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Extreme Sports Facts - Information About X Games, Action Sports & More.pdf

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Kids and Extreme Sports - FamilyEducation.pdf

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There are multiple videos on this Google Slides for you to watch!

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Given the Risks Involved, Where's the Appeal in Extreme Sports?

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Given the Risks Involved, Where's the Appeal in Extreme Sports?

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Given the risks involved, where's the appeal in extreme sports_ - The Globe and Mail.pdf

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Kids and Extreme Sports - FamilyEducation.pdf

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Famous Snowboarder Pulls Out of Slopestyle at Sochi Olympics

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Famous Snowboarder Pulls Out of Slopestyle at Sochi Olympics

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The World's First Wingsuit Champion Is Crowned Kids News Article.pdf

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Wingsuit Daredevil Jeb Corliss Completes Another Heart-Stopping 'Flight' Kids News Article.pdf

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With the Thrills Come Extreme Risks - The New York Times.pdf

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Are zoos a good thing_ _ LearnEnglish Teens - British Council.pdf

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Dogs Work With Elephants at Pittsburgh Zoo

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Dogs Work With Elephants at Pittsburgh Zoo

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Giant Panda Cubs Give Hope to an Endangered Species _ Concept research center.pdf

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Zoological Gardens and their Animals.pdf

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Not All Zoos Are Inhumane _ Teen Ink.pdf

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Zoos are Prisons for Animals. Have you ever went to a zoo and saw a… _ by Ashley Chilton _ Medium.pdf

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Zoos step in to help save wild animals around the world

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Plastic Bag Recycling and Manufacturing Supports Thousands of Jobs - Bag the Ban.pdf

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Plastic Bags and the Environment - Bag the Ban.pdf

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The City Council's Plan to Promote E. Coli

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The City Council's Plan to Promote E. Coli

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The City Council’s plan to promote E. coli.pdf

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There are multiple videos on this Google Slides for you to watch!

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There are multiple videos on this Google Slides for you to watch!

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There Are More Plastic Water Bottles Than The World Can Handle

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There Are More Plastic Water Bottles Than The World Can Handle

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SHOULD you ever travel to one of the many uninhabited* islands that dot the most remote reaches of Earth's oceans, chances are you'll find plastic bottles littering the shore.

Even if there's nothing else to be found there, civilisation's obsession with plastic waste is having a profound impact on every corner of the globe. And it's getting worse.

One million plastic bottles are bought every minute around the globe, fuelled by our insatiable* thirst for bottled water.

Figures obtained by UK based newspaper The Guardian show the annual sale of plastic bottles will soar* to a staggering one trillion by the end of this decade - a 20 per cent increase.

Most of those bottles end up in landfill*, where they take a significant time to break down, or in the ocean where they kill marine life.

A report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in January found the equivalent of a garbage truck worth of plastic bottles was being dumped into the ocean every minute.

"(Without change), the ocean is expected to contain one tonne of plastic for every three tonnes of fish by 2025, and by 2050, more plastics than fish (by weight)."

Even if recycled, the sheer number of them being produced means conservation efforts are struggling to keep up.

Figures show that 480 billion plastic bottles were produced globally in 2016 and less than half of those were recycled. Of those collected, just seven per cent were reused as drinking bottles.

"Although plastic bottles are recyclable, many end up in landfill and take up to 1000 years to break down," according to Clean Up Australia Day.

"When littered they often end up in the sea where they break up in small pieces, killing marine life that mistake them for food."

The organisation reports that of all the waste collected by its volunteers, 10 per cent of items are plastic bottles.

"By avoiding bottled water and refilling your own bottle you can help conserve virgin* resources and protect our pristine nature," it said.

While hard to believe, producing one litre of bottled water typically requires three litres of water in the manufacturing and transport.

Experts in the United States say the oil required in meeting the country's manufacturing demand for bottles is the same as the fuel required to power 1.3 million cars for a year.
TIPS TO REDUCE PLASTIC WASTE
1. Carry a metal water or re-usable water bottle with you

2. Take a green bag or calico bag with you when you go grocery shopping to avoid plastic bags

3. Read the label on bottles and put recyclable ones in the right bin

GLOSSARY
uninhabited: no one lives there
insatiable: never ending
soar: increase greatly

landfill: buried or piled waste
virgin: pristine and untouched
LISTEN TO TODAY'S STORY CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES Activity 1. How many?
How many plastic bottles are bought per minute around the globe?

