Holiday Gift Solved! - SeaSmart Summer 2023 Registration Has Opened  

Thank you to our amazing donors!

Speaking of Buying Holiday Gifts...

This Is Why We Want To #emptythetanks

Series Spotlight - The Rescue

Alumni Spotlight

Research Opportunities at Florida Tech

Attention Teachers & Educators!

SeaSmart Swag/Past Newsletters 

What Better Gift Than An Adventure...

Experiences are the new in-demand gifts. We sell out the student/family and adult-only weeks every year, so don't wait to register and send in a fully refundable deposit to hold your spot!

We will again offer a scholarship opportunity, thanks to our generous donors. Stay tuned for the application to open January 2023!

Thank You To Our Donors! Ever Wonder What Happens With Your Donation? 

You may have received an email, letter or both from our Director of Development, Patti Gallagher, as she has kicked off our donation program. Thank you to those who have already donated to our scholarship fund. For those who still haven't, ANY donation is appreciated...nothing is too small!

100% of your donation goes to funding students who cannot otherwise participate in SeaSmart's Ocean Conservation, Marine Science & SCUBA experiential programs. This ensures that EVERY student in ANY demographic has the opportunity to become an ocean advocate and learn to protect this critical resource in the future.

Speaking of Holiday Shopping...

We have a wonderful opportunity for you to support SeaSmart when you shop on Amazon. AmazonSmile is a program that donates 0.5% of your eligible purchases on Amazon to SeaSmart. It's the same products, at the same prices-with no cost to you!

All you need to do is start your shopping at smile.amazon.com. (You do have to use this link when shopping from a computer, so you may want to bookmark the SeaSmart shopping link.)  Or use the link below to get started! 

If you use the Amazon App on your phone,  simply open the app and find ’Settings’ in the main menu (☰). Tap on ‘AmazonSmile’ and follow the on-screen instructions to turn on AmazonSmile, and benefit SeaSmart, on your phone.

Every little bit helps, so thanks for supporting SeaSmart with this small step! 

K2 Is The Third Dolphin To Die This Year At The Mirage Casino Habitat in Las Vegas; Shocking Allegations of Dolphin Abuse at Miami Seaquarium

Following its third dolphin death this year - its second in September alone - The Mirage hotel and casino has closed the Dolphin Habitat until further notice. K2, an 11 year old bottlenose dies of a suspected respiratory illness. The same suspected cause of death was given earlier that month for a 19 year old bottlenose names Maverick. In April, a 13 year old bottlenose named Bella succumbed to gastroenteritis.

Meanwhile, in Miami, Seaquarium’s dolphins were allegedly starved in a deliberate attempt to force the animals to perform better. What they got instead were multiple aggressive incidents against trainers, and even members of the public. A new inspection report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released on October 21 and written in July 2022, along with a previous inspection report written in June 2021 allegedly show that:

-- diets for nine out of 12 dolphins at Dolphin Harbor were cut by a staggering 60%,
-- Star, a 23 year-old female dolphin went from being fed approximately 12 pounds of food daily to four pounds daily. Aries, a 20 year-old male dolphin went from being fed 13 pounds of food daily to three pounds daily,
-- the dolphins became emaciated, with prominent muscle wasting and palpable scapula and ribs,
-- gastrointestinal abnormalities amongst the dolphins began taking place, including multiple instances of excessive regurgitation.

The problems didn’t end there. The USDA report identified multiple aggressive incidents involving the dolphins at Dolphin Harbor, when a dolphin “mouthed” a member of the public during an in-water interaction. Records show that the animals exhibited warning behaviors prior to mouthing such as sinking after performing behaviors, swimming over the ledge of the pools without specific direction to do so, fast swimming, terminating control (refusing to participate) during sessions, ignoring signals for behaviors and splitting from the session.

