TREND - This is shaping up to be the "summer of the killer whale" - David's book, Death at SeaWorld, Shamu and the Dark Side of Killer Whales in Captivity, comes out in paperback in two weeks, just in time for the beach. And two weeks after that is the NY premiere of Blackfish, a powerful feature documentary about the orca Tilikum, who has killed three people, most recently trainer Dawn Brancheau in Orlando. Another book out this month, The Lost Whale, tells the moving story of a young orca named Luna who was separated from his pod and spent several years bonding with people in a remote Canadian fiord. The Blackfish trailer can be seen HERE and has more than a million views at I-Tunes and 700,000 views at YouTube.

MEDIA - The media and the public are starting to take note of this trend. Yesterday the Sunday Times of London ran a major piece on orca captivity, quoting both David and Gabriela Cowperthwaite, director of Blackfish - tying the two together. (David appears briefly in the film, which is promoted on the cover of the paperback.) That story was picked up on the front page of The Australian, and was also adapted for publication in the UK Daily Mail, International Business Times, and others. In July, there will be an abundance of coverage, especially on CNN, which co-owns Blackfish and will air the movie this fall on all of its networks.

TRAGEDY - A SeaWorld orca, Vicky, only 10 months old, died Sunday at a park in Spain, where SW has killer whales on "loan." Her mother, Kohana, who rejected both Vicky and her brother, was ripped from her own mother's side at just 19 months of age and never learned how to be a mother herself. She was then bred with her own uncle to produce Vicky, one of many inbred whales in the SeaWorld "collection," most of whom are related to Tilikum, the three-time killer. She was the fourth SeaWorld orca to die in three years. David wrote about HERE it at TakePart.com.

LAW - OSHA just hit SeaWorld with a REPEAT safety violation for refusing to keep its trainers away from the orcas during shows. SeaWorld is now 0-for-4 in their legal battle with the Obama administration - One would think they'd give up, but they haven't. David's story is HERE.

MONEY - The huge Blackstone/SeaWorld IPO is another timely topic. SeaWorld was forced to redo its SEC filing to add new information in the "Risk Factors" section, which now includes Death at SeaWorld and Blackfish as potentially detrimental to their business. David made a statement on the IPO filing HERE.

TILIKUM - David has seen recent photos and videos of this poor creature and he looks bad. David says he would not be surprised if Tilikum doesn't survive the year. And even though he killed three people, the author has nothing but sympathy and sorrow for the whale.

 David Kirby's info: