Standing Up To Illegal Whaling Operations — Care2 Member Takes the Lead! by Andrew A. September 30, 2009 10:50 pm

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For years, a portion of the Japanese whaling fleet has engaged in illegal whaling activities in the Antarctic and lack of enforcement and regulation has allowed them to operate largely unopposed. Operating under the Dutch flag, Sea Shepherd, an international, non-violent organization protecting the world’s oceans, has tried to stop these poachers, but have been met with strong resistance.
In fact, powerful resistance from the illegal whaling industry has been on the uptick. Whaling operations have repeatedly complained to the Dutch government about the work Sea Shepherd has done to protect whales because it has cut into their industry. Unfortunately, it appears as though the illegal whalers may have finally succeeded in gaining enough traction to dictate Dutch law and are trying to enact a ban on Sea Shepherd’s work in the Netherlands.
For Care2 member Claudia, from the Netherlands, the thought of losing Sea Shepherd had huge ramifications for the health of whales and other ocean life. Starting a citizen petition, she quickly saw that thousands of people in her country and countries around the world supported the Sea Shepherd’s work. Her petition generated over 7,000 signatures urging the Dutch Government to stand strong and support the international laws protecting whales that the Sea Shepherds standup for.
On Tuesday September 22nd, Claudia went to The Hague (the Netherlands’ seat of government) to meet with two cabinet members — delivering 7,697 signatures urging the Netherlands government to continue to let Sea Shepherd sail under the Dutch flag and not be bullied by the whaling industry.
On behalf of myself and Care2, we’d like to give Claudia and everyone else who’s actively making the world a better place a huge a round of applause! We know there are thousands of you just like Claudia and together we’re making real changes. Please share your success stories by emailing me here: successstories@earth.care2.com

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/standing-up-to-illegal-whaling-operations-care2-member-takes-the-lead.html#ixzz2f6XocJY5

Orca Family Cares for Disabled Calf Posted by Michael Mountain on Thursday, May 23, 2013 ·

This young orca is missing her dorsal fin and her right-side pectoral fin. That means she can’t navigate well, and can’t catch food on her own.
You might imagine that the other killer whales in her family pod would have had to abandon her and do what’s best for the pod overall. But it seems that what’s good for the pod overall involves looking after the youngster, even if this slows them all down a bit.
Rather than being left to fend for herself, then, the young orca is being cared for by the rest of the family.
Underwater photographer Rainer Schimpf came face to face with the youngster off the coast of South Africa. Rather than being left to fend for herself, the young orca is being cared for by the rest of the family.
He told reporters: "Incapable of fast hunting and ambushing prey it has to be dependent on the pod which, one assumes, looks after it very well. It shows these mammals are not really just ruthless killing machines but they also have complex, caring social-structures in which they and care for their own disabled members."
He said the younger orca was following the family and seemed to be falling behind, staying at a distance while the rest of the pod was hunting for food. But then she would dive down to where the other were – apparently to join in when it was time to eat.
Orcas have very close family bonds. Last year, a group of orca experts published a study showing that female orcas have the longest menopause of any nonhuman species. Most animals don’t live long after their days of being able to reproduce are over. Humans, as we know, have an extended menopause, and this appears to have developed because of the benefits to the family of having grandmothers who can join in the raising of the children.
The same seems to apply with orcas. Dr. Emma Foster, lead author of the study, wrote:

Like humans, female killer whales … stop reproducing in their 30s-40s, but can survive into their 90s. The benefit of a menopause to both human and killer whale mothers is in spreading their genes. The different ways this has evolved reflects the different structure of human and killer whale societies.
While it is believed that the menopause evolved in humans partly to allow women to focus on providing support for their grandchildren, our research shows that female killer whales act as lifelong carers for their own offspring, particularly their adult sons.

That’s because in orca families adult sons stay with their mothers as long as the mother lives. One famous orca matriarch, known to researchers as J2 (she’s the leader of the "J" pod of resident orcas in the Salish Sea off the coast of Seattle) is thought to be around 102 years old. One of her sons, J1, stayed close to her side until he died, a few years ago, at around the age of 60.
Everything we know about orcas and all the species of dolphins leads us to understand that they have very close family bonds and a sophisticated culture about which we still know relatively little.
But one thing we know for sure is that none of these animals belong in captivity for the purposes of entertaining humans.