Despite these concerning events, the Miami Seaquarium allegedly failed to provide direct and frequent communications regarding their animal health and well-being to the attending veterinarian. The facility also apparently failed to handle their animals in a manner that minimized the risk of harm to the public and continued guest interactions even when dolphins were demonstrating aggressive behaviors earlier in training sessions. Mouthing any portion of an individual’s body (hand or foot) can be considered a precursor to more aggressive behaviors that ultimately may lead to serious injuries to the public.

Miami-Dade Mayor, Daniella Levine Cava released a statement on October 21:
"I am deeply disturbed by the findings of the USDA report. Under the terms of the lease, the Dolphin Company is obligated to comply with federal regulations including the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Animal Welfare Act, and we will be swiftly reviewing the report to determine whether the Dolphin Company is in violation of the lease.”

Bottlenose dolphins typically live 40 to 60 years in the wild. However, the average survival time in captivity for all bottlenose dolphins who live for more than one year is 12 years. Dolphins have evolved for over 50 million years, and, despite being oxygen-breathing mammals, have adapted perfectly to life at sea. They have large, complex brains, are self-aware and develop close relationships with family and other pod members. Everything we have learned from them tells us they don’t belong in concrete tanks, performing tricks for our amusement.

Dolphins and whales are exploited in captivity in a number of places all over the world. Consumer demand for dolphin shows, swim with dolphins programs and other captive encounters is the driving force behind the global captivity industry. Demand not only fuels the perpetuation of captive displays and captive breeding, but it also fuels brutal wild captures that still happen in some parts of the world. Help protect dolphins by being an informed consumer.

The Rescue

There's multiple movies and documentaries about the 2018 rescue of 12 boys and their coach from a flooded cave in Northern Thailand. The boys, who were all members of a soccer team, had gone into a long, winding underground cave with their coach to celebrate one of the boy's birthdays. But it was just before the beginning of the four-month monsoon season, and while they were in the cave, it started to downpour outside. Rain water rushed into the cave, trapping them deep inside.

While we previously spotlighted (and gave a big thumbs up for) the movie 'Thirteen Lives' by Ron Howard, we recently completed the 6 part documentary on Netflix of 'The Rescue.' This version went into incredibly interesting detail about the individuals involved, as well as the rescue mission.

Let us know what you think once you have watched it. We are confident you will be glued to the screen to the end.

60 Minutes Covers the Important Roles Coral Reefs Play & What Is Being Done to Protect Them

In this 13 minute piece "We Have No Time To Lose – Rescuing The World's Coral Reefs," Anderson Cooper goes to Florida, where marine biologists are working on innovative ways to rebuild endangered coral reefs. Very interesting progress is being made.

Alumni Spotlight 

Chante' D., who adventured with us to Baja last summer, has begun her freshman year this fall at Duke University. She plans to major in marine science and conservation. She tells us that with the Open Water SCUBA certification she obtained last summer, she intends to conduct field research in tropical elasmobranch conservation. Good luck to Chante'!

The Department of Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences (OEMS) at the Florida Institute of Technology seeks a Ph.D. student and a postdoctoral researcher to join the Shark Conservation Lab under the supervision of Dr. Toby Daly-Engel. The successful applicants will be part of an inclusive and collaborative team of biologists and ecologists from multiple institutions working to model population linkages in migratory fishes using a functional genomics approach. The work involves a combination of laboratory genetics, fieldwork, and high-resolution modeling. Both positions will be based at the Florida Institute of Technology, a small private non-profit university located in Melbourne on Florida's Space Coast, two miles from the Indian River Lagoon and five miles from the Atlantic Ocean.

Opportunities for SeaSmart to Help Educators: 

SeaSmart Swag: New Styles Added!  

The new Protect What You Love style is available on our super cool sweatshirts, and long & short sleeved T's. Choose from a variety of sizes and colors with proceeds going toward the 2023 Diversity Scholarship. Every ocean lover will want one! 

Don't Worry If You Have Missed Past Newsletters  

SeaSmart's monthly newsletters are available on our website.  You can catch up on all of the cool info and opportunities here: