WaterNotes

It’s no secret here at WaterNotes that I have very mixed and rather strong feelings regarding animals – and particularly cetaceans – living in zoos and aquariums. (If you missed it, here’s my take.) The documentary The Cove never sat evenly with me. As an insider in the community of zoological parks, and one with [...]

Fanciful, liberally animated, and delivered with a positive vibe. That’s the overall flavor of Monterey Bay Aquarium’s newest PSA to help drive their climate awareness in our communities.  Their website recently launched a page dedicated to ocean changes and suggestions for people to help limit those changes.  Its not anything revolutionary or new: ditch the [...]

Things have been more than distracting this summer so for those of you still checking in, forgive the lapse in posts. However, since I’m still on hiatus while I roam the wilds of Florida with my camp students, feast your brain on this very interesting essay published by Orion: A Mind In the Water.  It [...]

If you’re a regular WaterNotes reader, you’ve been seeing a lot here lately about the ethics of keeping wildlife in zoos and aquariums. I’ve certainly tried to be polite while voicing my opinions, and I think my stance on it is clear:  I fall squarely within the “these animals are ambassadors for their species and [...]

The Wildlife Conservation Society publishes its book State of the Wild on a regular basis with essays and articles covering issues in wildlife conservation.  In the current edition, an article “Rarest of the Rare”, highlights ten species thought to be among the most critically endangered of them all. What surprises me about this list?  Several [...]

Forgive me, but I’m having a very hard time lately with all the recent attention given to the ethics and morality of keeping wildlife in zoos and aquariums (or “captivity”). Not only have we been raising questions concerning large social and intelligent animals like dolphins and whales, we are now raising concerns about other species, [...]