Ferry Terminal ‘Nets’ Giant Whale, Dolphin, and Turtle From PETA
For Immediate Release:
June 21, 2023
Contact:
Brittney Williams 202-483-7382
“When you eat fish, other animals—like whales and turtles—suffer and die, too.” That’s the Zippertron message from PETA now running on the Staten Island Ferry’s schedule board at Whitehall Terminal, alongside new artwork showing some of the millions of “nontarget” animals who die after becoming entangled in abandoned fishing gear each year. These unintended victims are known euphemistically as “bycatch” by the fishing industry—and their lives would be spared if everyone went vegan.
PETA notes that eating sea life contributes to the decimation of ocean ecosystems. Worldwide, nearly 10% of marine life is at risk of extinction, and for many of the world’s 86 cetacean species—including the humpback whales who increasingly frequent New York’s waters—death by fishing gear is one of the biggest threats to survival.
“Abandoned nets don’t discern between a tuna and a tortoise, which is why millions of unintended victims have died in discarded gear,” says PETA Senior Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “PETA reminds everyone that all aquatic animals deserve respect and that going vegan is the only way to eat sustainably.”
Fish are now known to feel pain as acutely as mammals do, have long-term memories, and communicate with each other using squeaks, squeals, and other low-frequency sounds that humans can hear only with special instruments—yet they’re impaled, crushed, suffocated, or cut open and gutted, all while conscious. More fish are killed for food each year—billions in U.S. waters alone—than all other animals combined.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview—offers a list of delicious vegan fish options, such as Gardein’s f’sh filets, Sophie’s Kitchen’s Fish Fillets, and Good Catch Plant-Based Crab Cakes, as well as a free vegan starter kit.
The ad is located in the main waiting area of Whitehall Terminal (southeast wall, across from slip 2–3) at 4 Whitehall St. in Manhattan until August 14.
For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
