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From: Annelise Sorg
To: Coalition For No Whales In Captivity
Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2006 8:46 AM
Subject: ACTION ALERT: please write to the North Shore Outlook
WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR, PLEASE!!!
Read this nauseating article (SEE BELOW) on the aquarium and Nightingale and PLEASE send the North Shore Outlook a letter exposing the lies.
1. NIghtingale says people didn't know about killer whales "until an injured killer whale was brought to a pen in Jericho Beach for rehabilitation" - "THE WHALE WAS "INJURED" BY A FREAKING HARPOON THAT WAS MEANT TO KILL HER SO SHE COULD BE USED AS A MODEL TO PRODUCE A PLASTIC REPLICA TO HANG AS ANOTHER DISPLAY AT THE VANCOUVER AQUARIUM. IT WAS THE VANCOUVER AQUARIUM THAT ORDERED THE WHALE SHOT DEAD AND WHEN SHE DIDN'T DIE, THEY DECIDED TO TOW HER TO VANCOUVER BY THE HARPOON LINE THROUGH ROUGH SEAS FOR 80 NAUTICAL MILES. SHE WAS CAGED AND PUT ON DISPLAY AND ONLY LIVED A MONTH IN CAPTIVITY. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE CAME OUT TO SEE HER AND THE INDUSTRY WAS BORN. THE AQUARIUM INDUSTRY DEVASTATED THE NOW HIGHLY ENDANGERED RESIDENT POPULATIONS OF ORCAS BY TAKING ALL THE YOUNG ONES INTO CAPTIVITY THROUGHOUT THE 60S AND 70s. THIS IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE LIES THAT COME OUT OF THE AQUARIUM. THE WHALE WAS NOT "INJURED" SHE WAS HARPOONED BY THE AQUARIUM!!!!
2. THE VA IS NOT A "SELF-SUPPORTING" STRUGLING NON-PROFIT!!!
THE VA BUILDINGS WERE PAID FOR AND CONTINUE TO BE PAID FOR BY GENEROUS GRANTS FROM THE GOVERNMENT COURTESY OF CANADIAN TAXPAYERS. The reason the aquarium keeps whales in captivity is for profit. The aquarium takes in over $20 million a year, and that's just the "non-profit" society. The “for-profit” businesses are all called Vancouver Aquarium something: Vancouver Aquarium Ltd., Vancouver Aquarium Marketing Ltd., Vancouver Aquarium Consulting Ltd, etc. The same name is used for their businesses operating in the US. Most of the directors of these companies are people who are now or have before, served as directors of the Executive Board of the Vancouver Public Aquarium Association, the "non-profit" society. Of course this is all legal, but is it moral?
3. "During his reign the aquarium has seen many firsts, such as the first beluga whale in Canada to be conceived and born in captivity. " HOW ABOUT TELLING US ABOUT THE BABY BELUGA THAT WAS CONCEIVED IN THE WILD AND DIED IN CAPTIVITY AFTER HIS MOTHER WAS CAPTURED PREGNANT. AND HOW ABOUT THE OTHER BABY BELUGA THAT SUDDENLY DIED AT 3 YEARS OLD LAST YEAR? AND WHAT ABOUT THE THREE ORCA BABIES THAT DIED IN THAT FACILITY? NO MENTION OF ALL OF THEM, OF COURSE.
The only thing we can do to help the whales is protest and there is no better way to do that than to write letters. Whenever you see anything in the news about the VA - PLEASE WRITE - and send us a copy!
Many thanks,
Annelise Sorg annelise@direct.ca
COALITION FOR NO WHALES IN CAPTIVITY
www.nowhalesincaptivity.org
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NORTH SHORE OUTLOOK
editor; newsroom@northshoreoutlook.com
Coffee With ...
Rob Newell photo
LIFE IN A FISH BOWL - Vancouver Aquarium President and CEO Dr. John Nightingale with the Stanley Park facility's star attraction, beluga whale Quila.
By JENNIFER MALONEY Staff Reporter
Feb 16 2006
Dr. John Nightingale has a job most kindergarten students envy.
Each day that he bikes from his Ambleside home to his Stanley Park office, the Vancouver Aquarium president is exposed to a world most children only know through cartoon depictions of Nemo's adventures. But Nightingale didn't aspire to run Canada's largest underwater attraction when he was in primary school.
In fact, where he grew up in a small town in Eastern Oregon, there wasn't even an aquarium. There was however, a connection to the natural world, something he says is missing in most big cities.
