Artist Who Makes People Cry With Her Animal Abuse Comics Just Released A New Tragic One About Orcas
When student and illustrator from Germany, Jenny Jinya, went viral for her ‘Good Boy’ and ‘Black Cat’ comics, she could’ve turned both of those stories into their own series. However, she took a different route. One that’s more socially responsible.
“When I saw how viral my first comics went, how intensively they were discussed and into how many languages they were translated, I wanted to use this reach,” Jenny told Bored Panda. Now, she uses comics to draw attention to as many problems as possible. Each of the artist’s new works focuses on different animals, suffering from one form of human cruelty or another. Like the effects of waste on seabirds or the huge number of parrots that are being discarded every day. Jenny has hundreds of thousands of followers on her social media accounts, so the amount of awareness she raises is really something.
Her latest strip deals with orcas in captivity — their poor conditions and untimely deaths. Continue scrolling to check it out yourself.
More info: Jenny-Jinya.com | Patreon | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Image credits: jenny_jinya
Like National Geographic pointed out, orcas don’t do well in captivity. An orca named Kayla, for example, died in January 2019 at just 30 years old. In the wild, the average life expectancy for a female orca is 50, and some live to even 80 or 90. But these majestic marine mammals are still used for entertainment, marketed as stars of amusement park shows around the world.
Experts estimate that a third of the world’s captive orcas are in the United States, and all but one of those live at SeaWorld’s three parks in Orlando, San Diego, and San Antonio. Lolita, a 54-year-old orca who was captured back in 1970 in the waters off Washington State, lives alone at the Miami Seaquarium, in a pool with an open-top roof that’s less than twice the length of her body.
70 orcas have been born in captivity around the world since 1977 (not counting another 30 that were stillborn or died in utero), according to records in two databases. 37 of them, including Kayla, are now dead. A very small number of wild-caught orcas have lived past age 30, but no captive-born orca has yet.
They are very intelligent, social creatures that are genetically built to live, migrate, and feed over great distances in the ocean. Neither wild-born nor captive-bred orcas can thrive in captivity, Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist at the Animal Welfare Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., said. They are massive and swim vast distances in the wild — 40 miles a day on average — not just because they can, but because they need to, to forage for their varied diets and to exercise. They also dive 100 to 500 feet, several times a day, every day.
Like always, Jenny Jinya included a public service announcement
If you were to go through all of Jenny’s comics (and you should), you would see that her storytelling is getting better and better; the amount of tension and unpredictability she creates with just a handful of frames is really something. “I think this is practice and research,” the humble illustrator explained her progress. “Storytelling has always been fun for me, every day I sit in front of my sketchbook and write little scripts, sketch comic pages, move panels back and forth — it’s all part of the learning process. There is still so much I want to learn though.”
Most people get really emotional while taking in the comics, but imagine just how angry and sad one might get when researching these topics and then spending hours and hours to portray everything. “It really goes to the psyche and hurts,” Jenny said, adding that she tries to balance it out. “When a comic is finished, I have to take a few days off before I can research a new issue. Or I watch cute cat videos.” We often run away from difficult discussions because they can exhaust us. Jenny, however, keeps bringing us back to them. And we all should be grateful for it; hopefully, it’ll result in positive change, too.
Here’s what some of her followers have been saying about the issue
If you like Jenny’s comics and want to supper her work, consider becoming her patron
And he knew it was a photo all along? That just makes me MORE sad.. but still, good comics :)
I was thinking it would be weird if he didn't know, given how smart they are.
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Please support reputable animal protection organizations instead, and never sponsor any businesses which abuse animals.
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I bawled when asked if I wante dto go to Sea World as a child. I wanted to smuggle Shamu out the St Lawrence Seaway. I was 7. THat's over 40 years ago. And I STILL say LEAVE THEM ALONE... and stop dumping trash in their habitats....
We as humans we would create a public outcry if a good kind innocent person was jailed for life for no reason yet we do it to innocent animals. Humans are so hideous.
I'm not that confident that humans would create a public outcry if a good, kind, innocent person was jailed for life for no reason b/c lots of innocent folks are in prison thanks to the PIC.
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I watched Blackfish I don't usually cry at anything, let alone a documentary. Blackfish broke my heart, I didn't just have tears running down my face, I was sobbing. It was so heartbreaking. I wasn't aware of just how important family bonds are to orcas (even more than for humans) To rip them from their family and force them into a tiny tank with strangers is horrific. It's difficult to imagine how they could come up with system so cruel. And for what? So that tourists can be amused for a few minutes? This has to end. This comic illustrates it beautifully.
Shouldn't there be a whale Sea Reaper that reaps these kind of see animals and shape shifts to look like them? At least he will get to see another orca.
