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Bottlenose dolphins breaching

Landmark report reveals UK wildlife’s devastating decline

With whales and dolphins already facing many threats, a landmark report released this week reveals...
Dolphins with oil rig

Go ahead for new UK oil and gas exploration threatens whales and dolphins

Permission has been granted for the development of the UK's biggest untapped oilfield off Shetland,...
Icelandic hunting vessels in port

Whaling boat kept in port after more hunt cruelty exposed

Icelandic whale hunting fleet One of the whaling boats involved in the latest hunts in...
Commerson's dolphin

New Important Marine Mammal Areas added to global ocean conservation list

Commerson's dolphin Experts from a number of countries have mapped out a new set of...

Orcas regularly drugged at SeaWorld parks say former trainers

Several former SeaWorld Trainers have revealed that drugs were frequently given to orcas held in at least three of the marine park facilities in order to calm them down and to help them survive life in their small tanks.

The trainers, including John Hargrove, who worked at SeaWorld San Diego, said that the orcas were drugged on a regular basis to relieve stress, and that some of the drugs were so powerful they posed a threat to the people administering them.

Hargrove, together with other former trainers Samantha Berg, John Jett, Carol Ray and Jeffrey Ventre say that medications such as antipsychotics and benzodiazepines (Diazepam) were used to ‘manage’ the orcas on a daily basis.