Thats earned them the nickname canaries of the ocean. But, their habitat is under threat. Plastic trash and other toxins in the oceans are making the mammals sick. Underwater noise levels are increasing, due to heavy ship traffic and drilling for oil and gas. All this together with rising water temperatures is making life tough for the whales. Belugas live in the arctic waters, including those off russia. There though they are still at the mercy of hunters. In the black sea, two russian film journalists are documenting the fate of dolphins and white whales, or belugas known for their unusual singing. These filmmakers have been swimming with the whales since childhood and have watched the whale population diminish over the years. Belugas are being sold to dolphinariums in ever higher numbers. Belugas live in arctic waters in large families. They are highly intelligent and social creatures. Tatjana beley and Gayane Petrosyan say its a crime to take them out of their native habitat and place them in pools. Their Research Shows that the number of dolphinariums along the black sea coast is rising, in china too. So demand for belugas is growing rapidly. Captivity in a dolphinarium can be pure hell for belugas. Instead of swimming hundreds of kilometers a day, they are reduced to doing tricks in a small pool. These intelligent mammals are degraded to little more than remotecontrolled toys. Its just awful when you find out what is happening behind the closed doors and fences, how the dolphins and belugas are suffering. But whats even more terrible that you cant help them. Haunted by the whales plight, beley and petrosyan travelled across russia for four years, filming what they saw where belugas were kept in captivity. The resulting documentary has caused a stir in russia. The worst part for me was our trip to the far east. What i saw there was just unimaginable. The animals are reeducated, tortured; many of them die. Especially when they are being transported. And the people involved dont care. We were threatened numerous times while filming. But the two did manage to film these images at the arctic circle. These men are catching the young, gray belugas. They can be trained. But the older ones, once they turn white, cannot. When the hunters come, the white belugas try to protect their young and often get caught in the nets. Many die. They get sent to china on these old, rusty boats. They spend days in little tubs, often in the scorching heat. During loading or unloading, many belugas necks break. Amusement parks pay between 40 and 100 thousand euros for a young, gray beluga. The trade brings in millions. The problem is growing because there are more and more dolphinariums. In russia theyre being built all the time. Theyre lucrative. But exports to china are also increasing. Its as if an epidemic has broken out every city wants its own dolphinarium. So the business is booming and the oceanariums are getting bigger all the time. The chinese always want to have the very biggest. The animals for these aquaparks are bought from russia. More and more people are getting involved just to get a piece of the action. The journalists have screened their film in russian cinemas, hoping to raise awareness. In europe and north america, Animal Protection laws are stronger, and importing wild catches is in many cases forbidden. Ordinary russians were shocked by the film. Ill never go to a dolphinarium again. Its so sad. You never think about things like this. But when you see it, then you know how serious it all is. We have to fight against this practice. Its great that films like this are being made in russia, and that such offenses are being addressed. The big problem, though, is that there are no laws about how to keep whales in captivity. That is wrong. There should be clear regulations about that for such intelligent animals. The filmmakers goal is a moratorium on the hunting of dolphins and whales until the introduction of legal guidelines for holding the whales in the aquaparks. But they feel that Animal Rights arent taken seriously in russian politics especially when business is involved. For president vladimir putin, moscows new dolphinarium amounts to a trophy object. Hes ignored all calls for belugas rights here. It would be easier if the beluga business were in the hands of just one person. But there is a whole network that stretches into the russian bureaucratic system. This business is part of a corrupt system. It could take years to defeat this. But theres some progress russian newspapers have published their first articles about the belugas suffering. A total of 63 Countries Worldwide have Marine Mammal parks. They are particularly popular in japan, china, the us, russia and mexico. The majority of those in europe are in spain where there are as many as 12. Its showtime in europes largest dolphinarium. The Marine Aquarium in valencia, spain, is a tourist magnet. Theres pop music, and the dolphins perform tricks in formation. The aquarium says the dolphin shows help promote Environmental Protection and education. Some children have never seen the ocean. For children like this, getting to see animals up close is very important. The emotional element is also fundamental to the experience. The opportunity to see dolphins is a powerful educational tool. Large groups of children come here on school outings, to learn about the underwater creatures. Animal rights activists say such educational arguments are little more than windowdressing. The aquarium is a big business, and the animals are part of their profitmaking machine. We head for tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. Teo lucas is an Animal Rights activist and Elementary School teacher who is opposed to dolphinariums. Soon after we set sail, a school of dolpins begins following our boat. Teo lucas tries to get some good shots. He would never take his students to a dolphin show. Instead he organizes boat tours so that children can see the Marine Mammals in their natural environment, rather than in captivity. When you talk to children about freedom, or about family, they understand exactly what you mean. If you ask them what if i removed you from your environment, your home, your family . Do you think you would like that . All of them say, no. The dolpin shows are a mainstay of spains tourism industry. There are four dolphinariums on the Canary Islands already, and another one is being built on lanzarote. Teo lucas says that dolphins suffer in the aquariums. Constant stress makes the dolphins aggressive toward the weaker animals in the group. Its only hunger that makes them obey the trainers. Here in aqualand, visitors can pay for a private show, where they get to dangle their legs in the water. Its a lucrative sideline for the aquarium, so they shrug off the disease risk it poses to the animals. For Marine Mammals, the Canary Islands are a kind of guantanamo. There are more than 20 dolphins being held in captivity here, just in this small region. Dolphins are wild animals and they love freedom. Therere always on the move; they never stay still. How can we take an animal that normally travels great distances in the ocean and hold it captive in a tank . Thats a question aqualand prefers to avoid. Aspro, the company that operates the dolphinarium, wont grant interviews. The madridbased Company Operates dozens of Leisure Parks across europe, with more than 2thousand yearround employees in all. The Company Earns millions, thanks in part to the controversial dolphin shows. Another spanish dolphinshow operator, parques reunidos, became a publicly listed company in spring last year. Revenue was 580 Million Euros in 2016. The company owns 100 dolphins and six orcas. It turned down requests for interviews. This Business Model is increasing the number of animals held in captivity. When a child visits a park like this and sees a dolphin or a parrot, they dont go home with a new appreciation for Environmental Protection. Instead they ask their father, buy a parrot or a hamster for me captivity just leads to more captivity. There are alternatives to theme parks. The waters around the Canary Islands are rich in marine life. Like pilot whales. A boat tour usually costs less than admission to a theme park. For the visitors, its a chance to see the animals in their natural environment. Now its time for global ideas where we learn the best what do you think of dolphin arians . Tell us dolphin areas dolphinariums . Tell us on facebook. Now its time for global ideas where we learn the plight of other marine life off the coast of bosnia and herzogovina. Much of the countrys limited coastline has been heavily developed. In the resort town of neum and the capital sarajevo marine biologists are tracking down the causes of disease among sharks and rays in the adriatic. Marine biologist andrej gajic and his Research Team are gearing up for their next dive. They make dives like these only halfdozen times a year, so theyre truly special opportunities. Expeditions are something that i consider as a personal thing. We usually plan every dive in a minute we plan every activity, every species that we want to see, film, to take samples to analyze. Theyve come to observe the shark and ray populations, which have seen an eightyfive percent decline in the region. What theyre learning is surprising. When we saw the first samples. We got ten dead sharks from the coast around this part of the adriatic sea. And we cut all the organs. And we did not believe to find anything suspicious. But they were all sick. And that was extremely surprising, not only for us, but for other colleagues all around the world who are cooperating with us. And not only surprising, but it made us very worried. On an ordinary dive, they descend up to about fifty meters. Theres been relatively Little Research on the sea life here, and vitually no other studies on diseases affecting creatures like the leopard shark, or the shortfin mako shark. This is part of the pathological collection at the university of sarajevo. Scientists here study fish such as rays or skates which end up as bycatch in fishing nets. The researchers xray them, take ct scans, and study tissue samples under the microscope. One image shows a healthy shark liver, another a unhealthy fatty liver. It is normal to have up to 50 per cent of the fat within the liver and what surprises most is that they have far more than the 50 per cent. And besides that you can see how the microvesicles actually destroy the cell. Theyve also found hepatitis and degenerative tissue changes. Around ninety percent the tissue samples showed evidence of disease. The researchers have yet to uncover the cause. Andrej gajic says it could take up to a decade to identify the environmental factors that contribute to these diseases. To do this, theyll need to systematically study sharks and stingrays along the entire adriatic coast, including croatia and montenegro. Andrej gajics research and environmental ngo, sharklab adria, also includes technicians and students. Today theyre out studying sharks. I started with sharklab about a year and half ago. Ive been on three expeditions so far and have really learned a lot. Theyre planning to take another dive this evening. It is highly important to know