Skip to content
All articles
  • All articles
  • About whales & dolphins
  • Create healthy seas
  • End captivity
  • Green Whale
  • Prevent deaths in nets
  • Scottish Dolphin Centre
  • Stop whaling
Fishers' involvement is crucial. Image: WDC/JTF

When porpoises and people overlap

We're funding a project in Hong Kong that's working with fishing communities to help save...

Mindful conservation – why we need a new respect for nature

'We should look at whales and dolphins as the indigenous people of the seas -...
A dolphin called Arnie with a shell

Dolphins catch fish using giant shell tools

In Shark Bay, Australia, two groups of dolphins have figured out how to use tools...
Common dolphins at surface

Did you know that dolphins have unique personalities?

We all have personalities, and between the work Christmas party and your family get-together, perhaps...
Leaping harbour porpoise

The power of harbour porpoise poo

We know we need to save the whale to save the world. Now we are...
Holly. Image: Miray Campbell

Meet Holly, she’s an incredible orca leader

Let me tell you the story of an awe-inspiring orca with a fascinating family story...
Humpback whale. Image: Christopher Swann

A story about whales and humans

As well as working for WDC, I write books for young people. Stories; about the...
Risso's dolphin at surface

My lucky number – 13 years studying amazing Risso’s dolphins

Everything we learn about the Risso's dolphins off the coast of Scotland amazes us and...

The Blackfish Effect

Many presentations this week have focused on orca captivity and the overall Blackfish effect – the name that has been given to the growing interest in ending captivity and the “turning of the tide” against SeaWorld and other captive facilities.  There is general agreement among the presenters and attendees at Superpod that the documentary came along at just the right time to bring awareness to the issue and catch the public’s attention in a way that advocates have struggled to do ever since the first orca was brought into captivity.

So now the question is: Where do we go from here? How do we continue the momentum and keep up the fight to end captivity?  I am asking myself these questions quite often as we focus on how far we’ve come in just a few years with this fight, and the advocates at Superpod have no shortage of answers.  Even those who have been working to end captivity for years say that they are inspired anew by the Blackfish effect and are all aglow with excitement at the possibilities and potential for continuing the fight.

The movement has even reached as far as Capitol Hill, with the introduction of bills to ban orca captivity in California and New York.  Representative Adam Schiff, who introduced the bill in California, made this speech yesterday (coincidentally right in the middle of Superpod week!) addressing the Blackfish effect and his support for ending captive display of orcas.  Political action is one of the best avenues for ending captivity – changing the laws will create progressive solutions and make it illegal to hold intelligent whales and dolphins in captive facilities.

Demonstrations and direct actions are also great ways to maintain the momentum and spread awareness of the reality of captivity.  Empty the Tanks Worldwide is an amazing movement that organizes protests at Oceanariums all over the world on a single day, bringing global attention to the cause.  I had the pleasure of meeting the founder of the movement here at Superpod, and she is gearing up for adding even more countries in 2015.

Superpod is all about sharing knowledge, ideas, and inspiration, and there is no shortage of ideas here this week, on how to continue to fight captivity, how to further protections in the wild, and how to keep orcas wild and free for the next generation of activists!