onesongforabrandnewday

[onesongforabrandnewday]

Visit the parks and decide for yourself, don't watch that sad excuse of a propaganda film mascarading as a documentary and use THAT to make any real opinions.

There’s no way to say this easily, so I’m just going to say it. Tilikum - probably the most well-known and controversial orca whale in the world - has died. 

Tilikum has been battling a tenacious lung infection for around a year. and that is what he likely succumbed to, despite dedicated 24-hour care. Officially, cause of death is never announced until after a thorough necropsy (animal autopsy), which involves the collection and study of many tissue samples. That takes time and allows the veterinary staff to scientifically confirm the conclusions they reach from studying the animal’s body. Tilikum’s necropsy will likely be performed in Seaworld’s on-site building, specifically built for the task of handling large cetaceans. It is reasonable then, in this case, for the press release to state that there is no official cause of death - it is suspected, but vet staff are doing their jobs and following the proper protocol before publicizing it. 

Headlines all over the internet are immortalizing him as a “killer” killer whale - either the unwitting champion of a polarizing media piece, or as a violent and unstable martyr. I challenge you to think about this differently: an animal is dead. An animal we, as a collective culture, have placed a huge amount of moral and societal weight on. That should be our focus today. Not the politics, not if this is champions a movement. A whale from a beautiful, powerful, rare species is dead.  (It has not been an easy week for anyone in the orca fandom - J-2 (Granny) was announced missing from her pod and is presumed dead as well).

I want to ask people to stop, for a second, before diving into what is surely to be the newest round of furor and recognize that a beloved animal is gone and that people are grieving. Tilikum was an icon to millions of people on all sides of the cetacean captivity debate and because of that, an ambassador for his species. Whatever you say about it in the coming days, please keep in mind that for many this is an extremely personal topic, and be kind. 

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I actually had someone at work tell me that about Carrie and I was outraged and disgusted and if y'all think I'm not judging everyone that says "He's finally free from torture." And "don't thank the people who stole him and forced him to do tricks for food." Youre dead wrong

Seeing comments like “I’m fucking heartbroken,he can finally swim free again” really drills home….how little people actually really give a shit. Nobody said “Thank god she’s finally free from mental illness” when Carrie Fisher died,and with good reason. It’s fuckin insensitive. God damn.

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Tilikum 1980-2017

Rest in Peace, Big Man.

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My heart is so heavy today with the news of Tilikum's passing, for years I watched this whale do shows, interact with and inspire thousands of people everyday. A few years ago I got the chance to come face to face with him, he came down to the glass and watched us work one night, and looking into his eyes was something I hope I'll never forget. Thank you for inspiring me and everyone else whos lives you touched Tilly. I know you're at peace now, and your lungs aren't bothering you anymore, but gosh, we miss you already. My heart goes out to all those who were touched by this whales charisma and love, especially those who worked tirelessly to keep him happy, healthy and safe. With all the love I have in my heart, we love you Tilikum. Sleep well 💙🐳🌊

#i've been crying all day #I loved this boy so much #I'm so sad hes gone #But also happy that hes not sick anymore #if that makes sense #stand with SeaWorld #SeaWorld #Orlando pod #tilikum #rip tilikum #rest in peace #sleep well big guy #we miss you already #</3

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Guys, this is not a drill. Antarctic scientists need you to study photos of penguins to help them figure out how climate change is affecting these stumpy little flightless birds.

Scientists from the UK have installed a series of 75 cameras near penguin territories in Antarctica and its surrounding islands to figure out what’s happening with local populations. But with each of those cameras taking hourly photos, they simply can’t get through all the adorable images without your help.

“We can’t do this work on our own,” lead researcher Tom Hart from the University of Oxford told the BBC, “and every penguin that people click on and count on the website - that’s all information that tells us what’s happening at each nest, and what’s happening over time.”