Figure out how many bottles are sold around the world in:

* 45 minutes

* One hour

* Six and a half hours

* A day

Extension:
How many bottles would be sold around the world each day if everyone reduced of bottles they bought by:

* Half

* A third

* A quarter
Time: allow 40 minutes to complete this activity Curriculum links: Mathematics Activity 2.
After reading the story, list all of the problems that are caused by plastic bottles.
Then think of at least three things that can be done, actions, to solve these problems.

One action must be something our government could do, one action should be something your local community or school can do and one action should be something that you can do.
Write a description of each action and why it would help.
Extension:
In some countries people are using more bottled water because they may not have clean or safe water to drink.
Find out what has caused this problem in some countries.

Use this information to create a storyboard or script for a TV or radio ad.
The purpose of your ad is to help our community understand why clean or safe drinking water is important and what we can do to keep our water clean and safe.
Time: allow 85 minutes to complete this activity Curriculum links: Critical and Creative Thinking, Geography, Media Arts VCOP ACTIVITY(Vocabulary, Connectives, Openers, Punctuation)
The glossary of terms helps you to understand and learn the ambitious vocabulary being used in the article.
Can you use the words outlined in the glossary to create new sentences? Challenge yourself to include other VCOP elements in your sentence/s.

Have another look through the article, can you find any other Wow Words not outlined in the glossary?

Extension: Can you up-level the article and add in any other Wow words?
Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity Curriculum links: English, Big Write, VCOP EXTRA RESOURCES TURNING FOOD SCRAPS INTO ENERGY
REMOTE ISLAND PLAGUED BY PLASTIC

TRAM TRASH TO TREASURE

FACTS BEHIND A FURPHY
WOULD YOU WEAR PET HAIR?

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SHOULD you ever travel to one of the many uninhabited* islands that dot the most remote reaches of Earth's oceans, chances are you'll find plastic bottles littering the shore. Even if there's nothing else to be found there, civilisation's obsession with plastic waste is having a profound impact on every corner of the globe.

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Video: Would Banning Plastic Water Bottles Help or Hurt the Planet?

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Video: Would Banning Plastic Water Bottles Help or Hurt the Planet?

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Plastic bottles are EVERYWHERE and are a big source of pollution. But banning them might create another problem for the environment. Here's why.

TEACHERS: Guide your students to practice civil discourse about current topics and get practice writing CER (claim, evidence, reasoning) responses. Explore lesson supports.

How did plastic bottles become such a problem
Early forms of plastic have existed since the mid-1800s. But when WWII came along, scientists diverted all their plastic technology to help with the war effort. So after the war, all this plastic needed to go somewhere, so why not the American consumer? What we got was a plastic explosion, and it's never really stopped. That's why today, it's estimated that humans have created over 8 BILLION tons of plastic, most of which still exist. See, plastic doesn't ever really break down completely or biodegrade - it just breaks apart into smaller and smaller pieces over time. These tiny bits of plastic make their way into oceans, creating a plastic soup of pollution that can get into the bellies of all kinds of marine animals like fish, pelicans, and turtles. Some research studies predict that by 2050, pound for pound, plastics in the oceans will outweigh all the fish.
What are the pros and cons around banning plastic bottles?
About 70% of plastic water bottles bought in the U.S. are not recycled, and so end up in the oceans. On top of that, plastic bottles are made from fossil fuels. In fact, the Pacific Institute found that it took about 17 million barrels of oil to produce enough plastic for the bottles of water consumed by Americans in 2006. And since then, consumption has increased by 65%, meaning Americans need over 28 million barrels of oil to fuel their plastic water bottle needs for one year.

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Would Banning Plastic Bottles Help or Hurt the Planet? | KQED

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Plastic bottles are EVERYWHERE and are a big source of pollution. But banning them might create another problem for the environment. Here's why. TEACHERS: Guide your students to practice civil discourse about current topics and get practice writing CER (claim, evidence, reasoning) responses. Explore lesson supports.

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Drinking Water: Bottled or From the Tap?

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Drinking Water: Bottled or From the Tap?

