Illustrated by Stephen Bibb. 80 pages, 2022. $15.99 paperback, ebook $7.99 Barnes & Noble, $8.99 Kindle. Reviewed by Beth Clifton. Getting Shelly Home author Yasmin Mohamad believes that children learn best when they are having fun. Mohamad wrote the children’s book Getting Shelly Home with this in mind. Getting Shelly Home is the first of […]
Could Lolita, permanently off exhibit, outlive the Miami Seaquarium itself?
Terms of exhibition permit suggest the late Russ Rector was almost right in betting he would outlive the aging Miami Seaquarium, even if Lolita did not MIAMI, Florida––MV Leisure, the new owner of the 67-year-old Miami Seaquarium, will not be allowed to exhibit the 56-year-old orca whale Lolita and her Pacific white-sided dolphin companion Lili as […]
Fixing for a fight of Leviathans
The Makah Harpooners vs. Willy the Whale, alias Killer Keiko [Originally published in September 1998] NEAH BAY, Washington; NEWPORT, Oregon––If the September 1998 media drama underway in the Pacific Northwest was a professional wrestling match, it would be billed as the Makah Harpooners vs. Willy the Whale, alias Killer Keiko, orca star of the hit […]
Vaquita captures suspended after death of female of breeding age
Two captures with only frozen tissue samples to show for it (Updates coverage of November 6, 2017.) SAN FELIPE, Mexico––VaquitaCPR and SEMARNAT, the Mexican Secretariat for the Environment & Natural Resources, have indefinitely suspended attempts to bring highly endangered vaquita porpoises into a captive breeding program, Sandra Dibble of the San Diego Union-Tribune and CBS News […]
Delivering vaquita damsels to the ogre: U.S. Navy dolphins sally forth
Sea of Cortez campaign may be more about saving the Navy Marine Mammal Program than saving vaquitas SAN FELIPE, Mexico; SAN DIEGO, California––Purported knights errant sent to save a damsel in distress, the U.S. Navy dolphins Andrea, Fathom, Katrina and Splash on October 5, 2017 arrived in San Felipe, Mexico, on the east coast of Baja California, to […]
Hurricanes: most famous fatality was Molly the dolphin
Molly’s life was microcosm of marine mammal captivity history MARATHON, Florida––Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria killed more than 200-and-counting humans among them, from Barbuda to the southern end of the Coastal Bend region of Texas, but the best-known victim so far was apparently a dolphin, Molly, who was among the oldest dolphins on record. Molly […]
Exhibitionist shark-draggers upstaged by “reality TV” star friend
“Look, ma! No decency!” MIAMI, Florida––Long seeking social media notice by posting images of himself and friends torturing animals, Michael Robert Wenzel, 21, of Palmetto, Florida, for a few days appeared to have at last achieved the notoriety he wanted with a video posted on July 24, 2017 showing himself and pals Robert Lee “Bo” […]
Campaign to pull the plug on Navy dolphin program takes to the air
Dolphin base looks like a sewage treatment plant SAN DIEGO, California––Campaigning for an end to marine mammal use by the U.S. Navy, former dolphin trainers Ric Trout and Russ Rector got a big boost on April 27, 2017 from CBS News 8 reporter Steve Price, who extensively aired recent video clips of the main […]
Thumbing nose at lawsuits, USDA-APHIS hides more info
Deletes documents posted in response to Freedom of Information Act requests WASHINGTON D.C.––Hit with a second lawsuit, draft legislation, and letters from 119 members of Congress demanding that the U.S. Department of Agriculture restore web sites including Animal Welfare Act enforcement information, the USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service has instead thumbed its collective […]
Did bad teeth kill Tilikum? Necropsy would tell us––if released
Chewed on steel gates in between killing three people ORLANDO, Florida––Tilikum, 36, the most notorious of orca whales, died at SeaWorld Orlando early on January 6, 2016 “surrounded by trainers, care staff and veterinarians,” SeaWorld said in a prepared statement. The death of Tilikum leaves SeaWorld with 23 orcas, including seven males and 16 […]