Due in part to plummeting ticket sales, SeaWorld is reportedly laying off hundreds of staffers. That news prompted PETA and local activists to hold demonstrations over the weekend in front of SeaWorld parks in Orlando and San Diego in order to call on the corporation to retire the orcas who are languishing in the theme parks' cramped and barren tanks.

You'd think that after an orca killed a trainer earlier this year, SeaWorld would recognize the need to change course. The theme park can reinvent itself and retain jobs by retiring the orcas to protected coastal sanctuaries.

Please tell SeaWorld to "lay off" the orcas—and that you won't be buying a ticket until it does.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

i.telegraph.co.uk / CC

In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the dolphins know to leave Earth before the planet is destroyed—and it looks like Douglas Adams was on to something.

No, the planet isn't in immediate peril (depending on your definition of "immediate"), but dolphins really are geniuses, second only to humans in intelligence, according to a new study.

This study revealed that the brain cortex of dolphins has the same complicated folds associated with human intelligence, and it has the scientific community buzzing. Thomas White, professor of ethics at Loyola Marymount University, argues that dolphins (i.e. "non-human persons") deserve rights and "qualify for moral understanding as individuals." PETA couldn't agree more! And because we wouldn't force our relatives to live in cages tanks, we're writing a letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service, asking it to place a permanent ban on issuing permits allowing dolphins to be captured and used as attractions at theme parks and resort hotels.

Dolphins are thoughtful animals with distinct personalities, and each dolphin has a strong sense of self. They think, plan, and communicate with one another. In the wild, they spend their entire lives in large groups; removing them from their natural communities is traumatizing and often results in stress-related illness and premature death. If we don't start treating our cognitive cousins with more respect, in the end we might really be left holding that note that reads, "So long, and thanks for all the fish."

Written by Logan Scherer