"It was a great edge-of-country upbringing," he explains from an office chair. "I think [that connection with nature] is something that's greatly reduced in cities, particularly. Two hundred years ago you had to know about nature to get dinner or you were dinner.
"Today most kids think food comes from a factory or the grocery store. The fact that the food they're eating was living doesn't even register."
That severed connection to nature is what Vancouver's aquarium is trying to mend, he says, but in a city where animal activists are more vocal than most, Nightingale admits it's been a challenge to get the non-profit organization's vision out to the public. Particularly through a media that thrives on controversy.
"I'd be the happiest person in the world if we didn't need animals in captivity," he asserts. "But we do because we as a human race are making a mess out of nature. The aquarium is a connection for people for learning and awareness."
Nightingale entered his field the way many great people do - by accident. As a grad student at the University of Washington, he acted as a tour guide for the on-campus salmon hatchery. The fact that most salmon reproduce only once and then die a week later was a footnote in Nightingale's marine curriculum, but for the tourists he shared this knowledge with, the scaly creatures became nothing short of heroic.
"It was just amazing for me, what I took for granted, other people were fascinated by," he recalls.
"The whole power of the connection, that's where all that came from."
But grad school was opening his mind to another concept. As he soaked in literature about biological systems, Nightingale started to see parallels in the operations of organizations. He began to view the world as a collection of inter-connected systems. The epiphany impelled him to switch studies from biological to organizational systems.
Out of school, Nightingale found work with a firm that designed the Seattle Aquarium. Young and admittedly less tactful than he is today, Nightingale was vocally critical of the attraction's operations. In the end his irrepressible remarks landed him a job as first curator of the aquarium.
"I was on about the sorry state of the aquarium," he recalls. "It was basically like home fish-keeping. I would've expected them to be operating with science, but they weren't."
At the time only two cities, Tacoma and Vancouver, kept sea otters in their aquariums. However, both were unsuccessful in keeping the mammals alive, let alone reproducing them.
Nightingale spent time studying the otters in Vancouver until the problem was discovered. Sea otters have no fat, but the world's thickest animal fur. Their lush coats repel water and prevent them from freezing. However, the aquariums were feeding the sea otters rich fish and seafoods, which left oil residue on the water's surface. Once the oil penetrated through their fur, water could seep in and like any human in fresh water, they froze. The discovery prompted aquariums to bring in tools to skim the oil off the water's surface.
"There wasn't as much information about animals," Nightingale explains. "People still thought killer whales were dangerous."
That was until an injured killer whale was brought to a pen in Jericho Beach for rehabilitation - an event Nightingale credits for changing how Vancouverites viewed the mammal.
"People are so disconnected now from nature," he says.
"That's really the aquarium's primary role, to be the bridge to the natural world."
But Nightingale himself was becoming accustomed to city life. The Seattle job had led him to take another position at an aquarium in New York where the small town scientist was introduced to tuxedo fundraisers at Tiffany's. However, his vision of life allowed him to make sense of the new culture.
"If you wanted to, you could look at Manhattan like an eco-society," he says. "Who eats who?"
New York had energy, but it was like living in a movie, Nightingale explains. So when he heard Vancouver Aquarium founder Dr. Murray Newman was retiring he didn't wait for the job posting.
"Wild horses wouldn't keep me from the West Coast," he says. "I always thought living in New York was temporary. When you grow up in the outdoors you like to ski and bike. Some of those things are hard to do in New York."
It's been 12 years since Nightingale took over as president of what has become one of the largest self-supporting non-profit organizations in Canada. During his reign the aquarium has seen many firsts, such as the first beluga whale in Canada to be conceived and born in captivity.
Last year more than 38,000 people also took part in the TD Canada Trust Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, which was initiated by the aquarium. The annual operating budget has tripled to $20 million over the years and its new Discovery Entertainment Centre, a 55,000 square foot addition of classrooms, theatres and work spaces, is scheduled to open in October.
"Do I think we've made as much progress in sustaining nature's ecosystem as possible?" he asks. "No. But I'm an eternal optimist. I always think we can get more done than we can."
Yesterday, the aquarium unveiled its new logo in celebration of its 50th anniversary and with it a vision for the future (check out vanaqua.org).
"We're going to push harder to try and help people understand their role and what they can do," Nightingale reveals. "That's everything we're going to be doing in the next decade. If we manage to engage you and get into your heart and into your mind to be a part of the solution for preserving our amazing natural world in Canada, then we've done our job."
