volk-morya: From Dr. Naomi Rose on From The Dolphin’s Point of View: So the final vote of the…
From Dr. Naomi Rose on From The Dolphin’s Point of View:
So the final vote of the Coastal Commission was yes to the permit to build Blue World, but with conditions. Those conditions are: no breeding, no transfers consistent with federal law (which means that the four whales at SeaWorld San Diego who are there under MMPA permits – Shouka who was imported from France, Ulises who was imported from Spain, Kasatka who was captured from the wild, and Corky who was transferred from Marineland when the MMPA required permits for transfers – could be transferred out of the state, but no whales can come in), and a cap on orcas to be held in the new facility of 15 (to accommodate any rescues that may need housing at SeaWorld San Diego).
This was very unexpected, actually – while I think “our side” did a fantastic job at the hearing, the CCC seemed to favor SeaWorld’s arguments, other than a handful of Commissioners who were clearly onside with us. When Greg Cox began outlining the 15-whale cap and changing the date of the grandfather clause for wild-caught whales to Jan 1, 2012 (to preclude the use of any Russian whales or their offspring/genetic material), we all thought the CCC would go with that – the mood in the room really seemed in SeaWorld’s favor. But then Dayna Bochco came up with her amendment and the game changed – just like that. From growing despair to elation in five minutes!
SeaWorld was caught flat-footed, I’m fairly certain. They believed they had it in the bag when they agreed to the new Cox conditions. But when Dayna Bochco came up with her amendment, the vote was 11 to 1 in favor, with only Cox dissenting (we did NOT think we had all the Commissioners with us at all). And then the vote to approve the permit with the Bochco conditions was unanimous (Cox gave in once her amendment was approved). We were all simply stunned – SeaWorld most of all, I have no doubt!
This means we have essentially what AB2140 would have given us, but with a bigger tank rather than a sea pen. This is a HUGE win, folks – despite not being perfect, the situation is now that if SeaWorld wants to build Blue World, they have to stop breeding their San Diego whales. If they don’t want to stop the breeding program, they can’t build Blue World. This puts them in quite the dilemma PR-wise.
The world is changing. We must now push ahead and work to pass AB2140 (which I believe will have a new number in the new session), which has two new leases on life – one because Anthony Rendon will be the new speaker and two because the big $100million hole that would have committed many parties to displaying orcas in perpetuity will not be built, at least not right away (I simply cannot see SeaWorld accepting these conditions without a fight).
I suspect strongly that SeaWorld will sue the CCC as having exceeded their authority under the Coastal Act. They might win…but they may very well not. Regardless, a lawsuit will tie everyone up in court for 2-3 years – and meanwhile, we will pass AB2140.
Reposted from http://ift.tt/1RyiRM9.
Tags: interesting analysis.