The citizen science project is pretty simple - known as PenguinWatch 2.0, all you need to do is log on, look at photos, and identify adult penguins, chicks, and eggs in each image. Each photo requires just a few clicks to identify, and you can chat about your results in the website’s ‘Discuss’ page with other volunteers.

Continue Reading.

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I know I run a book blog so maybe this isn’t the right platform for this, but girls: Please look out for other girls. Tonight I was stuck at a bus stop in Shoreditch circa 2 AM and saw another young woman getting harassed by a drunk, aggressive dude, and at first I thought, “She’s got it under control.” But then he started touching her and I went “No, that’s definitely not right.” So I barged over and shoved him out of the way and said, “Beth?? Oh my God, how are you, I haven’t seen you since grade school!” And this girl I’d never seen before in my life threw her arms around my neck and whispered, “You are an angel, thank God.” We talked for fifteen minutes, the creep lost interest, I watched her get on the bus and I will sleep so much better knowing she got home in one piece. If you see something weird happening, intervene. The worst that can happen is embarrassment, and I think that’s worth the risk when you consider the alternative.

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A freediver glides in between hundreds of young sea lions. The curious creatures move agile and swift in the fresh water of the Pacific ocean by Joost van Uffelen

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From: Keiko’s Legacy on FB 

Today a kind follower/activist went to Sea World, Orlando to say goodbye to Tilikum like another activist did yesterday. She informed me that Tilikum was a part of the Dine with Shamu program today along with Trua. She had gone to the viewing tank, Tilikum was in there with Trua, and another orca. She looked into his eyes that were red, and it was made aware that Tilikum’s eyes turn red when he freaks out. She put her hand to the glass, and Tilikum went right up to her. She spoke to one of the security officers, and he told her that the orcas always get sick, but they bounce right back. As you can see from the 2 photos, which are from today 3/13/2016, Tilikum is a part of the show. Our follower mentioned when they let Tilikum into the show ring brown water followed him into the show tank. She said there were moments in the show where he refused to follow a command, and he would swim to the other side of the tank, and spy hop looking for food. 

Let’s take a moment to really think about this. Sea World announced Tuesday 3/8/16 that Tilikum was gravely ill, and its now 3/13/16, and they have yet to give us some sort of any update. Yesterday 3/12/16 an activist went to Sea World to go say goodbye to Tilikum, and she had said Tilikum was doing laps around the med pool, and doing his splash as if he was performing. Now lets take a good moment to think about all of this

We haven’t gotten any updates from the park itself, just by those visiting him, why? Also being forced to perform while gravely ill, Seaworld hit a new low.

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How could you work for such a disgusting company

Because I've done my research.👌👌👌

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You work at Seaworld?

I did! I'm not currently working there, though I do plan to go back.

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If you want to feel good about yourself and say that ‘releasing’ Tilikum would be the best option, go right fucking ahead, nobody is stopping you.

But to actually want to put him through the stress of being put into a sling, loaded onto a truck and either driven to the ocean or fucking flown all the way back to Iceland just to have him probably die on the way or die soon after being put in the water - and potentially exposing other sea life to unknown pathogens that he may be carrying or sick with? No. Just no.

It would be incredible to allow him to be able to swim in the open ocean again, but it’s not feasible in the slightest.

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Gather round, children, let me explain to you a thing.

Putting Tilikum back in the ocean for however long, while a nice thought, is an emotionally-driven one, not a decision made in his best interests. Putting an already very sick animal through the trauma and stress of moving again after 24 years when he’s in such a bad way is unethical. We have no guarantee he would even survive a journey to the ocean.

And if he did, what then? We don’t know if his illness is contagious, and potentially introducing a treatment resistant strain of something into the wild where it could kill thousands of animals is hardly a good thing. The slight chance of Tilikum maybe feeling the ocean again is not worth risking the lives of every other cetacean in the area.

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tilikum

No. No. No. All the people talking about wanting to release Tilikum to have his “last few days of freedom” are letting their emotions control how they dictate things.