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Author: Catherine Clarke Fox
Source: National Geographic Kids

If your family is like many, unloading the week's groceries includes hauling a case or two of bottled water into your home. On your way to a soccer game or activity, it's easy to grab a cold one right out of the fridge, right?

But all those plastic bottles use a lot of fossil fuels and pollute the environment. In fact, Americans buy more bottled water than any other nation in the world, adding 29 billion water bottles a year to the problem. In order to make all these bottles, manufacturers use 17 million barrels of crude oil. That's enough oil to keep a million cars going for twelve months.

Imagine a water bottle filled a quarter of the way up with oil. That's about how much oil was needed to produce the bottle.

So why don't more people drink water straight from the kitchen faucet? Some people drink bottled water because they think it is better for them than water out of the tap, but that's not true. In the United States, local governments make sure water from the faucet is safe. There is also growing concern that chemicals in the bottles themselves may leach into the water.

People love the convenience of bottled water. But maybe if they realized the problems it causes, they would try drinking from a glass at home or carrying water in a refillable steel container instead of plastic.

Plastic bottle recycling can help-instead of going out with the trash, plastic bottles can be turned into items like carpeting or cozy fleece clothing.

Unfortunately, for every six water bottles we use, only one makes it to the recycling bin. The rest are sent to landfills. Or, even worse, they end up as trash on the land and in rivers, lakes, and the ocean. Plastic bottles take many hundreds of years to disintegrate.

Water is good for you, so keep drinking it. But think about how often you use water bottles, and see if you can make a change.

And yes, you can make a difference. Remember this: Recycling one plastic bottle can save enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for six hours.

Read article in National Geographic Kids

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Drinking Water: Bottled or From the Tap? - Cool Australia

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Author: Catherine Clarke Fox Source: National Geographic Kids If your family is like many, unloading the week's groceries includes hauling a case or two of bottled water into your home. On your way to a soccer game or activity, it's easy to grab a cold one right out of the fridge, right?

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What Are Some Advantages of Bottled Water?

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What Are Some Advantages of Bottled Water?

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What Are Some Advantages of Bottled Water?

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While some people might argue that it’s silly to spend money on something you can get for…

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Video: Bottled Water - Always There When You Need It

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Video: Bottled Water - Always There When You Need It

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Bottled Water - Always There When You Need It

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Should Zoos and Aquariums  Exhibit Beluga Whales?

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Should Zoos and Aquariums  Exhibit Beluga Whales?

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SeaWorld Promises Bigger Pools for its Orcas

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SeaWorld Promises Bigger Pools for its Orcas

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SeaWorld Critics Debate if Park Tanks or Sea Pens Are Best for Orcas

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SeaWorld Critics Debate if Park Tanks or Sea Pens Are Best for Orcas

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Aquariums and marine mammal theme parks like SeaWorld, the Miami Seaquarium, and Canada's Marineland are part of a billion-dollar industry built on the suffering of intelligent social beings who are denied everything that's natural and important to them.

Wild orcas and other dolphins live in large, complex social groups and swim vast distances every day in the open ocean. In captivity, they can only swim in endless circles inside tanks that, to them, are the equivalent of bathtubs and they're denied the opportunity to engage in almost any natural behavior. They are forced to perform meaningless tricks and are often torn away from family members when they're shuffled between parks. Many die far short of their species' natural life expectancy.

Families Torn Apart

Countless marine animals (even the original Shamu) were taken from their rightful ocean homes and placed in tanks. Tilikum, the orca who lashed out and killed SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau and two other people, died in a concrete prison 33 years after he was taken away from his Icelandic family. Lolita, torn away from her family when she was just a baby, has spent half a century in the same tank at the Miami Seaquarium. Some countries continue to capture wild dolphins and whales.

Captivity's Tragic Consequences

Frequently housed with incompatible tankmates, dolphins, whales, and other marine mammals are often drugged in order to manage stress-induced aggressive behavior and relieve the endless monotony of swimming in circles. They break their teeth chewing on the metal bars and concrete sides of their tanks and are forced to perform tricks for tourists in exchange for food-all in the name of entertainment.

While wild female orcas can live to be more than 100 years old, orcas at SeaWorld often die by the time they reach their teens and rarely approach even the average life expectancy of wild orcas. More than 40 orcas have died at SeaWorld from causes such as bacterial infections and fractured skulls. More than 300 other dolphins and whales along with approximately 400 pinnipeds have also died at the parks.

