The Dream

I have a dream...
...and it will become a reality!

Maybe the most magical clip you will see all year.Courtesy of: peta2.de
Posted by Best Video You Will Ever See on Monday, 21 September 2015

The stupiest question ever!

New poll shows bullfighting is on the way out

SPANISH bullfighting is being put to the sword by a new generation of animal lovers.

By STUART WINTER

PUBLISHED: 16:11, Wed, Jan 20, 2016

There has been a huge backlash against bullfighting in Spain

There has been huge backlash against the blood sport as more young people speak out against one of Spain's iconic traditions.

In little under three years, there has been a sharp drop in the number of Spaniards supporting the ancient but brutal spectacle.

The figure is mirrored by attendances crashing by more than a half in less than a decade.

According to a new survey of Spanish adults, only 19 per cent of 16 to 65 year olds now back bullfighting compared to almost one in three in 2013.

The way that young Spaniards are turning their back on the "fiesta" is obvious from the answers given to the Ipsos MORI poll, where only seven per cent of 16 to 24 year olds said they supported it. Among the 16 to 34 age group, there was only 10 per cent support.

GETTY

There has been a sharp drop in the number of Spaniards supporting the blood sport

Spain's dwindling love for a Sunday afternoon event that was one of its big tourist attractions during the 1960s leaves questions about its future and whether its politicians will one day send it the same way as fox hunting in Britain.

Elections took place in Spain last month but, with no party getting a working majority, a re-run could take place in the spring with politicians well aware of the anti-bullfighting poll findings that show there is only 19 per cent support compared to 58 per cent opposition.

The poll was conducted for World Animal Protection, a welfare charity that recently delivered a 140,000 strong petition to a Spanish mayor whose city stages one of the most infamous bull events - Medinaceli's Toro de Fuego, where animals have blazing balls of fire lit on their horns.

GETTY

Attendances have also crashed by more than a half in less than a decade

World Animal Protection, formerly WSPA, has campaigned for an end to bullfighting in Spain, Colombia and Mexico since its founding in 1981 and its regional director Ruud Tombrock said: "Outdated traditions of bullfighting and other cruelty towards animals in the name of culture are no excuse for the torture that it involves. And the torture of animals should have no place anywhere in the world, least of all in a modern, progressive nation like Spain.

"Forward-looking Spanish politicians should seize this moment and what may well be the popular appeal of taking a stand on this issue.

"This is why we are calling on them to make a resolution that 2016 will be the last year these despicable traditions will take place. All political parties should make a new pledge to end the cruelty - not just bullfighting but of all the other fiestas and festivals where animals are treated cruelly, or terrified, taunted and tortured.

GETTY

Only 19 per cent of 16 to 65-year-olds in Spain now back bullfighting

Bullfighting is mortally wounded in Spain and we will see it collapse in the next 5 coming years

Marta Esteban

"This includes the Toro de la Vega, where mounted horsemen armed with steel tipped lances pursue a bull to its death, and the Toro de Fuego, where a tethered bull has flammable material tied to its horns which are then ignited."

World Animal Protection is also calling for an end to the use of precious public funds to support fiestas which, it says, "masquerade as cultural assets but which in reality are heartless, dying traditions which should rightly fade into history."

At Spain's "Torture is not Culture" coalition, its president says bullfighting is suffering the same fate as animals that enter the ring.

"Bullfighting is mortally wounded in Spain and we will see it collapse in the next 5 coming years." said Marta Esteban.

"Attendance has dropped 54 per cent in the last seven years and only survives due to public subsidies which we are also managing to gradually remove as more political parties listen and respond to our demands."

Growing your own food...

...is like printing your own money!

Posted by David Wolfe on Saturday, 7 November 2015

Based on an FBI report, if you eat animals, you are prone to violence

NPR’s video and transcript  gave news yesterday that the FBI will now “track animal abuse the way it tracks arson or assault.”
Written by Jane Broccolo

The research we’ve known about for decades is still spot on. Animal abusers, whether children or adults, are likely to extend their violence to humans.

Jeffrey Dahmer, Son of Sam, school shooters, gangs. All animal abusers.

The military – in some of their hands-on training practices – and political dictators go without saying.

Thousands, millions, billions spread terror around the world, all animal abusers.

Billions? Yes, billions when we really think about it with our hearts holistically connected to our brains.

Anyone who eats meat or dairy, who still buys wool or fur or animal skin, who attends rodeos, horse and dog races, and so on, is closer to committing violence toward humans than one who chooses everyday to cause as little harm as possible to other living beings…my biased opinion based on NPR’s report on the FBI, and on my observation of human nature. (For the record, neither the FBI or NPR mention anything about eating or using animal products, let alone having it lead to violence against humans.)

Every time we go shopping, we have a choice: do we choose to be an accomplice in violence, or do we choose to do as little harm as possible?

If you are one who is aware – and how can you not be aware, if you are on this page – of the daily atrocities committed against animals in the food, entertainment, sport, and clothing industries, you are aware that your choice to ignore the grueling facts by buying into these industries increases the supply of animals tortured and slaughtered to meet your demands.

No matter how much you love your pets, if you eat animals and consume products made from milk for their babies, or eat their eggs, you are an animal abuser.

If humans can easily gloss over complicity in animal abuse, doesn’t it follow that it would eventually become a piece of cake for those humans to also justify becoming violent against fellow humans in times to come of water and food shortages? Doesn’t it make sense that those humans would find a way to make “hey, it’s either them, or me” their mantra?

The good news:

According to a report by Mercy for Animals 12% of Millennials choose plant-based diets, as compared to only 1% of baby boomers who have no choice but to eventually make room for younger, more humane humans to take over.

Such as my yoga teacher’s six-year-old who put his whole family on a plant-
based diet the moment he questioned why they were eating animals as loving and cuddly as their dog. What’s a mother to do, but go Vegan.

Why do humans love animals and yet have them tortured and slaughtered?

Do you?

Jeffrey Dahmer loved the humans he ate. I wonder if he ate the animals he tortured, himself, or just the ones he had tortured by others.

No need for comments

She will never drink again...

No words necessary
Posted by Tatia Kennedy on Tuesday, 19 January 2016

Hunting is NOT Conservation

We don't want your money.  We want life! 

The $200 million dollar question: How much does trophy hunting really contribute to African communities?



http://www.ifaw.org/sites/default/files/Ecolarge-2013-200m-question.pdf

http://endtrophyhuntingnow.com/category/africa/

She thinks she is beautiful but she is not!

Still alive after she was skinned and beaten.  She is only one of the many animals who passed through hell and still beg to die in order someone to feel more beautiful in the fur of others.  This horror is the real hell on Earth...

Posted by Olga Cárdenas on Sunday, 17 January 2016

Speciesism is a taught trait

Let's save baby cows!  A three year old girl wants to save them. Do you?  There is a very simple way to. Go vegan!

This 3 year old girl is an absolute heart breaker. This is definitive proof that speciesism is a taught trait.
Posted by Anonymous Vegan on Monday, 18 January 2016

NYC Takes Step to Retire Carriage Horses

No Ban Yet, But NYC Takes Step in the Right Direction to Retire Carriage Horses

New York City will retire 145 Central Park carriage horses, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced January 17, 2016, reducing the number to 75 horse-drawn carriages. The decision comes two years after the Mayor initially said he would ban the forced labor of horses on New York City’s streets on day one of his administration. The decision is being called a compromise between animal rights advocates and industry union leaders.

In addition to retiring the majority of the equestrian fleet, the remaining horses will also receive new stables within Central Park, which is an improvement from the warehouse structure they have been living in small, cramped stables in Hell’s Kitchen, located in midtown Manhattan. The deal requires that a new stable, large enough to house 75 horses at a time, to be built by Oct. 1, 2018.

The horses will also no longer be ridden in traffic on the city’s busy streets, where dozens have fallen victim to traffic accidents and are at high risk for injury. The mayor said that their working hours will also be reduced as well – the horses currently pull between 1,200 and 1,800 pounds for nine hours a day, seven days a week on the hard pavement of the city streets in all weather conditions.

On top of the physical strains they are faced with as carriage horses, many of the Central Park horses have long been overworked and abused before even arriving in New York City duringformer lives as buggy carriers or on the race tracks. In an autobiography, one horse trainer for the city’s fleet admitted to “breaking” the horses with abuse so that they would obey their handlers.

While the changes are a step in the right direction, Elizabeth Forel, of The Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, said that the deal barely scratches the surface when it comes to protecting New York City’s horses.

“The Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages is opposed to the new Mayor deBlasio deal, which preserves the carriage trade at the expense of the horses and smells like a convenient real estate deal to us,” she stated in an email. “Street traffic was never the sole reason we advocated for a ban. There are many other reasons including the sensitive, nervous nature of the horses; the very high turnover, which leads us to believe many of the unwanted go to thekill auctions, and punishing working conditions. Putting the stables in Central Park, which may be illegal, is not going to relieve this and may just exacerbate it because all the abuses will now be within the park and not so noticeable.”

Little is known about where the 145 horses will be retired, which is concerning since it’s horses deemed “unfit” for work have been sold at auction to slaughter houses. “The way the law is written, there is no protection for horses sold outside NYC, as most are.  My research has consistently showed that between 60-70 horses fall off the Department of Health rolls annually,” Forel said.

While this is a step in the right direction for the welfare of New York City’s horses, the real power to end abuses in New York City’s horse-drawn carriage industry is in the hands of the public. Carriage drivers are motivated by their own profits to continue working the horses. Without a demand for such rides, the industry cannot continue. To help end the suffering of these animals, you can help by boycotting the rides. Share this post to magnify your impact and urge Mayor de Blasio to make good on his promise to end this cruel tradition.

Lead image source: The Coalition to Ban Horse Drawn Carriages

Veganism Can Save the Planet

The vegan diet saves our health, the animals and, of course, the planet.

Posted by Katia Efstathiou on Tuesday, 19 January 2016

Healing Herbs and Spices

Important to know: What our Medicine Cabinet should have to cover every health need.

Satellite Images Tell Us the Sad Truth

We still live with the image of 1975's Earth in our minds. But Earth has changed a lot since then. We changed Earth a lot since then...

No need to harm yourself, just let it happen and the harm is done!

The mere lack of compassion, it is sufficient to cause significant harm.

“ 傷害的形成, 不一定都出自於蓄意 ;光是同情心的缺乏, 就足以造成很大的傷害.”
Posted by Meg Jones on Monday, 18 January 2016

All Life Matters...

Every single life is precious and matters.  Every single heart beating must have the chance to go on beating.

ALL LIFE IS PRECIOUS AND ALL LIFE MATTERS
Posted by Tatia Kennedy on Monday, 18 January 2016

Not Cures, Customers!

The pharmaceutical industry...

Take a holistic approach to your health!
Posted by NaturalNews.com on Monday, 18 January 2016

Brazilian wasp’s venom kills cancer cells

Brazilian wasp can make a huge gift to humanity.  Will humanity respect the insect with the gift or use and kill as we always do?

Brazilian wasp’s venom kills cancer cells without harming normal cells. ~ http://bit.ly/1mWW2rG
Posted by Hashem Al-Ghaili on Saturday, 2 January 2016

Elephants Win: Hong Kong Moves to Crush Ivory Trade

The government reveals plans to end the city’s legal ivory market, which activists say fuels the slaughter of elephants.

A custom officer with seized ivory tusks being displayed to the press in Hong Kong. (Photo: Laurent Fievet/AFP/Getty Images)

JAN 13, 2016

Taylor Hill is an associate editor at TakePart covering environment and wildlife.

• Bio

Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying announced Wednesday that his government will end its legal ivory trade.

That market is considered a facilitator of illegal ivory transport into mainland China, the world’s largest consumer of smuggled ivory.

“The government is very concerned about the illegal poaching of elephants in Africa,” Leung told Hong Kong’s legislative council on Wednesday. “It will kick-start legislative procedures as soon as possible to ban the import and export of elephant hunting trophies.” He added that the government will “explore other appropriate measures,” including a phaseout of the local ivory trade and stiffer penalties for smuggling and trading endangered species.

Wildlife conservation groups are hailing the announcement as a milestone in the movement to ban all ivory trade—a position the Chinese and U.S. presidents took in 2015.

“We expect action will be taken this year, but what we don’t know is what the timeline will look like,” said WildAid chief executive Peter Knights. “He announced a phaseout, so obviously the quicker the better. The most important thing is that they reveal a timeline this year.”

WildAid has been working in China and Hong Kong since 2011 to educate the public on how the country’s legal ivory trade fuels illegal poaching of Africa’s elephants. 

“We’re losing 30,000 elephants a year in Africa, and we believe most of that ivory is being traded through legal channels,” Knights said.

In a report released last year, World Wildlife Fund Hong Kong showed the loopholes in the legal ivory trade that allow illegal tusks to infiltrate the market. Ivory from the city’s stockpile obtained prior to 1990 can be legally sold. But lax enforcement has allowed the 400 or so licensed traders to use legal ivory permits as a front to sell contraband tusks.

The practice has helped lead to the rapid decline of African elephants, whose population has fallen from between 3 million and 5 million in the early 1900s to around 470,000 today. If poaching keeps its current pace, scientists say the species could be extinct within two decades.

Hong Kong’s move comes as the price of elephant ivory plummets. In a report by conservation group Save the Elephants, the cost of raw ivory on the black market has fallen by almost half over the past 18 months. Ivory tripled in value in the four years leading up to 2014 but dropped from a high of $2,100 per kilogram to $1,100 per kilogram by November 2015.

Researchers Lucy Vigne and Esmond Martin of Save the Elephants said the price drop is a result of China’s growing public awareness about illegal ivory and the government’s intent to shut down the domestic ivory trade.

“Everybody in the ivory business in China is waiting and wondering what will happen next, and are gloomy that their centuries-long tradition of ivory carving may be coming to an end, hoping at least that it can be phased out gradually,” Vigne and Martin said in a statement.

“If the trade closes, the value of ivory as an investment depreciates,” Knights said. “We see Hong Kong prices going down because of the public backlash against ivory, and that should have an impact on poaching. Couple that with stepped-up efforts in Africa to deter poachers, and the ivory trade ends up getting squeezed at both ends.”

Why Jane Goodall Chooses to Not Eat Meat

The Amazing Reason Why Jane Goodall Chooses to Not Eat Meat 

Jane Goodall has been a household name since the 1960s for her work with chimpanzees. Her past work in primatology, namely her studies on the social structures of primates, has been her claim to fame. Now, Goodall is also on the front lines of the battle with climate change and global warming.

Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman spoke to Goodall at the 21st session of the conferences of the parties (COP21) Paris in December 2015. Goodall attended COP21 to discuss the impacts of global warming on rainforest ecosystems and how saving these precious forests can actually help mitigate climate change! That’s a whole lotta GOOD!

Preserving rainforests around the world is important! Why? Well, rainforests are known to be huge carbon sinks and that’s a good thing because carbon sinks suck in harmful greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Yay! Such an easy way to fight global warming, right? Unfortunately, there’s a slight problem … our love for meat and dairy is destroying these vital ecosystems.

Looking at the stats related to how much forest is lost to make way for livestock grazing and growing their feed, one simply can’t deny that our food choices are having a major impact on the planet. This is something that Jane Goodall is very aware of – and because of this, she chooses a vegetarian diet to lower her own personal impact.

In the video, Goodall breaks it down quite simply,”… In order to feed the billions and billions of cows and pigs and chickens … you have to admit huge areas of forest are cut down to grow grain to feed them. Intensive cattle grazing is turning forests to woodland, to scrubland. And food in one end, gas out both ends, that’s methane. And that’s an even more potent greenhouse gas than CO2. It’s about 36 percent of all methane emissions come from this intensive farming.”

While this volume of emissions can be daunting – by simply leaving meat off your plate, you can cut your personal contribution by half! That’s pretty astounding. It’s so amazing to see Jane Goodall speaking out for this important issue and showing the world the connection between their food choices and the greater impact that they have on both the planet and animals.

It is One Green Planet’s view that our food choices have the power to heal our broken food system, give species a fighting chance for survival, and pave the way for a truly sustainable future. To learn more about how you can use your food choices to benefit the planet, join One Green Planet’s #EatForThePlanet movement!

Vegan Medical Center Officially Opens in the United States!

by LenaT on January 9, 2016

For those based in Washington, DC, 2016 has included a new plant-based medical center, founded by Neal Barnard, MD.

The Barnard Medical Center opened just last week and is one of the first centers in the United States that will focus on treating illnesses and chronic conditions with preventative medicine and nutrition. The clinic employs physicians, nurses, and dietitians for a different approach to conditions that are preventable.

Neal Barnard, a long-time vegan, is best known as the founder of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and elaborated on the intentions behind the new clinic:

"When I was in medical school, we imagined that diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension were typically caused by genes or even by chance, and we thought we had very little control over these processes. That has all changed. A healthy diet—a plant-based diet—dramatically reduces the risk that these conditions will occur and can greatly improve them after they’ve struck."

