MarineLand Protests
- MarineLand 2002 Protest: They’re
Buried on the Hill - May 19th.2002
- They Belong in the Wild –
Aug.5.2001
- They Deserve to Be Free
– May.20.2001
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MarineLand May 2002 Protest:
They’re Buried on the Hill - May 19th.2002
Digital Photos:
http://frightlibrary.org/pic/mrland0.jpg
http://frightlibrary.org/pic/mrland1.jpg
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Niagara Action for Animals and friends from around Ontario demonstrated today at MarineLand’s re-opening for the season.
About 45 animal defenders lined the roadside on the drive-in to the show. The public awareness campaign uses flyers and messages to the public via picket signs in an attempt to counter MarineLand’s slick publicity. MarineLand’s TV blitz pushes the myth that their marine shows are good for children and the animals are under good care.
Marine animals have a high death rate at MarineLand. Six whales have perished over the last two years. Dolphins also die regularly. Dr. Ronald Orenstein of the International Wildlife Coalition has said that he doesn’t recommend MarineLand as a place for children or anyone else to learn about animals … and Dr. Brendon Price of the Irish Whale and Dolphin group said he was repulsed and struck with pity after viewing MarineLand facilities.
Owner John Holer originally failed to get recognition for the place as an aquarium or zoo due to sales of deer and elk from the facility to meat packers. It could be said that the Holer stamp on MarineLand as a family business is its largest flaw. The Holer business style is odd, and if you translate their way of dealing with people over to animals, you can see why the place is a tragedy.
To deal with protesters Holer puts out signs lettered Protesters Ahead - Keep Moving, and employees waving keep moving signs to the cars. Silliest of all is the placement of Holer’s son, who carries a video camera to record the protests. MarineLand tries to get photos of people going onto the property, so they can call police and lay trespassing charges. Today Holer quickly photographed demonstrators crossing the line to hand flyers to people waving from a car window. At times this is simply entrapment, so MarineLand can say the law was broken.
Later some of the women complained about Holer videotaping their bums as he moved down the roadside to record the long line of picketers. He then jumped into his truck to take a run around the huge parking area, apparently videotaping the trees off in a distant area where there were no people. When asked about his peculiar video habits by a guy from Indy Media, his reply was that he didn’t want to talk about it.
If he had stayed closer, he would have got some frames of MarineLand’s former operations manager pulling over to talk to protesters. They’re buried on the hill over there, he said in reference to the whales and other dead marine animals. I know because I buried them. I broke my back working for MarineLand and now I’m in court against them because I can’t get my pension.
You can bet that the graveyard is not part of the MarineLand tour … and what does Holer do with the video material on protests? I really hope these guys don’t sit around watching films of tree lines and people’s bums. Maybe they used someone’s pension money to pay for the camera.
Perhaps it can be said that if you can’t trust them with people, pensions or even trees, you can’t trust them with animals either.
By Gary Morton
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They Belong in the Wild – Aug.5.2001
Report on the Niagara Action for Animals MarineLand
Protest
By Gary Morton
The August sun blazes in a blue sky above MarineLand … sometimes heat and the sight of tourist crowds can leave animal lovers at a loss for words.
Do you know that MarineLand distributes glossy brochures with a cover showing a pretty woman kissing an orca? Perhaps you do, and I bet you also know that our hearts can be broken by people who lie about their love.
That has happened at MarineLand. The orcas and dolphins are dying and have been dying all along … and it's not just their hearts, their spirits have also been broken by the lies, cruel training and mistreatment.
Believe me, it's true. But if you don't trust me then read the signs and maybe you'll believe others.
Signs and Photos: * Clicking photo links will opens the photo in a separate browser window.
Five Dead Whales in Two Years
http://frightlibrary.org/pic/mland1.jpg
March 2000 – Orca Malik Dead
http://frightlibrary.org/pic/mland2.jpg
June 2nd 2001 – Baby Dolphin Died
http://frightlibrary.org/pic/mland3.jpg
Natalie's Sign says - Ask MarineLand about
their Warehouse?
http://frightlibrary.org/pic/mland4.jpg
http://frightlibrary.org/pic/mland4a.jpg
And Here is the Answer
IN MEMORIAM
Junior was a male Icelandic orca
whale who languished in a tiny tank inside a "warehouse" at Marineland
for more than four years, cut off from outside air, sunlight and normal
companionship. Junior died at Marineland in 1994.
According to whale expert Erich
Hoyt, other orcas who have died there include Kandu II, Kandy, No name
and No name.
Duke, Skipper, Bubbles, Schooner,
Sonny, Flipper and Doobie, seven of the original ten dolphins in 1989,
are presumed dead. There are no public records indicating their sale or
transfer, and Marineland refused recent requests to provide information
on their fate.
Info from Zoocheck
http://www.zoocheck.com/programs/marine/mland/mem4.shtml
Rob thinks Wild Animals Belong in the Wild
http://frightlibrary.org/pic/mland5.jpg
and Jennifer agrees
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Captivity Does kill
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So Think about Putting Animals in a Tank
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Because you will be Killing the Whales
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And in Captivity they lead a Depressing and
Lonely life
Often they Die Due to Neglect
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So in the end we know that there isn’t any love at MarineLand. You wouldn't want to go there. It's best to stay away.
Stay away and believe in freedom, because whales believe in it, too.
Happiness is the Ocean
http://frightlibrary.org/pic/mland11.jpg
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They Deserve to Be Free
Niagara Action for Animals: MarineLand Protest–
May.20.2001
* digital photos and notes on Sunday's protest at MarineLand.