While Marineland can no longer breed whales and dolphins or confine new ones-thanks to Canada's recent ban on their captivity-it's still imprisoning the animals currently languishing there. Dozens of dolphins, whales, and walruses have died there-including a walrus named Apollo who recently suffered a heart attack. An orca named Kiska-who was abducted from her family in the ocean as a baby 40 years ago-is confined in isolation and can do nothing but swim in endless circles inside her cramped tank.

The Trouble With 'Interactive' Programs

Touch tanks as well as "swim with dolphins" and "paint with dolphins" programs allow the public to pet, kiss, paint with, or even ride these animals. Such programs invade their already diminished worlds and are intrusive, stressful, and even dangerous for them, as well as being risky for human participants.

Animals in "petting pools" are frequently exposed to foreign bacteria and other pathogens, and they can become anxious, frustrated, aggressive, and even neurotic as a result of being confined to shallow tanks and exposed to constant interaction with humans. Members of the public have been injured at SeaWorld's dolphin-petting pools.

Even programs that enable people to swim with dolphins in nature can be invasive. Boats and swimmers may chase, harass, and scare them, interfering with their natural feeding, resting, migrating, and playing behavior.

Poor Government Regulations

Captive marine mammals have some federal protections in the U.S., but enforcement is lax. There are simply too many animal exhibitors for the limited number of U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors-as of February 2020, there were 104 inspectors for 12,851 facilities. Even when exhibitors are cited for violating the federal Animal Welfare Act, they're rarely assessed fines or meaningful penalties.

Keeping Dolphins Free

In nature, orcas work cooperatively in search of food. They share complex relationships in a matrilineal society and-in some populations-rarely leave their mother's pod. They have group-specific food preferences and behavior. These attributes, along with their pods' unique dialects, are considered a form of culture that is unrivaled by any species other than humans.

Other dolphins, too, maintain dynamic relationships within a large social network. They live with up to a few dozen others in a pod and can swim as many as 60 miles each day and dive to depths of nearly 1,500 feet in nature.

The world is moving away from keeping intelligent, sensitive cetaceans in captivity. In the U.S., the National Aquarium is building the dolphins in its care a seaside sanctuary-a safe ocean cove in which captive marine mammals can be released into a protected area of the sea to dive deep, feel the ocean currents, and finally live like they should, all while still receiving care, food, and veterinary support. Two whales have been moved from a marine park in China to a seaside sanctuary in Iceland, and The Whale Sanctuary Project just announced plans for a seaside sanctuary for rescued orcas and belugas in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Governments around the world are also recognizing that dolphins (including orcas) and other cetaceans do not belong in tanks. Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, and Croatia have all banned the practice of keeping cetaceans in captivity. In 2013, India's Ministry of Environment & Forests banned the practice of keeping dolphins captive for public entertainment. Other countries, including Brazil, Luxembourg, Nicaragua, and Norway, have highly restrictive standards that make it nearly impossible to keep cetaceans in captivity. The last dolphinarium in the U.K. closed more than 20 years ago.

What You Can Do

Please don't visit marine parks, and never buy tickets to roadside zoos or aquariums that keep ocean animals in captivity. Encourage your local aquarium to create more space for rehabilitating (and releasing) injured wildlife by refusing to breed more animals.

You can also leaflet at local roadside aquariums or marine parks, pressure officials to avoid subsidizing these facilities with taxpayer money, write letters to the editor of local publications, and support legislation that prohibits the capture or restricts the display of marine mammals.
Please join PETA in urging SeaWorld and other marine parks to stop using animals and to relocate the orcas, bottlenose dolphins, and other animals to seaside sanctuaries, where they can thrive in the enrichment and diversity of the sea while still receiving the care that they require.

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Aquariums and Marine Parks are no safe havens for marine mammals like dolphins and whales. Learn more on how you can help animals and not support these facilities.

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SeaWorld to Expand Killer Whale Environments

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SeaWorld to Expand Killer Whale Environments

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SeaWorld plans to spend upwards of hundreds of millions of dollars to build an expanded killer whale environment and programs to protect the creatures in the wild, the company announced Friday.