The center aims to see about 4000 patients a year and will offer more resources than typically found in clinics. A staff doctor, Steve Neabore, stated:

“We’ll offer additional resources—including cooking and nutrition courses, visits with our dietitians, and in some cases support groups—for weight loss, heart health, type 2 diabetes, and migraines and arthritis. For any condition which is known to respond well to dietary intervention, we will offer support and education for those patients.”

While the center does prescribe medicine, the focus is on nutrition and diet. Located at 5100 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Suite 400, the motive is to: “guide the way toward better health by using nutrition and medicine in one prescription for complete primary care.”

Photo Credit: http://interactive.wxxi.org/

The Incredible Journey of Two Ex-Circus Lions to New African Home

Watch their journey home!

18 January 2016

Categories: Homepage News, Big Cats Campaign News, Rescue News, Shamwari

Born Free releases new video of Jora and Black’s epic 10,500-mile journey from Bulgaria to South African sanctuary

The Born Free Foundation has today released a heart-warming video of two magnificent ex-circus lions who were successfully rescued from Bulgaria and are now thriving in their new South African home.

Eight-year-old brothers Jora and Black made international headlines when they were rescued by Born Free in partnership with Four Paws from a beast wagon in Bulgaria just over three months ago. Thanks to generous public support, Born Free transported Jora and Black 10,500 miles via the UK to a new life at the award-winning Shamwari Game Reserve, near Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

The video, made available for the first time today, reveals how Born Free successfully rescued the lions, and shows the emotional moment the brothers were released from their travelling crates and stepped out onto African soil for the first time.

Born Free Foundation Projects Manager, Karen Pettman, said Jora and Black had settled into their new home quickly. “We are delighted that they have now adapted to their spacious home at Born Free’s Big Cat Rescue Centre on the Shamwari Game Reserve. Jora and Black clearly love being together and are very playful with each other. They are also becoming firm favourites with the centre’s visitors who they will often come out to say hello to, chasing each other along the edge of their enclosure.”

Taken in as small cubs, Jora and Black were originally part of a circus act touring Eastern Europe and Turkey. Following the Bulgarian government’s much-welcomed ban on the use of wild mammals in circuses, the lions were left to languish in a stifling beast wagon until the owners agreed to re-home them with Born Free. They will now be given lifetime care in their large, natural and safe accommodation at the Born Free Jean Byrd Education and Rescue Centre in Shamwari.

The release of the video comes as Born Free declares 2016 The Year of the Lion to highlight the plight of lions worldwide and to mark the 50th anniversary of the Oscar-winning motion picture Born Free. The film starred actors and Born Free Foundation co-founders Virginia McKenna and her late husband, Bill Travers, as pioneering conservationists Joy and George Adamson and their successful rehabilitation of Elsa the lioness to the wild. Special screenings, activities, news and events are planned throughout 2016.

David Haye: stronger than ever!

David Haye: Vegan Heavyweight Champion Boxer makes his return to the ring stronger than ever!

Some more vegan inspiration to share... Yesterday (Saturday 16th January 2016) David Haye, 35, knocked De Mori out with an overhand right with 49 seconds remaining in the first round of the fight at London's O2 Arena. This was Haye's first fight in three-and-a-half years.

In early 2014, David Haye became vegan, and was immediately open about his reasons for doing so. "I watched a TV documentary about how animals are farmed, killed and prepared for us to eat", he explained. 

"I saw all those cows and pigs and realised I couldn’t be a part of it any more. It was horrible. I did some research to make sure I could still obtain enough protein to fight and, once satisfied that I could, I stopped. I’ll never go back."

David Haye was back in the ring after a three-and-a-half year absence at his heaviest weight ever - 16st 3lb 5oz (227lb) - and beat his opponent in just 124 seconds.

"I'm punching harder than ever. De Mori is a tough guy and I felt so cool and calm in there, I don't think any heavyweight on the planet could take those punches"

"My speed doesn't feel any slower at all, it feels better."

When asked about his troublesome shoulder, he said: "It feels better than it was before. I've spent two years on rehab on this shoulder, building all the muscles and I'm so strong now"

"I'm hitting harder than I've ever hit before and I think this new improved version of me will go on and win heavyweight championships. It felt like home. I had no nerves. This is where I belong."

