Dear Dodo, Stop Fishing For Stories!
Image Credit: markmanson.net
In February, the AwesomeOcean Team joined other animal lovers in mourning the loss of Nanuq, the beluga whale. It was a sad day.
Sad – for normal people.
Rather than show remorse for the animal; PETA’s mouthpiece, The Dodo, used the death of Nanuq to spew more unfounded crazy talk. This time they implied the professional caregivers at SeaWorld violated U.S. law, leading to Nanuq’s death.
Warning to “The Dodo”: the rest of this post contains content that is factual – it may feel weird and strange to you. The full-throated smack down of your accusations may make you sad. At least, more sad than the actual death of the animal in question.
From the Orlando Sentinel. March 12, 2015:
USDA says no federal violations in beluga death
No violations of the Animal Welfare Act were found by the USDA in the recent death of a beluga whale at SeaWorld, the United States Department of Agriculture said Thursday.
USDA’S Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service began investigating the death of Nanuq, a male estimated to be 31 or 32 years old, once the death was announced.
No wrongdoing was found in the incident, said a spokeswoman from the service Thursday.
“We did look into this and found that there were no Animal Welfare Act noncompliances that contributed to the death of SeaWorld Orlando’s beluga known as Nanuq,” said Tanya Espinosa, public affairs specialist with the service, in an email.
The case is now closed, said Espinosa.
Nanuq was a Hudson Bay beluga, a population under significant strain from both habitat disruption and fisheries management issues. According to the official Fisheries and Canada Oceans website, his Canadian population has an average lifespan of 15 years, one-half Nanuq’s age. Calves are often lost to predators like killer whales and polar bears in the first year of life.
PETA uses the same playbook on a near daily basis. They accuse SeaWorld of violating federal law and every time they are found to be lying. But you never see “reporter” Melissa Cronin ever make a correction or retraction. They simply move onto to print the next PETA talking point.
Being a supposed animal lover, one would think she has heard of the tale of the “Boy Who Cried Wolf.”
Stop fishing for stories, Dodo!
