Thad Lacinak, former SeaWorld employee, responds to a PETA lawsuit claiming SeaWorld is enslaving killer whales.
Lawyers for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals will face off against those with SeaWorld in a Southern California federal court Monday after the animal rights group filed a lawsuit to declare that five killer whales are being held in slavery or involuntary servitude in violation of the 13th Amendment.
For many millions of years, the oceans have been filled with the sounds of a geologically and biologically active planet: waves, rain, earthquakes and the songs of life from snapping shrimp to great whales. Before the age of engine-driven ships, the resounding voices of the great whales could be heard across an ocean.
Three anti-whaling activists were injured in a clash with Japanese whalers off the coast of Antarctica on Wednesday when the Japanese crew used grappling hooks against pursuit boats, the conservation group Sea Shepherd said in statement.
Sea Shepherd president Paul Watson discusses Japan's plans to resume whaling.
Environmental campaign group Greenpeace has warned that if oil leaks from the stricken cruise liner Costa Concordia it could cause an environmental disaster, threatening marine life including birds, whales and sharks.
Japan on Friday handed over to Australian authorities three anti-whaling activists held aboard a Japanese vessel after illegally boarding the ship to protest Japan's annual whale hunt in Atlantic waters.
Japan said Tuesday that it would hand over to Australian authorities three Australian anti-whaling activists being held aboard a Japanese vessel, but that it would press on with its annual whale hunt in the seas near Antarctica.
Three Australian activists are being held aboard a Japanese ship Monday after illegally boarding the vessel to protest Japan's annual whale hunt in Antarctic waters.
Prisoners in ice, more than 100 Beluga whales in far eastern Russia risk death unless rescued soon.
The Japanese government has affirmed that $29 million from its budget for post-earthquake and tsunami reconstruction is going toward extra security measures for the country's whaling fleet, angering environmental activists like Greenpeace.
SeaWorld employees on Tuesday testified at a federal job safety hearing that, while the behavior of killer whales is is extremely predictable, the job of working with a 6-ton marine mammal carries a calculated risk.
CNN's Anderson Cooper talks to author David Kirby about new developments in the SeaWorld hearing.
Can killer whales sue SeaWorld for enslavement?
Onetime nursery school teacher Gale McCullough explains how the photo site Flickr helps her global whale research.
Want to help save the humpback whale? Pick up a camera and start taking pictures, says Gale McCullough, a "fluke matcher" at Allied Whale, a research group.
Japan says it will hunt whales in the Southern Ocean this winter and will send a Fisheries Agency ship to guard its whalers against promised intervention by a conservation group.
A gray whale that spent nearly seven weeks in a northern California river died Tuesday, a sad ending to attempts to get her back to sea.
No matter how many times he steers the 450-passenger Seabourn Sojourn through Norway's Lofoten Islands, captain Hamish Elliott eagerly anticipates his favorite point: the entrance to Trollfjord, a fairytale-like landscape with towering cliffs on either side.
Vietnamese authorities are on alert for animal smugglers after four bags of deadly snakes were found on a train from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, according to local press reports.
Volunteers and veterinarians caring round the clock for stranded pilot whales were buoyed Saturday evening by news that two were released off the Florida Keys.
Rescuers worked feverishly Friday to save some of the pilot whales who stranded themselves in shallow waters near the Florida Keys.
Volunteers work through the night to save beached pilot whales. WSVN reports
What scientists say is the largest concentration of endangered right whales ever spotted in one location is giving researchers an unusually rich opportunity to study the animals and their feeding habits.
They are the largest animals on the planet and spend around 90% of their lives underwater, surfacing to breathe for only fleeting moments.
Japan cancels its winter whale hunt, blaming Sea Shepherd activists. CNN's Kyung Lah reports.
Japan has canceled the rest of its winter whaling season, with a top official reasoning that environmentalists' obstructive efforts made it dangerous for whalers to stay on the high seas.
Japan has suspended its annual Antarctic whale hunt because an anti-whaling group is tailing its ship, a government official said Wednesday.
After taking 24 hours of online flak for a set of cheeky Super Bowl ads that critics say went too far, Groupon founder Andrew Mason has explained, but not apologized, in a blog post.
Nestled in the mountain foothills of a remote province in central Vietnam, one of the country's most important archaeological discoveries in a century has recently come to light.
For most divers, a shark in the water can inspire fear, or even dread. Greg Marshall wanted to hitch a ride.
Word that a teenager climbed aboard a whale for a ride has sent Australian officials to the beach, to warn others not to try such a stunt.