Photo 1 – Women holding Animals Suffer at MarineLand banner
http://frightlibrary.org/pic/marine1.jpg
We walked through bright sunlight and tall grass in the
park across from MarineLand, and that put us closer to nature than the
deprived animals inside.
In the wild female Orcas can live up to 80 years, 60 years
for males. Beluga Whales survive up to 30 years and Dolphins live up to
fifty. In captivity they live an average of 11 years with many dying shortly
after capture. Recently three whales died within 9 months at MarineLand.
These marine animals travel nearly as fast as cars on
the highway but captivity allows them only a few seconds of straight swimming
in featureless tanks of artificial chlorinated water. The glass and concrete
turn their sound waves into disorientating noise. Isolated they become
stressed, stop vocalizing, swim in circles, become depressed or aggressive
and can be dangerous to humans.
MarineLand also has Black Bears, Deer and other animals
and visitors are encouraged to feed them, causing competition, fighting,
injuries and death. Bears are fed marshmallows, which have no nutritional
value. The closed quarters the animals live in are nothing like a natural
setting. Bears wallow in stagnant water laced with urine and feces. Shy
animals like deer are robbed of all privacy and can't escape from the staring
public. Some deer at MarineLand have been seen with bulbous growths the
size of baseballs. Others are emaciated and limping with open wounds.
Photo 2 – Men holding They Deserve to Be Free banner
http://frightlibrary.org/pic/marine2.jpg
Animals deserve to be free and many people passing
on the highway agreed. One guy among a group of motorcycle travelers raised
a fist and shouted – Set them Free! Set Everybody Free!
Of course MarineLand didn't set anything free today. Instead
they wanted us jailed and Mathew B., on the right in the photo, nearly
got arrested when police arrived and accused us of trespassing on MarineLand
Property.
"Let's just say I'm a man with a beard," Mathew said when
police asked for his name.
"I'll have to arrest you," the cop said, but then I started
talking, which confused the officer, and he later left to talk to Dan,
the protest organizer, having forgot to make the arrest.
Maybe they forget to do a lot of things around MarineLand.
Photo 3 – Jennifer holding Cruelty is not Entertainment sign
http://frightlibrary.org/pic/marine3.jpg
John Holer, President of MarineLand, did not like
Jennifer or her sign. While she was up at the front on the highway he pulled
over to lecture her. He had a few nutty and hostile things to say.
Here are some excerpts from what he says about Friendship
Cove on the MarineLand web site.
John Holer - From the start, my vision for MarineLand
was to create an interactive facility where people would be able to get
as close to animals as possible … Guests tell us that being able to touch
the whales is a dream come true … I have dedicated my life to developing
one of the world's best facilities for animals … I will spare no expense
when it comes to the health and well being of the animals in my care …
work has begun on a world class aquarium complex and a new habitat for
the beluga whales. When complete, these new attractions will also be entertaining
….
Photo 4 – Protesters – One holding a Freak Show sign
http://frightlibrary.org/pic/marine4.jpg
As well as turning animals into a freak show, MarineLand
has a second freak show of nasty people passing in cars on the highway.
The kind half of the public showed strong support for the protest while
the creepy half shouted and made obscene faces and gestures. At the turn-in,
where we handed out flyers, one especially foul and mean woman verbally
attacked us, and MarineLand Security identified her as Niagara Councillor
Shirley Fischer.
People shouted – Losers! Get a Life! Get a Job!
At the lights one guy called us crazies, then announced
that he eats whales for breakfast. Ranting on he said he'd eat anything
he found on the road.
MarineLand may even hire him as their nutrition expert.
Currently they feed marine animals frozen and dead fish, which they can't
digest well. And the public gets junk food.
Animal rights protesters may be different in that they
don't eat junk or things from the road – and after today's protest we went
to a vegan restaurant for an afternoon meal.
Photo 5 – Protesters Ahead–Keep Moving sign
http://frightlibrary.org/pic/marine5.jpg
Energetic MarineLand staff put a Protesters Ahead Keep
Moving sign out on the highway and dogged us with security staff waving
keep moving signs at the cars.
They were dressed like a cross between MacDonald's workers
and gardeners and answered our every question with No Comment.
These highly qualified staff people also care for animals
and should you want to get a job at MarineLand you must be at least 16
years of age, legally eligible to work in Canada, have a valid social insurance
number and adhere to Marineland of Canada Inc. Seasonal Handbook.
Photo 6 and Photo 7 – People from Caged
http://frightlibrary.org/pic/marine6.jpg
http://frightlibrary.org/pic/marine7.jpg
People came to today's demo from Niagara, Buffalo, Hamilton and Toronto. The folks from the Caged animal activist group in Hamilton have their own flyer for an alternative version of MarineLand that would include an endangered whale's virtual reality adventure, a 3-D Movie Theatre, Marine Mammal Learning Centre and Childrens' Art area. A reporter from The View, a Hamilton alternative paper arrived with them and an article will be appearing in that paper.
Photo 8 – Children with Captivity Kills sign
http://frightlibrary.org/pic/marine8.jpg
One man in a passing car yelled that MarineLand is for the children. As if that justifies cruelty. And he apparently didn't notice that children were among the protesters, holding their own signs on captivity.
More protest photos
http://frightlibrary.org/pic/marine9.jpg
http://frightlibrary.org/pic/marine10.jpg
http://frightlibrary.org/pic/marine11.jpg
… and this is the end, so make a picture of it all and - Set them Free! Set Everybody Free!
info
Niagara Action for Animals
http://www.niagaraactionforanimals.com
Call Dan at (905) 262-0633.
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Toronto
Contact Freedom for Animals
email - free_animals@hotmail.com
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MarineLand Web Site is
http://marinelandcanada.com/
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