Releasing him into the ocean, suddenly cutting out regular feeding, human interaction, vet visits and medication will surely kill him even if he is “dying.” This poor boy probably doesn’t even know how to hunt. Why would this EVER be a good idea?

No captive cetaceans should be let back into the wild. Ever. Never ever. They need months of training to become dependent, and even then it would still be difficult.

I’m against captivity for cetaceans, but you can’t throw a bull killer whale thats been in captivty for 33 years into the ocean and say he deserves “freedom” before he dies.

[onesongforabrandnewday]

“Tilly’s young wild orcas can live to be 100 years old”

Where do I even start

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Sawfish custom request? Anyone like these cool creatures?? Remember you can request custom orders in my shop! www.etsy.com/shop/dolphinitelydecals #sawfish #dolphinitelydecals

[onesongforabrandnewday]

A new calf was spotted today traveling with J17!!!

Photo and info from Center for Whale Research

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"Wow, you look slug-ish!”—or how to best compliment your Podocerus amphipod.

Nudibranch Flabellina trilineata and look-alike amphipod crustacean Podocerus cristatus. Photos and description by Jeff Goddard, UCSB

“Whoa—what is THAT?!”

“Look at this thing! What is it?! It’s a shrimp of some kind… An amphipod, maybe? Come on, keep the camera steady… Wow that thing is tiny! That’s so crazy… And what’s up with the orange puffball pattern?! Duuuuuude…”

Such was my highly eloquent inner dialogue when I saw my first Podocerus amphipod. The hilarity continued back on the dive boat—on a vessel filled to the brim with experienced research divers and species identification books, none of us could figure out what this thing was on about, other than a sponge.

The only thing we could all agree on was that the critter looked rather slug-ish, its orange/white color combo very reminiscent of Triopha catalinae—the clown nudibranch.

That one, there.

Maybe this conniving crabby was a colorful copy-cat? On that hunch, I sent the video along to UC Santa Barbara’s Dr. Jeff Goddard—a king of local nudibranchs and expert slug photographer—to see what he thought of the confounding crustacean cutie.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

“That amphipod is slugging nearly 100%” — Dr. Goddard (paraphrasing)

Our mystery shrimp had a name! Podocerus spongicolus, a close cousin to Podocerus cristatus, a notorious imposter for Flabellina sea slugs!

Amphipod crustacean mimic Podocerus cristatus, Diablo Canyon, San Luis Obispo County, central California. Photo: Mike Behrens, SeaSlugForum.com

Flabellina idionea — the Spanish shawl nudibranch, Santa Barbara County, California. Photo by Todd Huspeni, SeaSlugForum.com

While Triopha is not a likely muse for mimicry by these mini-Machiavellis, many smaller Flabellina sea slugs have similarly bright, contrasting colors. And for much the same reason: these nudibranchs are trying to look disgusting.

Gross.

Many sea slugs dine on noxious prey, and through some creative digestion, become very nasty themselves. Some Flabellina slugs can even use their prey’s stingers for their own self-defense! Their bright colors are meant to give predators a big ol’ case of the NOPEs, thereby granting the slugs—and anything that looks a lot like them—diplomatic immunity to forage at large and unbothered by weary predators.

Knowing your audience: a key to local success.

And Podocerus amphipods aren’t a one-trick sea-pony. Dr. Goddard recently published a note describing how Podocerus amphipods appear to be locally adapted to mimic the area’s dominant slug detractor, down to the tiniest details of antenna color and body stripes.

A fascinating pattern of local adaptation by Podocerus amphipods to the surrounding slug-fest noted by Dr. Goddard. Photos and graphic by Jeff Goddard, Gary McDonald, Allison Vitsky, and Ali Hermosillo. 

But we don’t know whether each local mimic is a separate species that specializes on a particular form of nudibranch, or if each color morph is an iteration of one highly variable species found up and down the coast. Dr. Goddard says that this relationship “begs further study”—perhaps some youngster should dive into this system! Any takers?