SeaWorld has been fined $75,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for three safety violations, including one classified as willful, after an animal trainer was killed in February.
Dawn Brancheau, the trainer who was killed at Sea World in February, was laid to rest Chicago.
A beachgoer in a remote area of northern New Zealand found a horrific sight Friday morning -- 58 pilot whales stranded on Karikari Beach.
A sailor has described her "miraculous" escape after a whale leapt out of the water and crash-landed on the deck of her boat off the coast of South Africa.
Was last year's financial crisis a chance event? Or was it the product of 35 million years of evolution?
Anti-whaling activist Peter Bethune was given a two-year suspended prison sentence and five years' probation Wednesday by a Tokyo district court judge for his role in boarding a Japanese whaling ship.
The family of anti-whaling activist Peter Bethune reacts to the news he'll receive probation and a suspended sentence.
Researchers scanning the Peruvian desert for whale fossils have stumbled upon the remains of a "sea monster" three times the size of a modern day killer whale.
After just two days of closed-door negotiations, the leaders who had gathered at the International Whaling Commission in Agadir, Morocco, announced no agreement was reached on the IWC chair's proposal to improve whale conservation.
Our need for oil almost wiped out the sperm whale once, and now our insatiable hunger for it threatens them again.
The actor films a PSA asking Obama to help save the whales
Australia say diplomacy has failed, so now it's going to court to try and stop Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean.
Australia is asking an international court to weigh in on Japan's whale-hunting practices, officials said Tuesday.
Anti-whaling activist Peter Bethune testified in a trial Monday that he had no intention of hurting anyone when he protested Japan's whale hunt.
Australia will take its case against Japan's whaling practices to international court early next week, Australian officials said Friday.
The trial of an activist accused of interfering with Japan's whaling fleet is scheduled to begin in a Japanese court Thursday.
CNN's Randi Kaye reports on why OSHA recanted a report warning of killer whale attacks at SeaWorld.
When it comes to animal exploitation -- follow the money. Using animals for entertainment is big business, plain and simple. The killer whale Tilikum has helped SeaWorld sell millions of dollars worth of tickets.
Wednesday's speech from President Obama unveiling his new strategy on offshore drilling, which will keep some sensitive coastal areas open for drilling, hits close to home for me.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar talks with CNN's John King about new offshore drilling plans.
A trendy California sushi restaurant says it's closing after being accused of serving illegal whale meat.
Federal authorities have charged a trendy Santa Monica sushi restaurant with serving whale meat -- an investigation that was spurred by the team behind the Oscar-winning documentary, "The Cove."
Protesters gather in Santa Monica, California, protesting a restaurant that sold whale meat.
A trendy California sushi restaurant charged by federal authorities with serving whale meat offered an apology Monday, saying it "ignored its responsibilities" to endangered species.
The tragic death of a trainer at Sea World last week revived a number of long simmering questions. While we still grapple with "how did this happen?" the central question for many revolves around the role of large mammals -- like Tilikum the killer whale -- in zoos and aquariums: Should they be there or not?
CNN's Kiran Chetry talks to a SeaWorld official about why one of its killer whales turned on his trainer.
Killer whales can weigh up to 22,000 pounds, and may be as long as 32 feet, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They often travel in groups of up to 50, being highly social.
Dawn Brancheau, the SeaWorld trainer killed by a whale, talked with WESH in 2000 about working with the creatures.
Mourners packed into a church in Illinois Monday to remember a woman whose death made headlines worldwide.
Friends and family remember Dawn Brancheau as a woman who loved her life's work
SeaWorld will resume killer whale shows while the company and two federal agencies investigate the death of a whale trainer at SeaWorld Orlando, company and federal officials announced Friday.
The director of an Oscar-nominated documentary about dolphin slaughter says the SeaWorld killer whale attack that left a trainer dead earlier this week could have been prevented.
HLN's Chuck Roberts asks SeaWorld's head whale trainer about events surrounding the tragic death there.
A whale trainer at SeaWorld died from "multiple traumatic injuries and drowning" after a 12,000-pound killer whale grabbed her ponytail and pulled her underwater in front of shocked onlookers at Shamu Stadium, the Orange County Sheriff's office said Thursday.
She lived the life of a little girl's dream.
Dawn Brancheau died of "multiple traumatic injuries and drowning," an autopsy finds
A killer whale killed a trainer Wednesday afternoon at SeaWorld's Shamu Stadium in Orlando, Florida, a public information officer for the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.
Killer whale experts say the whale that killed its trainer may have just wanted to play. CNN's Randi Kaye reports.
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