This announcement comes two days after SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. released a report showing a significant drop in revenue for the first half of 2014. The company has also come under fire from animal-rights activists who claim the company was mistreating its killer whales.

In addition to the new habitat, SeaWorld is pledging $10 million in matching funds for killer whale research. The company said it is embarking on a multi-million dollar partnership focused on ocean health, the leading concern for all killer whales and marine mammals. The total investment will be hundreds of millions of dollars, officials told NBC 7.

SeaWorld San Diego will be first park to debut the new killer whale environments, named the Blue World project, with a planned total water volume of 10 million gallons, nearly twice as much as the existing facility. The new environment will also provide the world's largest underwater viewing experience for guests.

"Our guests will be able to walk alongside the whales as if they were at the shore, watch them interact at the depths found in the ocean, or a birds-eye view from above," Jim Atchison, chief executive officer and president of SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc., said in Friday's announcement.

PETA Foundation Director of Animal Law Jared Goodman called the announcement "a desperate drop-in-the-bucket move to try to turn back the hands of time."

In a written statement obtained by NBC 7, Goodman said, "It will not save the company. What could save it would be the recognition that it needs not to make larger tanks but to turn the orcas out in seaside sanctuaries so that they can feel and experience the ocean again, hear their families, and one day be reunited with them. A bigger prison is still a prison."

Images: Changes Coming for SeaWorld San Diego's Orca Exhibit

At a special announcement in San Diego, SeaWorld lead veterinarian Dr. Christopher Dold said the park has invited a number of experts to be part of an advisory panel to help design the project.

Plans will include a fast-water current. "A treadmill for killer whales," Dold said. "The whales can swim through this and be exercised and stimulated."

Each animal will react differently but they will all explore it and staffers will monitor their reactions, Dold said.

The announcement comes midway through a challenging year for the major theme park. Officials have launched a new publicity campaign to combat the effects of the documentary "Blackfish," which focuses on claims of whale mistreatment. The park also successfully fought a proposed bill in California that would ban using killer whales as performers.

In June, dozens of riders stranded for hours hundreds of feet off the ground in the park's iconic SkyTower ride. Then, in July, a controversial anti-SeaWorld ad was unveiled in time to greet Comic-Con crowds in San Diego.

City Council President Todd Gloria and other city leaders attended Friday's announcement.

The city has a vested interest in how SeaWorld San Diego conducts business because the 190-acre theme park sits on city-owned property in Mission Bay Park.

The city earns revenue in a number of ways from ticket to alcohol sales - an estimated $14 million a year.

It's also one of the city's largest employers with a staff of 2,500 to 4,500 depending on the season.

"This new habitat enriches the experiences for our visitors to our region expanding on their appreciation for killer whales and all marine life and our environment as a whole ," Gloria said. "I think we can all agree that's an important message and one that's worth investing in.
-NBC San Diego's R. Stickney contributed to this report. Editor's note: An earlier version of this story stated that the new environment will cost upwards of $10 million. SeaWorld says the project will cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

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SeaWorld to Expand Killer Whale Environments

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Sea World plans to spend hundreds of millions to build an expanded killer whale environment and programs to protect the creatures in the wild, the company announced Friday. to build an expanded killer whale environment and programs to protect killer whales in the wild, the company announced Friday

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Mystic Aquarium offers a wide range of exciting guest experiences. Whether you want to come face-to-face with a green sea turtle, get hands on with sharks in our touch tank, feed our cownose rays, visit our belugas, seals, and sea lions in their outdoor habitats, roam our marsh trek, learn about ways you can help fight water pollution, or meet some of our amazing animal ambassadors in a personalized, private encounter, Mystic Aquarium has something for everyone.

Ready to dive in? Explore our interactive galleries and exhibits to see what Mystic Aquarium has for you.

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Mystic Aquarium offers a wide range of exciting guest experiences. Whether you want to come face-to-face with a green sea turtle, get hands on with sharks in our touch tank, feed our cownose rays, visit our belugas, seals, and sea lions in their outdoor habitats, roam our marsh trek, learn about ways you can help fight water pollution, or meet some of our amazing animal ambassadors in a personalized, private encounter, Mystic Aquarium has something for everyone.

