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Southern Resident whales

Ambitious plan to free captive orca Lolita announced

The new owner of the Miami Seaquarium in the US has announced that it is...
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Whale and Dolphin Conservation partners with local artist for art auction

PLYMOUTH, MA - Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) has partnered with local artist Erik Simmons...
dolphin FB Fundraiser

e.l.f. Cosmetics announces new “porpoise-ful” initiative to benefit Whale and Dolphin Conservation

For Immediate Release, March 16, 2023 OAKLAND, CA - On the fins of its first...

Kiska the ‘world’s loneliest whale’ dies at Canadian theme park

Kiska, dubbed the loneliest whale in the world, has died at Marineland, a zoo and...

Orcas regularly drugged at SeaWorld parks say former trainers

Several former SeaWorld Trainers have revealed that drugs were frequently given to orcas held in at least three of the marine park facilities in order to calm them down and to help them survive life in their small tanks.

The trainers, including John Hargrove, who worked at SeaWorld San Diego, said that the orcas were drugged on a regular basis to relieve stress, and that some of the drugs were so powerful they posed a threat to the people administering them.

Hargrove, together with other former trainers Samantha Berg, John Jett, Carol Ray and Jeffrey Ventre say that medications such as antipsychotics and benzodiazepines (Diazepam) were used to ‘manage’ the orcas on a daily basis.