OVERVIEW Vancouver Park Board Whale Hearings March 8 @ 6pm At the upcoming March 8th Special Meeting, Park Board Commissioners will be presented with a Park Board Staff report containing different options Commissioners could take to immediately ban the importation of more whales and dolphins into the Vancouver Aquarium. The Commissioners will also hear from Aquarium reps who will argue that the Park Board should not take any action nor impose any restrictions on cetacean importation, as the Aquarium claims it plans to end beluga captivity in 2029, even though there are no plans to end performing dolphin displays, ever. The Aquarium proposes to spend $20 million on expanding the whale show tank for the next two years, and once ready, five performing belugas will be imported from SeaWorld and kept for 10 years on display, supposedly for scientific research. The Aquarium also claims no decisions have been made regarding what to do with the whale show tank once the belugas are supposedly exported back to the USA after 2029. After these two presentations, hopefully the Commissioners will allow a third one by the Vancouver Humane Society and Zoocheck Canada, in order to counter the Aquarium's claims. These groups published a joint whale captivity report in November 2016 titled "A CRUMBLING CASE FOR CETACEAN CAPTIVITY? - A review of several key education and conservation research factors". Please read the full report by clicking on this link: https://www.zoocheck.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/MM-Education-and-Conservation-Report-Dec-9-2016-fi.pdf And finally, Park Commissioners will hear from a long list of delegations starting on March 8th and continuing on March 9th, if necessary. Speakers who oppose cetacean captivity will urge the Park Board to ban importation immediately. Speakers who chose to believe the Aquarium's claim that whale captivity will be terminated in 2029, will urge commissioners to trust and accept the Aquarium's absurd proposal. After all the delegations have spoken, the Park Board will count how many speakers opposed and how many supported whale captivity. These numbers are important, although not accurate - since the Vancouver Aquarium brings busloads of paid staff and volunteers to fight for their jobs and support whale captivity. This is why THE WHALES NEED YOU NOW! Sign up to speak at the meeting and then come up to the microphone and say - BAN CAPTIVITY NOW! That's all you have to say and it will help end the cruelty. ----------------------------------------------------------- IF YOU HAVEN'T REGISTERED TO SPEAK YET... please do so today! Special Park Board Meeting Cetaceans at the Vancouver Aquarium March 8 @ 6pm - call the Park Board Meeting Line 604-257-8158 - or E-mail: - or register online http://vancouver.ca/your-government/speak-at-a-meeting.aspx Scroll down to "TOPICS NOT ON AN AGENDA"... TYPE THIS: Special Board meeting: Cetaceans at the Vancouver Aquarium March 8 THEN ADD YOUR CONTACT DATA AND SUBMIT. Thank you! Stay tuned! More to come. Annelise Sorg President No Whales In Captivity Box 461 - 1755 Robson Street Vancouver, BC V6G 3B7 CANADA Tel: 604-736-9514 E-mail: info@nowhalesincaptivity.org www.Facebook.com/NoWhalesInCaptivityBC