Fiji II from David R. Andrew on Vimeo.

Beneath The Waves from David R. Andrew on Vimeo.

SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau’s death in 2010 after being attacked by a killer whale made headlines, but the story goes deeper.

As Kirby shows, marine biologist and animal advocate Naomi Rose had already spent two decades challenging SeaWorld’s captivity of killer whales as dangerous to both whales and humans, and the attack on Brancheau was just one of many that have occurred at marine mammal parks nationwide.

Death at SeaWorld introduces real people taking part in this debate, from former trainers turned animal rights activists to the men and women that champion SeaWorld and the captivity of whales. In section two the orcas act out. And as the story progresses and orca attacks on trainers become increasingly violent, the warnings of Naomi Rose and other scientists fall on deaf ears, only to be realized with the death of Dawn Brancheau. Finally he covers the media backlash, the eye-witnesses who come forward to challenge SeaWorld’s glossy image, and the groundbreaking OSHA case that challenges the very idea of keeping killer whales in captivity and may spell the end of having trainers in the water with the ocean’s top predators.

Death at SeaWorld exposes the backroom politics, profit-centered policies and dangerous conditions at SeaWorld, America’s most beloved marine mammal park.

Due out this July: you can pre-order here:

http://www.amazon.com/Death-SeaWorld-Killer-Whales-Captivity/dp/1250002028/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1319656181&sr=1-1-catcorr

Digital Ocean: http://digocean.net/

Ocean Futures Society:  http://www.oceanfutures.org

Coral Gardens from Jenny Andrew on Vimeo.

Shark Fin Soup

It was the height of the feast and our waitress laid a grand platter on the table.

In it was a mound of roast duck, ringed by translucent fronds of the finest shark’s fin, glistening in a magnificent sauce.

It was a grand gesture on the part of my host, a wild extravagance, and a rich reference to Chinese culinary tradition.

I knew it would be astoundingly delicious.

The only problem for me was that I decided some time ago to stop eating shark’s fin for environmental reasons.

I knew that the Chinese appetite for fins was helping to drive many shark species to extinction, and had heard reports of the nasty practice called “finning”, where fishermen slash the valuable fins from live sharks, and throw their bodies away.

Environmental conscience

But I also knew that my host had served the dish to honour me and that a refusal to eat it might appear rude and ungrateful.

See below for more:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/8470945.stm