PETA activists demonstrated in front of all three SeaWorld locations this weekend—in Orlando, San Diego, and San Antonio—to remind visitors and passersby about the rising death toll at these abusement parks.

In another development, former SeaWorld trainers are calling on federal authorities to reject the corporation's latest public-relations ploy: to provide "spare air" (small oxygen canisters inside wetsuits) so that trainers like Dawn Brancheau—who was killed by an orca—can get back into the tanks. When Dawn was attacked, she suffered massive injuries. There's not a chance in the world that an oxygen canister can stand up to the crushing force of a stressed, enraged 5-ton animal.

Please remember, you can help animals by speaking out against SeaWorld. Post on Facebook and spread the word to your family and friends. Join countless other people who are saying "enough" to SeaWorld's exploitation of orcas, bottlenose dolphins, and other animals. And be sure to visit our True Friends Memorial page set up in memory of Sumar, the orca that died at SeaWorld San Diego last week.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

eschipul / CC by 2.0

The death toll continues to rise at SeaWorld with the passing of a 12-year-old orca named Sumar at the theme-park chain's San Diego location. Sumar died far short of the expected 50-to-60 year lifespan of orcas who roam the vast oceans, his rightful home.

Whatever caused Sumar's death (and let's hope that there will be no cover-up this time), circling a tiny concrete tank at a theme park and deprived of all that is natural and enjoyable, was never a life at all. Instead of profiting from their domination, PETA calls on SeaWorld to release these animals to coastal sanctuaries.

Please contact Blackstone Group (which owns SeaWorld) and insist that it begin the rehabilitation process right away.

Also, be sure to visit the True Friends Memorial site set up in memory of Sumar.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

Wild animals are dying because of human avarice, but unlike the plight of those who are perishing in oil, the carnage at SeaWorld can easily be stopped. An orca named Taima died this weekend while giving birth to a stillborn calf at SeaWorld Orlando. The baby was conceived by Tilikum, the angry and frustrated orca who battered a trainer to death earlier this year—the third time he has killed a human.

For Taima, death was terrifying and painful, but it was a release from a miserable life of deprivation. In nature, orcas choose their own mates, and the families stay together for life. Ripped from her ocean home, Taima's own mother, Gudrun, died in captivity after a complicated delivery in which chains were used to extract her stillborn calf. Gudrun was called mentally ill and was known to be violent. Both mother orcas and their calves met their end alone in a tank full of chemically-treated water that must have felt like a bathtub to these animals, who were meant to explore the endless fathoms of the sea.

SeaWorld is a greedy outfit that spends millions of dollars on cruel breeding programs and marketing promotions. It values profit over safety and treats orcas as if they were wind-up toys. Like BP, SeaWorld can never make up for the harm that it has done. It should immediately fund the creation of a coastal sanctuary into which the orcas can start their journey back home. It can start with Tilikum.

Please, contact Blackstone Group and insist that it stop the horrors associated with keeping animals in captivity and put its money toward more humane endeavors.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor