to include captive members of Lolita’s Southern Resident pod in ESA protections.

Please sign the petition here:–http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5154/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8789

PETA, ALDF Appeal Court’s Dismissal of Lawsuit Seeking Lolita’s Freedom

Case Against Government for Excluding Captive Orca From Endangered Species Act Protections Goes to 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

Miami — PETA and the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) have appealed the recent dismissal of the groups’ lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for wrongly excluding orca Lolita from the endangered listing of the Pacific Northwest’s southern resident orcas. The exclusion has allowed the Miami Seaquarium to hold Lolita alone in captivity in a tiny concrete tank for more than 40 years with impunity despite Endangered Species Act (ESA) prohibitions against harming and harassing southern resident orcas. The case’s dismissal was based solely on the timing of the filing of the lawsuit—in their federal appeal, PETA and ALDF contend that the government received the required notice of intent to sue and that the case was wrongfully dismissed.

“It is deplorable for the government to exclude Lolita from the protections granted to southern resident orcas solely because a theme park tore her away from her family four decades ago,” says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Delcianna Winders. “PETA and ALDF will continue to push for Lolita to finally have her day in court and the freedom she deserves.”

“Because the government has not granted Lolita the protections she is rightfully due, she suffers each day in a small tank equivalent to a human confined to a bathtub her entire life,” says Carter Dillard, ALDF’s director of litigation. “The American public is sick and tired of legal loopholes designed to allow companies such as the Seaquarium to profit at the expense of animals like Lolita and the people who care about her well-being.”

The groups’ lawsuit calls for Lolita to be included in the endangered listing, which could include release into a seaside sanctuary in her home waters and, if possible, back into her family pod. In the wild, female orcas spend their entire lives with their mothers, and Lolita’s mother is still thriving at more than 80 years of age. Orcas naturally swim up to 100 miles a day with their families. Lolita currently swims in endless circles alone in the smallest orca tank in North America, where she is forced to perform meaningless tricks for Seaquarium’s profit—an estimated tens of millions of dollars.

News Link:–http://www.peta.org/mediacenter/news-releases/PETA–ALDF-Appeal-Court-s-Dismissal-of-Lawsuit-Seeking-Lolita-s-Freedom.aspx

Lawsuit To Free Lolita The Killer Whale Dismissed

“Poor Lolita, her freedom was taken, she was forced to perform! I think it is atrocious that a jumped up judge that probably knows jack sxxt about orca’s, has the final say on her life…her life was taken from her…her performances have raked in god knows how much money for Miami Seaquarium. If they thought anything about Lolita they would let her retire. And she could be set free again, with time in  a sea pen, it’s not like there just going to free her straight into the sea…it’s possible…so I hope everyone keeps fighting for this Orca…she deserves her freedom & has paid dearly for it…Free Lolita NOW!

“Join her facebook page & protest for Lolita’s freedom”….https://www.facebook.com/events/231278520320948/

SEATTLE (CBSMiami/AP) — South Florida marine super star Lolita the killer whale will remain in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium after a federal judge in Tacoma, Wash., dismissed a lawsuit aimed at freeing the marine park’s star attraction.

Judge Benjamin H. Settle last week ruled that orca activists who sued the federal government didn’t give proper notice and failed to state a valid claim. He granted motions by the government and Seaquarium to dismiss the case.

Lolita, the oldest killer whale in captivity, was born around 1966. She has spent most of her life performing at the Seaquarium since her capture from Puget Sound waters in 1970.

The 7,000 pound whale has lived in the 20-foot deep tank for more than 40 years, performing twice a day for South Florida tourists.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and three individuals sued the National Marine Fisheries Service in November, saying it should have protected Lolita when it listed other Puget Sound orcas as endangered in 2005.

The groups say they’ll continue to fight for Lolita’s release back into the waters of the Pacific Northwest where she was originally captured but her handlers and theme park owners have said her life would be endangered if she were freed after so many years in captivity.

The Seaquarium has said Lolita is healthy and well-cared for.

News Link:-http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/05/07/lawsuit-to-free-lolita-the-killer-whale-dismissed/

2 more Bonneville Dam sea lions killed by lethal injection

Oregon state officials executed two more sea lions on May 16 at the Bonneville Dam.  The sea lions, accused of eating endangered salmon, were killed by lethal injection.

Awaiting execution in Oregon for the crime of eating salmon Photo credit: Sea Lion Defense Brigade

According to a May 17 letter from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), animals branded U61 and U159 were caught on floating traps, euthanized and disposed of in accordance with applicable laws.  This latest action brings the body count up to 39 dead and 11 in captivity since the killings began in 2008.

Earlier in the week, lawyers from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) were in federal court seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the killings.  Appearing before Judge Michael Simon, HSUS attorney Ralph Henry said it is “completely disingenuous for the government to add the animals to a hit list while allowing fishermen to increase their take.”

The nonprofit and its members assert that killing sea lions will not solve the alleged salmon crisis on the Columbia River.  According to HSUS, the focus should be on addressing human causes, like overfishing and hydroelectric dams.

With the sea lions consuming about 1.1 percent of the salmon and fishermen authorized to take 17 percent, advocates for the sea lions maintain that the cull has far less to do with salmon predation and far more to do with anglers seeking exclusive fishing rights to the Columbia River.  Fishermen are forthright about wanting the sea lions gone.  In an April 17 letter to ODFW, the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) complained:

Read the rest of this link:-http://www.examiner.com/article/2-more-bonneville-dam-sea-lions-killed-by-lethal-injection

Related articles

• Federal judge approves killing sea lions at Bonneville Dam, but legal challenge continues (oregonlive.com)
• 2 salmon-eating sea lions killed at Bonneville Dam (staradvertiser.com)

Government Refuses to Protect Solitary Orca

Despite the endangered-species status of the southern resident orcas, the federal government is refusing to offer imprisoned orca Lolita the same protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that the rest of her family pod enjoys.

Legal Hypocrisy

You may recall that the National Marine Fisheries Service classified Washington state’s southern resident orca population as endangered, giving it protection from being harmed or harassed under the ESA, but without explanation, it excluded Lolita, who was captured from the pod as a calf and has been held prisoner and forced to perform for the last 42 years. PETA called foul on the unlawful double standard and filed suit on Lolita’s behalf, joined by the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), Washington residents, and a former employee of theMiami Seaquarium, where Lolita is held captive.

Legal Runaround

The Miami Seaquarium and the federal government filed motions to get the case dismissed, and the judge acquiesced on timing grounds—he didn’t address the merits of the case—meaning that the Miami Seaquarium can continue to confine Lolita to the smallest orca tank in North America (the orca equivalent of a bathtub), prevent her from interacting with any members of her own species, deny her appropriate protection from the sun, and force her to perform silly tricks. But PETA and the ALDF are already regrouping and planning our next move, and the lawsuit’s dismissal is merely a hitch in our efforts to see Lolita released into a seaside sanctuary in her home waters.

You Can Help

Please send a polite e-mail to Eric C. Schwabb, assistant administrator for fisheries, urging him to give Lolita her rightful protection under the ESA.

Link:-http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/2012/05/02/lolita-endangered-species-act-suit-to-proceed.aspx