Speak up for Polar Bears and Support a Worldwide Ban on Commercial Trade of Their Parts

Polar bears face many threats today: climate change melting the ice  

they require for survival, toxic pollution and oil development.Yet hunters are legally allowed to kill hundreds of them every year for their pelts, paws and teeth among other parts. This is allowed, despite their threatened status and very uncertain future.

  The Obama Administration is considering whether or not to propose an international ban on the commercial trade of polar bear parts at the next meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). This means moving polar bears from Appendix II to Appendix I of CITES.

Cut and paste the Email to President Obama and add your own words:

Dear President Obama,   

With polar bears starving and drowning as a result of melting sea ice, we cannot allow these majestic creatures to be hunted to meet international demand for objects like jewelry and rugs. Please support an international ban on the commercial trade of polar bear parts at the next meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) which means moving polar bears from Appendix II to Appendix I of CITIES.

Thank you.

Be sure to include your name and address at end of email. 

Three crab fishermen out of Bodega Bay in Northern California spotted colorful buoys that were slowly traveling in the water by their boat. Moving closer, they saw that the buoys were attached to a large gray whale entangled in netting and almost motionless.

  The buoys had been fastened to the whale by the Marine Mammal Center in an earlier rescue attempt off of Orange County in Southern California, but she got away before she was completely released. The rescuers had nicknamed her "June."

  Days later she was sighted off the Big Sur area in Central California. Boats from the Whale Entanglement Team, Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary and Monterey Bay Aquarium searched for her as far north as Davenport, CA but no sighting was made. I went to the headlands above a nearby beach in Santa Cruz County and scanned the water with binoculars. She had been reported to be hugging the coast and traveling with other whales although being slowed down by the gear she was dragging.

  More days passed without a sighting and we were beginning to feel that June's story could end in tragedy. That's when the three fishermen in Bodega Bay saw the buoys barely moving were attached to a whale. They moved their 48-foot vessel as close to her as possible and Captain Mark Anello and two crew members, Pete Miller and Lynn McGowen, pulled alongside her. Using 12-foot, bamboo poles with hooks on the end, the three men spent 90 minutes freeing June. When disentangled, she took a lap around the boat, surfaced and took off. A calf that had remained nearby left with her.

  The boat captain's father, Tony Anello, said that she seemed to be saying "Thank You."  We thanked the crew for saving her life (and risking theirs) by sending them Save The Whales Tee-shirts.   

In August 2011, SeaWorld was fined $75,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) following the February 2010 death of trainer Dawn Brancheau caused by the orca, Tillikum. SeaWorld Orlando's $75,000 fine has been reduced to $12,000, according to a judge's ruling.

  Among the three safety violations, one was classified as "willful." Cindy Coe, regional administrator of OSHA, said that SeaWorld knew of the inherent risks of allowing trainers to interact with dangerous animals. "Nonetheless, it required its employees to work within the pool walls, on ledges and on shelves where they were subject to dangerous behavior by the animals," Coe said in her statement.  

  Judge Ken Welsch's decision reduced the most serious violation SeaWorld faced in Dawn Brancheau's death from "willful" to "serious." 

  The suffering of orcas in captivity is spelled out in this article. In this new study, former SeaWorld trainers Jeffrey Ventre, MD and John Jett, Ph.D, take us deep behind the scenes of marine parks and their ability to provide environments adequate for keeping killer whales alive in captivity. Drs.Ventre and Jett introduce us to detailed observations and strong statistical calculations that add up to an abundance of evidence that captivity kills orcas, usually at a young age, and that stresses, social tensions and poor health are chronic issues in marine park facilities.