To: Coalition For No Whales In Captivity
Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2006 8:46 AM
Subject: ACTION ALERT: please write to the North Shore Outlook
WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR, PLEASE!!!
Read this nauseating article (SEE BELOW) on the aquarium and Nightingale and PLEASE send the North Shore Outlook a letter exposing the lies.
1. NIghtingale says people didn't know about killer whales "until an injured killer whale was brought to a pen in Jericho Beach for rehabilitation" - "THE WHALE WAS "INJURED" BY A FREAKING HARPOON THAT WAS MEANT TO KILL HER SO SHE COULD BE USED AS A MODEL TO PRODUCE A PLASTIC REPLICA TO HANG AS ANOTHER DISPLAY AT THE VANCOUVER AQUARIUM. IT WAS THE VANCOUVER AQUARIUM THAT ORDERED THE WHALE SHOT DEAD AND WHEN SHE DIDN'T DIE, THEY DECIDED TO TOW HER TO VANCOUVER BY THE HARPOON LINE THROUGH ROUGH SEAS FOR 80 NAUTICAL MILES. SHE WAS CAGED AND PUT ON DISPLAY AND ONLY LIVED A MONTH IN CAPTIVITY. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE CAME OUT TO SEE HER AND THE INDUSTRY WAS BORN. THE AQUARIUM INDUSTRY DEVASTATED THE NOW HIGHLY ENDANGERED RESIDENT POPULATIONS OF ORCAS BY TAKING ALL THE YOUNG ONES INTO CAPTIVITY THROUGHOUT THE 60S AND 70s. THIS IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE LIES THAT COME OUT OF THE AQUARIUM. THE WHALE WAS NOT "INJURED" SHE WAS HARPOONED BY THE AQUARIUM!!!!
2. THE VA IS NOT A "SELF-SUPPORTING" STRUGLING NON-PROFIT!!!
THE VA BUILDINGS WERE PAID FOR AND CONTINUE TO BE PAID FOR BY GENEROUS GRANTS FROM THE GOVERNMENT COURTESY OF CANADIAN TAXPAYERS. The reason the aquarium keeps whales in captivity is for profit. The aquarium takes in over $20 million a year, and that's just the "non-profit" society. The “for-profit” businesses are all called Vancouver Aquarium something: Vancouver Aquarium Ltd., Vancouver Aquarium Marketing Ltd., Vancouver Aquarium Consulting Ltd, etc. The same name is used for their businesses operating in the US. Most of the directors of these companies are people who are now or have before, served as directors of the Executive Board of the Vancouver Public Aquarium Association, the "non-profit" society. Of course this is all legal, but is it moral?
3. "During his reign the aquarium has seen many firsts, such as the first beluga whale in Canada to be conceived and born in captivity. " HOW ABOUT TELLING US ABOUT THE BABY BELUGA THAT WAS CONCEIVED IN THE WILD AND DIED IN CAPTIVITY AFTER HIS MOTHER WAS CAPTURED PREGNANT. AND HOW ABOUT THE OTHER BABY BELUGA THAT SUDDENLY DIED AT 3 YEARS OLD LAST YEAR? AND WHAT ABOUT THE THREE ORCA BABIES THAT DIED IN THAT FACILITY? NO MENTION OF ALL OF THEM, OF COURSE.
The only thing we can do to help the whales is protest and there is no better way to do that than to write letters. Whenever you see anything in the news about the VA - PLEASE WRITE - and send us a copy!
Many thanks,
Annelise Sorg annelise@direct.ca
COALITION FOR NO WHALES IN CAPTIVITY
www.nowhalesincaptivity.org
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NORTH SHORE OUTLOOK
editor; newsroom@northshoreoutlook.com
Coffee With ...
Rob Newell photo
LIFE IN A FISH BOWL - Vancouver Aquarium President and CEO Dr. John Nightingale with the Stanley Park facility's star attraction, beluga whale Quila.
By JENNIFER MALONEY Staff Reporter
Feb 16 2006
Dr. John Nightingale has a job most kindergarten students envy.
Each day that he bikes from his Ambleside home to his Stanley Park office, the Vancouver Aquarium president is exposed to a world most children only know through cartoon depictions of Nemo's adventures. But Nightingale didn't aspire to run Canada's largest underwater attraction when he was in primary school.
In fact, where he grew up in a small town in Eastern Oregon, there wasn't even an aquarium. There was however, a connection to the natural world, something he says is missing in most big cities.