that we dive during the night, because we can find more rays. After several hours they find a number of these marbled electric rays. Its population has also declined dramatically. The coastline of the town of neum runs only about five kilometers along the adriatic. Its a popular holiday destination for bosnia and herzogovina. All of the towns sewage flows, directly into the sea some of it as unfiltered waste. The waste water that we need to deal with, and there is also need for better law regulations, which will help us to maintain our waste. One cause for the decline of species is overfishing. The biologists see sustainable fish farms as a possible solution. This one is owned by ivan kremek. His family fished here for generations until openwater catches declined. Our forefathers fished, but it was different then. They fished for themselves, and even they didnt have enough to supply the market. Thats why weve started these fish farms. Today we can supply all of bosnia and herzegovina with fish. The findings of andrej gajic and his team have raised international concern. Now gajic hopes to open an Ocean Research institute in his home country. And he hopes that one day, biodiversity will return to the adriatic so that it will be as rich in species as this Marine Aquarium. Water is most valued where its least present. Perus capital, lima, is located in a coastal desert. But rivers supply the city with glacial water from the andes and theres still a bountiful supply of it. In the settlements on the edge of the city, however, beyond the limits of its water system, things look very different. An unusual project is underway. Men are carrying bluegreen bundles up the hillside. Theyre also putting up many wooden posts. Then the nylon nets go up, here on a hill overlooking lima, the capital of peru. A dense fog is blanketing the poor neighborhood below, but little rain falls on these dry hills. A tankertruck is making its way slowly up the street. Its the only source of fresh water for the hundreds of thousands of people who live here. And its expensive. Abel cruz wants to change that. We started fog catching in this district four years ago, in order to supply water to the families who live here. Fog catchers are an ingenious idea. During the winter, fog covers the entire area. Abel cruz uses these nets to make water out of thin air. The fog condenses on the nets. The water gathers here and runs down the net, drop by drop, thousands of them. They all end up in this channel, which transports it to cisterns. On a good day, a single fog catcher can yield up to 200 liters of water. We want to show the government that with a little intelligence, we can change the lives of people who live here. The lives of many families. In lima, about 2 Million People have no access to drinking water. Two million, thats a lot people here in the Villa Lourdes neighbourhood are hoping that there will soon be plenty of water in the tank and that their life will be that much easier. There is no Running Water in the shacks here. Maria explains to us that sand does the job of water in the toilets. Not only is the water delivered by truck very expensive, people never know if it is clean or has to be boiled before they drink it. My dream is to have Running Water, hot and cold, one day in our house. And sewerage and electricity. Simply having water when you turn on the tap. The peruvians without Water Initiative has erected fog catchers in other neighborhoods and areas, and is planning more with the help of donations. Now there is enough water for maria to grow vegetables on her little hillside plot. Perhaps her dream of having her own water tap might yet come true. I am. A global teen. In our global teens series, we meet teenagers from around the world and find out what theyre passionate about. Today, were in south africa. Whats your name . My name is zinhle mkhize, im 13 years old, and i live in johannesburg in south africa. I crochet and i knit. And i also play with my nephew. I imagine being an optometrist or a fashion designer. I prefer being a fasion designer in london, because here in south africa most fasion designers dont really make it. My mother, she sells la vita products. Well, i think some places thered be rural, so theyd be very poor in education. And some would be rich areas. So, there would be spoiled brats. Thered be different types of food they taste and sweets and all these other things ive never tasted before. Im afraid that other kids would grow up not knowing that there is school. My hopes for the future are, that other kids would have better education, better toilet facilities and also have better places to stay. The big problems of the world are global warming, animals dying and also politics. Were looking for teenagers whod like to introduce themselves and their views. If youre interested, or know someone who is, write to us at global3000 dw. Com or on facebook dw global society. Thanks for joining us today. Take care, and see you soon [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [female voice over] this program is made possible in part by the town of marion, home of the Wayne Henderson school of appalachian arts, celebrating 21 years as a certified virginia main street community. The historic General Francis Marion Hotel and the speak easy restaurant and lounge, providing accommodations and casual fine dining. In downtown marion, virginia. The bank of marion. Technology powered, service driven. Wbrf 98. 1 fm. And bryant label, a proud supporter of our regions musical heritage. cherokee shuffle by gerald anderson
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