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Aquariums support conservation and promote education through meaningful encounters
By Bruce Carlson
I am seated in front of a massive window that holds back 6.3 million gallons of sea water at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. It's a Thursday afternoon and about 125 people are in this gallery, including several dozen children seated on the floor, mesmerized by the amazing creatures just on the other side of the glass. We are watching two whale sharks being fed while a narrator explains that they are plankton feeders. The kids are enthralled; not only by the whale sharks, but also by the thousands of other animals they have access to in these exhibits. During the past five years, more than 11 million people have had this same experience. I am certain that more than just one of the millions of children who have been here will decide to dedicate their lives to marine biology and conservation as a result of their trip to the aquarium.

Scuba Diving readers are among the lucky few who have seen and interacted with the magnificent creatures that live in the ocean. An even smaller group has had up-close encounters with the largest animals in the sea: whales, dolphins, whale sharks and manta rays. These encounters are unpredictable and brief, yet they are experiences that make a lifelong impression on the people who have them. And not only does the sport of diving require specific training and physical prowess, the trips to dive in the places where these most interesting creatures live cost a considerable sum. Airfare, boat charters, gear rentals and more make these encounters a luxury many people cannot afford. But thanks to places like the Georgia Aquarium, the thrill of seeing a whale shark or a manta ray is no longer an exclusive experience, but rather an accessible encounter for the masses.

What aquariums and zoos do best is help bring people and animals closer together. And the more we learn about animals, the more we care about them and their environments. So how could a place like this not encourage people to be active in the conservation of these creatures? As I write this, I can see the impact of this tremendous educational and empowering experience in the eyes of these young children.

But the impact goes beyond education. The revenue generated from guest attendance at many zoological parks and aquariums around the world is used to support research and conservation. For instance, the Georgia Aquarium has provided research grants to scientists in the U.S. and Mexico to document the aggregation of whale sharks that appears each year off the town of Holbox on the Yucatan peninsula. From 2003-2010, more than 700 whale sharks were tagged and photographed, and over many years this data will give us a good understanding of population dynamics of whale sharks in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. Aerial surveys funded by the aquarium have also contributed valuable data on where to establish boundaries for the new Whale Shark Biosphere Preserve created in Holbox in 2009. The new preserve will help protect whale sharks from possible exploitation and ensure that their food supply -- plankton and fish eggs -- is not endangered from pollution.

This is just one example of how aquariums give back to nature. Over from 2005-2010, aquariums and zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums provided nearly $89 million to more than 3,700 conservation projects all over the world. These programs for species ranging from tiny Banggai cardinal fish in Indonesia to great white sharks off California to beluga whales in Alaska are giving the animals a better chance to thrive in the wild.

When people ask me whether or not large animals, like whale sharks, should be kept in aquariums or zoos, I tell them to ask the children at the aquarium that day. I am sure they would give you a resounding "yes." The awe they are feeling will turn into appreciation and respect for living creatures they might otherwise have never known.
Bruce Carlson was the Chief Science Officer at the Georgia Aquarium from 2002-2011. A diver since 1967, he is also the former Director of the Waikiki Aquarium in Honolulu.
Large Marine Animals Do Not Belong in Bath Tubs
By Kim McCoy
Captive marine animals are often referred to as "ambassadors for their kind," as though they have some choice in the matter or this is somehow a noble pursuit. My question is always: What did these innocent beings do to deserve the extreme trauma of a potentially lethal wild capture (yes, these still happen routinely around the world) followed by a life sentence in a liquid prison that is unnatural in every conceivable way; an environment rife with stress, boredom, frustration of natural instincts, forced human interactions, increased mortality rates and decreased quality of life? Wouldn't they be much better ambassadors in the wild?

With startlingly few exceptions, most aquariums worldwide (and certainly entities such as casinos and marine "abusement" parks) exist exclusively for the purpose of generating profits through commercial exploitation. Animals are regarded as expendable commodities, high death and illness rates are anticipated costs of doing business, and the underlying message is that confinement of animals for profit and human entertainment is acceptable.

While nearly all aquariums attempt to justify this exploitation under the guise of conservation, education and research, only a tiny percentage actually conduct legitimate conservation programs. Even then, the money spent on conservation represents a fraction of the overall income generated off the backs of these animals and begs the question: Wouldn't the money spent finding ways to keep animals alive in artificial environments be better spent solving conservation issues in their natural habitats in the first place?

