Sarah Thompson ENVIRO NEWS MIDPOINT UPDATE

By Tuesday, March 11, in a SINGLE STAND-ALONE post here at the course blog titled with your NAME and ENVIRO NEWS MIDPOINT UPDATE, please post:

1. 
Forty year old white female , animal trainer, attacked by a killer whale (Orcinus orca) at work reads the autopsy report of Dawn Brancheau, a SeaWorld trainer killed during a routine performance in 2010. This display of aggression that resulted in the death of a beloved trainer is an example of the ways an orca is negatively affected by the practice of animal captivity. "Captivity deprives them of those essential elements, leading to chronic stresses that appear as immunodeficiency, ulcers and hostility," says Howard Garrett of The Orca Network, a nonprofit dedicated to the spreading of public awareness of the issue of captivity and using animals for entertainment. Captivity causes physical and psychological trauma for the orcas. "At least forty-four orcas have died at SeaWorld parks, including four within four months in 2010," says Cathy Williamson, the Captivity Program Manager of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation. Captivity keeps orcas from living the life they are meant to live in nature. This causes negative effects on not only the orca themselves but on the orcas around them, and their trainers as well. Their trainers are put in unnecessary amounts of danger as they deal with wild and unpredictable animals unfit for captivity. In order to assure a better the quality of life for these unique creatures, captivity must end.

2. 
• Introduction (above)
• stats about orcas in the wild (life span, health, habits, etc.)
• reality about orcas in captivity (same as above for contrast)
• physical problems that orcas face-lack of space, health problems
• psychological effects of captivity
• story of Dawn Brancheau in detail and why this is predicted to have happened, Blackfish
• what is SeaWorld doing to change this?
• What would the world be like without captivity?

3. 


http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/753/cache/sea-world-trainer-defense_75362_600x450.jpg
PHOTOGRAPH BY MATHIEU BELANGER, REUTERS/CORBIS


http://blog.mysanantonio.com/dvd/files/2013/11/Dawn-Brancheau-010.jpg
Photograph: Barry Bland / Barcroft Media


http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/131008181302-07-captive-whales-1008-horizontal-gallery.jpg
Photograph by Phelan M. Ebenhackzap


http://www.insidethemagic.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/seaworld-blackfish.jpg
Still from CNN documentary, Blackfish