On my journey in covering the stories of animal trainers, I've been exposed to many aspects of animal welfare advocacy. I've been involved in various advocacy projects. I've edited op-eds with a former killer whale trainer, collaborated with the attractions blog ThemedReality, and even helped organize a group of former whale trainers in a foundation known as Truth4Toki.
Advocacy isn't activism. Animal activists want to stop zoos and aquariums, among other things. They are often counterproductive. In contrast, everyone who is doing right by the animals in the industry is an animal advocate: the trainers, the veternarians, the husbandry assistants. I believe that it is essential to have marine mammals in human care, but if we want to do this, we need to advocate for them. The animals don't have a voice.
Read more about my values and past work below. If you align with them, and if I can be of service as a writer, researcher, or (confidential) confidant, please reach out! If you're an animal care professional and want to talk, I'm always here to listen.
The trainers and other animal care professionals know what's best for their animals and their fellow coworkers. They should be represented properly by their professional organizations and feel empowered to improve the world that they live in. If this isn't the case, we need to ask ourselves why.
Y'all it's not that deep. You're working with animals and doing funny shows and stuff. I understand that the zoological industry is known for its toxicity and there's many reasons why. Let's work towards making the workspace more inclusive for everyone. I've seen advocacy get very ugly too. Good advocacy is about making things better, not fulfilling a personal vendetta.
As a scientist, I work with evidence. I believe that science should be at the forefront of any large decisions. Science is also a big reason why I support having captive animal populations, including whales and dolphins. If you choose an ideology over evidence or science, I'm sorry but I'm not gonna go easy on ya.
There are good zoos and bad zoos, and everything in-between. Bad facilities shouldn't be a reason why we stop having animals in human care. But they should be a powerful signal that tells us we messed up somewhere. That we need to do better.
With large charismatic animals, there seems to be a large collection of people who fall under the category of "crazy animal person." I value the perspectives of animal activists even if I don't agree with them. But I don't value the perspectives of people who are nutty about it. If you've been involved in this whole discourse, you know exactly what individuals and types of people I'm referring to. If you're starting to believe in dolphin telepathy or animal personhood, you've gone too far buddy. And leave your conspiracy theories at the door.
A non-exhaustive list of people and places that I turn to when I don't know what's going on with some aspect of the industry. I believe that if you work for an industry, you should know the good and bad about it—and importantly, have the tough conversations about it with people you respect.
A research blog run by Joe Kleiman, a seasoned writer who covers the theme park and entertainment industry. His ability to analyze public documents through FoIAs, his countless connections to the industry big dogs, and his dialogue across the captivity belief spectrum makes Joe's blog an invaluable resource for anyone wanting to know the full picture of the industry. He's not a PR department for the aquarium industry, so it's not his job to talk about the many good things that come out of these facilities. But he is fair in his critiques of the system.
Cat is a former trainer who has a lot of things to say about the industry. Her Middle Flipper blog is a staple in the training community. She now talks about the many current events and why they happened, from the Gulf World deterioration to the Dolphin Company fiasco. Find her narrated videos on social media.
Science has unfortunately become a weaponized thing for partisan arguments in many hot-button issues, captivity included. There's a surprising amount of noise and academic inbreeding that happens on both sides of the spectrum. There are a few scientists that I trust with their opinions and research about whale & dolphin facilities, with Dr. Kelly Jaakkola and the Dolphin Research Center being a very good example. There are many other scientists and facilities that contribute significantly to marine mammal science.
The Navy Marine Mammal Program is known for their contributions to military objectives as well as their thousands of publications on marine mammal research. They are a top-of-the-line facility with great welfare and top-tier scientists. Having been there myself, I can say this with absolute certainty.
A great resource for marine mammal science. If you join the facebook group, you'll get exposed to the newest publications in this field. It's a must-follow for people trying to get into the science of it all.
I've had the privilege and honor of advising numerous high-impact pieces about the aquarium & marine park industry with Valerie Greene. Our former partnership does not mean I endorse all her past or current beliefs, especially anything past June of 2024. Still, I look upon these op-eds as important contributions towards a more responsible industry.
When Valerie's friend and mentor Liz Thomas was injured by a killer whale in 2022, it brought back dark memories of the time she was a first responder during the Dawn Brancheau incident. In the face of public controversy, what do animal facilities owe their hard-working trainers and caretakers? This piece looks at how some facilities have fallen short, not for the animals, but for the people.
Orlando Sentinel LinkThis is a Valerie piece, one where she writes straight from her experience, nothing held back. It's the silence of the industry and the hipocracy of the activism community and how they can all improve to make the lives of animals and their caretakers better. It was an honor to help with this piece and watch Valerie find her voice.
Themed Reality LinkThe death of the famous whale Kiska unfortunately coincided with an international gathering of animal trainers. While purely incidental, it made Valerie wonder about the role of accrediting bodies and other corporate-level leadership.
Orlando Sentinel LinkThe Whale Sanctuary Project (WSP) might appear to have a noble cause on paper, but they have quite a few skeletons in the closet. In addition to opposing any and all marine mammal facilities regardless of quality, the WSP is rife with questionable partnerships and fund allocation. This piece introduces some of these ideas.
Orlando Sentinel LinkWhen plans were announced to bring orca Lolita / Tokitae into a sea pen, I helped write a dissenting opinion that highlighted the logistical and welfare challenges of a sea pen for an old animal with health conditions. This article spawned the Truth4Toki movement, one of the first times that whale trainers came together in a unified voice for animal welfare.
Miami Herald LinkAs the sea pen plans for killer whale Tokitae circled national headlines, new information revealed the dire conditions of her tank and the infeasibility of the sea pen plans. There was a pretty easy solution, although it was covered in red tape: move Tokitae to SeaWorld.
Orlando Sentinel Link