"It was a great edge-of-country upbringing," he explains from an office chair. "I think [that connection with nature] is something that's greatly reduced in cities, particularly. Two hundred years ago you had to know about nature to get dinner or you were dinner.
"Today most kids think food comes from a factory or the grocery store. The fact that the food they're eating was living doesn't even register."
That severed connection to nature is what Vancouver's aquarium is trying to mend, he says, but in a city where animal activists are more vocal than most, Nightingale admits it's been a challenge to get the non-profit organization's vision out to the public. Particularly through a media that thrives on controversy.
"I'd be the happiest person in the world if we didn't need animals in captivity," he asserts. "But we do because we as a human race are making a mess out of nature. The aquarium is a connection for people for learning and awareness."
Nightingale entered his field the way many great people do - by accident. As a grad student at the University of Washington, he acted as a tour guide for the on-campus salmon hatchery. The fact that most salmon reproduce only once and then die a week later was a footnote in Nightingale's marine curriculum, but for the tourists he shared this knowledge with, the scaly creatures became nothing short of heroic.
"It was just amazing for me, what I took for granted, other people were fascinated by," he recalls.
"The whole power of the connection, that's where all that came from."
But grad school was opening his mind to another concept. As he soaked in literature about biological systems, Nightingale started to see parallels in the operations of organizations. He began to view the world as a collection of inter-connected systems. The epiphany impelled him to switch studies from biological to organizational systems.
Out of school, Nightingale found work with a firm that designed the Seattle Aquarium. Young and admittedly less tactful than he is today, Nightingale was vocally critical of the attraction's operations. In the end his irrepressible remarks landed him a job as first curator of the aquarium.
"I was on about the sorry state of the aquarium," he recalls. "It was basically like home fish-keeping. I would've expected them to be operating with science, but they weren't."
At the time only two cities, Tacoma and Vancouver, kept sea otters in their aquariums. However, both were unsuccessful in keeping the mammals alive, let alone reproducing them.
Nightingale spent time studying the otters in Vancouver until the problem was discovered. Sea otters have no fat, but the world's thickest animal fur. Their lush coats repel water and prevent them from freezing. However, the aquariums were feeding the sea otters rich fish and seafoods, which left oil residue on the water's surface. Once the oil penetrated through their fur, water could seep in and like any human in fresh water, they froze. The discovery prompted aquariums to bring in tools to skim the oil off the water's surface.
"There wasn't as much information about animals," Nightingale explains. "People still thought killer whales were dangerous."
That was until an injured killer whale was brought to a pen in Jericho Beach for rehabilitation - an event Nightingale credits for changing how Vancouverites viewed the mammal.
"People are so disconnected now from nature," he says.
"That's really the aquarium's primary role, to be the bridge to the natural world."
But Nightingale himself was becoming accustomed to city life. The Seattle job had led him to take another position at an aquarium in New York where the small town scientist was introduced to tuxedo fundraisers at Tiffany's. However, his vision of life allowed him to make sense of the new culture.
"If you wanted to, you could look at Manhattan like an eco-society," he says. "Who eats who?"
New York had energy, but it was like living in a movie, Nightingale explains. So when he heard Vancouver Aquarium founder Dr. Murray Newman was retiring he didn't wait for the job posting.
"Wild horses wouldn't keep me from the West Coast," he says. "I always thought living in New York was temporary. When you grow up in the outdoors you like to ski and bike. Some of those things are hard to do in New York."
It's been 12 years since Nightingale took over as president of what has become one of the largest self-supporting non-profit organizations in Canada. During his reign the aquarium has seen many firsts, such as the first beluga whale in Canada to be conceived and born in captivity.
Last year more than 38,000 people also took part in the TD Canada Trust Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, which was initiated by the aquarium. The annual operating budget has tripled to $20 million over the years and its new Discovery Entertainment Centre, a 55,000 square foot addition of classrooms, theatres and work spaces, is scheduled to open in October.
"Do I think we've made as much progress in sustaining nature's ecosystem as possible?" he asks. "No. But I'm an eternal optimist. I always think we can get more done than we can."
Yesterday, the aquarium unveiled its new logo in celebration of its 50th anniversary and with it a vision for the future (check out vanaqua.org).
"We're going to push harder to try and help people understand their role and what they can do," Nightingale reveals. "That's everything we're going to be doing in the next decade. If we manage to engage you and get into your heart and into your mind to be a part of the solution for preserving our amazing natural world in Canada, then we've done our job."
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