The standard argument is that aquariums are necessary because they educate people and create awareness of the plight of wild animals, resulting in a call to action. But there is no solid evidence that viewing captive animals translates directly into any sort of practical conservation action. To the contrary, viewing animals in unnaturally small, often chlorinated enclosures desensitizes people to the cruelty inherent in their removal from the wild. It encourages the false notion of animals in isolation that are dependent upon humans for survival, rather than integral elements of ocean ecosystems that are fully competent to care for themselves. More important, it discourages the correct view of marine animals as sentient beings with their own intrinsic value, deserving of the right to live their lives free from human interference.

Aquariums and the research conducted therein teach us nothing of migratory or foraging patterns, actual life spans or complex natural behaviors exhibited by large marine animals in the wild. How, for example, is a young child supposed to learn, by looking into a concrete and Plexiglas enclosure only 30 feet deep, that whale sharks routinely dive to almost 5,000 feet? That child sees an animal swimming in endless circles. Whale sharks can live for up to 150 years in the wild, yet we applaud facilities that can keep them alive for three to 10 years in captivity, as if that is somehow an accomplishment.

No man-made enclosure can adequately simulate the tides, the biodiversity, or the sheer vastness and freedom of the open ocean in order to meet the complex physical and psychological needs of large captive animals. Enclosures are designed for human convenience and comfort, not the animals' well being, and even the best-designed enclosures frustrate and confuse critical senses relied upon in the wild for navigation, danger avoidance or locating prey, such as dolphin echolocation or a shark's ability to detect and interpret vibrations and electrical activity.

While it is legitimate to conclude that some facilities are more or less damaging than others, the lives led by large captive marine animals are so contrary to the natural experiences of their wild counterparts - and the purported benefits of confinement are such a stretch - that it is simply unforgivable to keep these animals in captivity.

Wouldn't we all be much better off funneling the billions of dollars spent supporting commercial captive enterprises into learning about our oceans through more compassionate and accurate means, such as observation in the wild (with responsible operators), virtual reality simulations, books, DVDs and/or IMAX theatres? Don't we owe it to our children, to the animals and to our planet to move forward in a way that inflicts no harm?
Kim McCoy is the Executive Director of Big Life Foundation, and was the Director of Campaigns for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a nonprofit organization specializing in international ocean wildlife conservation, from 2007-2009. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.com Editor's Note: This story was originally published in Scuba Diving magazine in 2010.

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Should big marine animals like killer whales and whale sharks be kept in aquariums or at parks like SeaWorld? Two experts debate the pros and cons.

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Have you ever been to a zoo? There are lots of zoos. Some take better care of animals than others, but no zoo can make animals feel like they are at home.

Some people think it's OK to keep animals in zoos; others say that it's wrong to take animals from their homes in the wild.
A zoo supporter might say

"The zoo is a great place to learn about animals."

"If kids don't see animals up close like they do at the zoo, they won't like them, appreciate them or want to help them."

"Zoos help animals make babies (called "breeding") so they won't become extinct."

"Zoos take good care of animals. When animals get hurt or sick, an animal doctor called a vet makes them better straight away. In the wild, sick animals would die."

"Animals are safe in zoos. They won't starve or be killed by other animals."

A person who thinks it's not fair to keep animals in zoos might say

"Zoos don't teach us much about animals because the animals there don't act the way they would in the forest, jungle or ocean, where they belong. We can learn more about animals by reading books or watching wildlife programmes on TV."

"Zoos that help animals breed just keep the babies or sell them. If they cared about stopping animals from becoming extinct, they would set the babies free in the wild."

"Animals are not happy in zoos. They want to be free to walk, run, fly, climb, hunt and have families. They don't want their babies to be taken away from them and put in a different cage or sold to a different zoo. They get angry and frustrated because they cannot leave the zoo, which makes them do strange things like pace up and down, lick the bars of their cages, rock back and forth and bob their heads. Scientists know that these things mean that the animals are very unhappy."

"When a zoo doesn't want an animal anymore, the animal gets killed or sold to another zoo and might have to travel far away in a lorry or aeroplane."

Talk About: Topics to Chat About!
1. Would you rather live in a zoo or in your home with your family? Why?
2. What kinds of things do animals need to be happy? Do you think animals in zoos get all these things? Why or why not?
3. Think about animals you've seen at the zoo. Do you think there is somewhere else they would rather be? Something else they would rather be doing? Why or why not?