McDonald’s Burgers “Unfit for Human Consumption”

Hamburger Chef Jamie Oliver Proves McDonald’s Burgers “Unfit for Human Consumption”

Hamburger chef Jamie Oliver has won his long-fought battle against one of the largest fast food chains in the world – McDonalds. After Oliver showed how McDonald’s hamburgers are made, the franchise finally announced that it will change its recipe, and yet there was barely a peep about this in the mainstream, corporate media.

Oliver repeatedly explained to the public, over several years – in documentaries, television shows and interviews – that the fatty parts of beef are “washed” in ammonium hydroxide and used in the filling of the burger. Before this process, according to the presenter, the food is deemed unfit for human consumption. According to the chef and hamburger enthusiast, Jamie Oliver, who has undertaken a war against the fast food industry, “Basically, we’re taking a product that would be sold in the cheapest way for dogs, and after this process, is being given to human beings.”

Besides the low quality of the meat, the ammonium hydroxide is harmful to health. Oliver famously coined this the “the pink slime process.”

“Why would any sensible human being put meat filled with ammonia in the mouths of their children?” Oliver asked.

In one of his colorful demonstrations, Oliver demonstrates to children how nuggets are made. After selecting the best parts of the chicken, the remains (fat, skin and internal organs) are processed for these fried foods.

In reply to all of the bad press this process has received from Oliver, the company Arcos Dorados, the franchise manager for McDonalds in Latin America, said such a procedure is not practiced in their region. The same, it should  be noted, applies to the product in Ireland and the UK, where they use meat from local suppliers.

In the United States, however, Burger King and Taco Bell had already abandoned the use of ammonia in their products. The food industry uses ammonium hydroxide as an anti-microbial agent in meats, which has allowed McDonald’s to use otherwise “inedible meat.”

Most disturbing of all is the horrifying fact that because ammonium hydroxide is considered part of the “component in a production procedure” by the USDA, consumers may not know when the chemical is in their food.

On the official website of McDonald’s, the company claims that their meat is cheap because, while serving many people every day, they are able to buy from their suppliers at a lower price, and offer the best quality products. But if “pink slime” was really the “best quality” that McDonalds can muster in the US, then why were they able do better in Latin America and Europe? More to the point, why can they apparently do better now in the United States?

These questions remains unanswered by the franchise which has denied that the decision to change the recipe is related to Jamie Oliver’s campaign. On the site, McDonald’s has admitted that they have abandoned the beef filler from its burger patties.

THIS is the world of circuses!

The people were all amused and no one saw her agony. Until she stood up and showed it to them.

The people were all amused and no one saw her agony. Until she stood up and showed it to them.
Posted by Hefty.co on Thursday, 14 January 2016

Our Mother!

So small and so huge, so close and so far away! So blue... She is a tiny grain of sand in the endless beach of the universe and yet our beloved Mother hosting countless species.

Love This.
Posted by iReleaseEndorphins on Friday, 8 January 2016

We’re Not so Different After All

Mother Whale Snuggling With Her Baby Shows We’re Not so Different After All

It wasn’t too long ago that the massive Humpback Whale was nearly extinct. At the height of commercial whaling, the whales were hunted to near annihilation when their population was90 percent eliminated until a worldwide moratorium in 1966. Fortunately, the Humpback Whale population has recovered and their numbers continue to increase.

Today, one of the biggest threats to Humpback Whales are drift gill nets that trap them as bycatch. These large fishing nets aim to capture smaller fish, but often unintentionally entangle whales, sharks, dolphins, and other marine mammals. This is devastating because it not only hurts this incredible species that has fought its way back from near-extinction, but breaks the eternal bond these families have with each other.

Like all mammals, Humpback Whales form incredible relationships with their families. During courtship, males compose intricate songs to attract females and parents form lasting bonds with their baby calves. They are highly emotional and loving creatures, as seen in this touchingunderwater photograph of a baby calf with its mother.

A mother Humpback Whale with its calf shows that love comes in the biggest packages.

 

Seeing this photo, it is undeniable that the love between a mother and child is universal. We’re not so different from these giant whales and we have the power in our hands to protect them. To help save whales from dangerous threats, click here, or, join Oceana and sign their petition to keep drift gillnets out of the water and protect endangered whale species.

Image source: Steve Hinezynski/Oceana