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New government marine wildlife code to help reduce dolphin disturbance

The launch today by UK Government of new guidance on how to act responsibly around...

UK government to extend ivory ban to stop the sale of orca teeth

Following the UK ban on the import, export and dealing of elephant ivory in 2022,...

Dead whale beauty products to be sold in Japanese vending machine stores

Antarctic minke whale alongside Japanese whaling ship. Photo © Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert Japanese whale hunting company,...

Arrests made following illegal whale meat smuggling from Japan to South Korea

Customs authorities in Busan, South Korea, have arrested six people for allegedly smuggling at least...

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.