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Have you ever been to a zoo? There are lots of zoos. Some take better care of animals than others, but no zoo can make animals feel like they are at home. Some people think it's OK to keep animals in zoos; others say that it's wrong to take animals from their homes in the [...]

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Some of the most widely used AZA statistics, updated annually.

Annual Survey Results

AZA members (Individual Professional category members and Primary Contacts of Conservation Partner, Commercial, Related Facility and Institution Members) may log in and download the results of the most recent AZA Annual Survey of Members.

Accreditation

237 accredited zoos and aquariums in 13 countries (Updated September 2023)

USA: 213 in 46 states and the District of Columbia

Canada: 7

Mexico: 4

Bahamas: 1

Bermuda: 1

Dominican Republic: 1

Argentina: 1

Colombia: 1

Spain: 1

Hong Kong: 1

Singapore: 2

South Korea: 2

United Arab Emirates: 2

15 accredited related facilities
Accreditation occurs every 5 years
Approximately 25 facilities undergo the accreditation process every 6 months

Types of Accredited Facilities

134 zoos

59 aquariums

9 both zoo and aquariums

16 safari and theme parks

15 science and nature centers

2 aviaries

2 butterfly houses

54% non-profit

35% public

11% for-profit

Animals in AZA-Accredited Facilities

Over 780,000 animals in the care of AZA-accredited zoo and aquarium professionals

Over 8,600 species

Over 800 Vulnerable, Endangered, Critically Endangered, and Extinct In The Wild species as categorized by the IUCN Red List

Species Survival Plan® (SSP) Programs

42 Taxon Advisory Groups (TAGs)

Nearly 500 Species Survival Plan Programs

AZA Reproductive Management Center

Supports SSP ® programs by monitoring the safety and efficacy of contraceptives used for all mammalian species and helping bring new contraceptive methods to the zoo, aquarium, and wildlife community

AZA Population Management Center

Population planning for 500 species for the next 100 years

Conservation

$252.2 million was spent on field conservation in 119 countries in 2022

232 species and subspecies that benefited are listed as Endangered or Threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

$29 million was spent on AZA SAFE: Saving Animals From Extinction species programs in 2022

AZA's Conservation Grants Fund

Over $8.7 million supporting over 470 conservation projects since 1991

Economy

In the most recent survey in 2018, AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums:

Contributed more than $22.5 billion to U.S. economy

Supported more than 198,000 full-time jobs in the U.S.

Served more than 200 million annual visitors worldwide (183 million in the U.S.)

Informal Science Education

Based on the Education Programs survey data from 2019,

AZA members provided teacher professional development, curriculum resources and free planning visits that reached more than 96,000 teachers

5.5 million individuals were reached through field trips, outreach programs and education resources targeted to K-12 students

124 facilities reported more than 1,200 education programs that include content about connecting to nature, reaching more than 33 million.

(Updated April 2023)

Over 785 zoo and aquarium professionals have completed in-person AZA courses from 2020-present

Almost 250 zoo and aquarium professionals participated in virtual AZA courses from 2021-2022

AZA offers 18 in-person courses that are team-taught by professionals in the field, designed to develop a variety of animal management, education, and leadership skills

AZA's Executive Leadership Development Program prepares the next generation of executive leaders to successfully advance the zoo and aquarium movement in the future. More than 80 leaders have completed the program since 2014, with 27 having been promoted to the role of Executive Director or CEO.

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Learn more about the Association for Zoos and Aquariums' members, educational programs, and conservation efforts, as well as the kinds of facilities we support.

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instant access to thousands of great kids books.

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Instantly access 40,000 high-quality books for kids

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The leading digital library for kids offering unlimited access to 40,000 of the best children's books of all time. Sign up for a free 30 day trial to instantly access high-quality online books for kids, ebooks, audio books, quizzes, videos, and more.

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instant access to thousands of great kids books.

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Instantly access 40,000 high-quality books for kids

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The leading digital library for kids offering unlimited access to 40,000 of the best children's books of all time. Sign up for a free 30 day trial to instantly access high-quality online books for kids, ebooks, audio books, quizzes, videos, and more.