allowing the belugas to be imported could hurt "the population that these whales are taken from" and that it would "contribute to the demand to capture belugas from this stock for the purpose of public display in the U.S. and worldwide."

Dear Jennifer,

Because of the huge success of eye-opening films such as Blackfish and the HBO documentary An Apology to Elephants, more and more people are learning what PETA supporters already know from our motto: that animals are not ours to use for entertainment. It's clear that the public outcry against holding orcas, elephants, and other animals in captivity and denying them the life that they deserve is growing, and judging from our most recent victory, our motto is now even being taken to heart by some government officials.

Last summer, PETA learned that Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta had applied to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for a permit to import 18 wild-caught beluga whales from Russia into the U.S. to distribute them to SeaWorld and Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, breed them, and condemn these complex, sensitive marine mammals to a miserable and maddening life confined to tiny barren tanks.

Beluga whales are fascinating and communicative animals who—like their distant relatives, dolphins—use echolocation, their sensitive hearing, and an extensive range of calls to converse with other whales through deep water. Extremely social animals, they live as long as 50 years and roam the sea in tight-knit family groups of mothers, aunts, uncles, and cousins as they swim on journeys that can be thousands of miles long.

PETA jumped into action immediately after learning of Georgia Aquarium's plans and went to work urging the NMFS to deny the permit and spare these wonderful animals a life of misery. Thousands of compassionate people around the world signed our action alert to block the permit, and Georgia native Kim Basinger wrote a heartfelt plea to dissuade the chief of the agency's permits division from signing off on the aquarium's reckless plan.

I'm happy to report that after more than 10 months of intense campaigning by PETA, the NMFS denied the aquarium's permit request—a huge victory in our continued efforts to keep marine animals out of watery prisons. The agency said that allowing the belugas to be imported could hurt "the population that these whales are taken from" and that it would "contribute to the demand to capture belugas from this stock for the purpose of public display in the U.S. and worldwide."

Thanks to the many PETA supporters who helped make this wonderful news possible, 18 whales won't be brought into the country and condemned to a life of misery in the name of entertainment. While there is still much work to be done for the orcas and other animals who are denied their freedom by SeaWorld and other marine parks, this victory is a huge step forward and a sure sign of the influence that caring people like you can have in changing long-held beliefs about whales and other animals.

Together, we are truly making a difference in the lives of animals!

Kind regards,


Ingrid E. Newkirk
President