SeaWorld Infiltrates PETA

The animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has a long-running battle with SeaWorld, the place that takes beautiful orca and confines them in the orca equivalent of a bath tub, a microbial swamp where the delightful critters can swim, if you can call it swimming, in their own waste all day long (and most nights too).

Now PETA is accusing the SeaWorld operation in California of infiltrating their group not just with a spy but an agent provacateur.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Norfolk, Virginia-based animal rights group said SeaWorld had become "so upset" that it deployed one of its human relations employees to masquerade as an activist, sending him on undercover missions at protests and organizational meetings in California.

"But, most insidiously, he has repeatedly tried to incite people who object to SeaWorld to act illegally, stating that it's time to 'get a little aggressive,'" PETA said.

In a written statement in response to PETA's allegations, SeaWorld said it was "focused on the safety of our team members, guests and animals, and beyond that we do not comment on our security operations."

Classy, SeaWorld, very classy. Out here on the island one sure sign of summer is the commencement of cheesy TV ads for some place in Ontario called MarineLand.  "Everyone loves MarineLand" is the slogan only when I see all those belugas floating captive in a set made to resemble the ice floes of their native Arctic waters I wonder who in his right mind would ever take his kids there.  When I hear that jingle it's like nails dragged across a blackboard.  It's not "everybody" without me and I don't love MarineLand. I despise MarineLand and I have nothing but contempt for those who own it and run it.

If you really need to see these creatures that badly, come on out here.  We've got loads of dolphins and whales and, yes, orca.  One of my neighbours was out swimming at a beach less than a mile from my place before the heat wave broke. The water was delightfully warm-ish and she was able to go a fair bit out away from the beach.  As she describes it she was relaxing, treading water, when she heard a "whoosh" behind her that made her spin around.  It was a pod of orca just swimming by.  I've only known two others who've had such a close encounter with these animals but they all seem to have the same reaction. Their attention is riveted to the intelligence in the eye they see checking them out.  They describe a sort of fleeting connection with the orca and it seems to stay with them afterwards.