Orcas are the largest dolphins. Right now Taiji is going on. They have slaughtered Rissos and are on the hunt daily. NO Aquarium running any "shows" or "swim with" activities is a sanctuary. These animals are mostly descendants of captive bred animals (NOT DOMESTICATED) and are torn away from family at a young age to perform. Read up on The Dolphin Project. They are currently monitoring Taiji, run a sanctuary in Bali, and are working to end Dolphin shows. These shows are increasing in Russia and China, places that have not agreed to stop buying from the hunters at Taiji. These animals that are caught are more profitable brokered into the entertainment market, though the Taiji fishermen will slaughter whole pods for meat (a diminishing market)
Darn it jenny! Why are your comics so good? I come back everytime, and then I cry. Your comics are great.
Despite knowing how horrible the animals feel in these poor conditions, marine parks choose money over their welfare. They take the young away from their mothers and place them in a small tank, forcing them to do tricks just to survive. Imagine being a five year old child who was taken away from their family and locked in an unknown, empty room with other kids who spoke entirely different languages. It’s cramped and uncomfortable, but you learn that the only way you’ll survive is if you entertain your captors. Orcas are extremely intelligent. Even more so than a human, emotionally. They form incredible bonds with their pod as soon as their born. It’s heartbreaking how disappointing the human race can be.
.... and you should start to support non-profit animal protection organizations, Obi Wan Kenobi.
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Orcas are among my favourite animals, in my culture they're considered sacred. This breaks my heart.
i thoughgt i took care of yhose onion cutin ninjes in tha vents a long time ago but n
Still timely, even though we've had 7 years since Blackfish and 39 years since the publication of Orca: the Whale Called Killer by Eric Hoyt. I support responsible zoos, wildlife rehabbers, and environmentalists, but keeping complex, large creatures like orcas in our tiny human world simply DOES NOT WORK. What I'd love to see is more charter cruises taking people out to see them in their native habitat.
These stories always make me cry. So unfair how animals are treated sometimes. :(
Orcas are my favorite animal. I have always hated the fact that people keep them in captivity.
Every single time I read one of these I think, "I can make it through this one without crying!" I failed yet again.
If a human was put into a 5' by 5' room for their entire life, it would be called inhumane torture. But that's what we do to dolphins and orcas, and seals too, really.
As soon as I saw the title, I knew it was Jenny, who was gonna call the invisible onion ninjas. 😭
I am trying not to cry in front of my zoom class, but its very hard...
I have a stepwhale ... or how is this called? Who is an Orca. Curry. Before, it was Uma, his/her aunt (I seriousy just now get I never got to know if my whale is a boy or a girl ... didn't matter, does it anyway?). It's ot much, a few € a month, but hopefully does at least the little bit that is to be required from anyone...
And he knew it was a photo all along? That just makes me MORE sad.. but still, good comics :)
I was thinking it would be weird if he didn't know, given how smart they are.
Load More Replies... Please support reputable animal protection organizations instead, and never sponsor any businesses which abuse animals.
Load More Replies... I bawled when asked if I wante dto go to Sea World as a child. I wanted to smuggle Shamu out the St Lawrence Seaway. I was 7. THat's over 40 years ago. And I STILL say LEAVE THEM ALONE... and stop dumping trash in their habitats....
We as humans we would create a public outcry if a good kind innocent person was jailed for life for no reason yet we do it to innocent animals. Humans are so hideous.
I'm not that confident that humans would create a public outcry if a good, kind, innocent person was jailed for life for no reason b/c lots of innocent folks are in prison thanks to the PIC.
Load More Replies... I watched Blackfish I don't usually cry at anything, let alone a documentary. Blackfish broke my heart, I didn't just have tears running down my face, I was sobbing. It was so heartbreaking. I wasn't aware of just how important family bonds are to orcas (even more than for humans) To rip them from their family and force them into a tiny tank with strangers is horrific. It's difficult to imagine how they could come up with system so cruel. And for what? So that tourists can be amused for a few minutes? This has to end. This comic illustrates it beautifully.
Shouldn't there be a whale Sea Reaper that reaps these kind of see animals and shape shifts to look like them? At least he will get to see another orca.
Orcas are the largest dolphins. Right now Taiji is going on. They have slaughtered Rissos and are on the hunt daily. NO Aquarium running any "shows" or "swim with" activities is a sanctuary. These animals are mostly descendants of captive bred animals (NOT DOMESTICATED) and are torn away from family at a young age to perform. Read up on The Dolphin Project. They are currently monitoring Taiji, run a sanctuary in Bali, and are working to end Dolphin shows. These shows are increasing in Russia and China, places that have not agreed to stop buying from the hunters at Taiji. These animals that are caught are more profitable brokered into the entertainment market, though the Taiji fishermen will slaughter whole pods for meat (a diminishing market)
Darn it jenny! Why are your comics so good? I come back everytime, and then I cry. Your comics are great.
Despite knowing how horrible the animals feel in these poor conditions, marine parks choose money over their welfare. They take the young away from their mothers and place them in a small tank, forcing them to do tricks just to survive. Imagine being a five year old child who was taken away from their family and locked in an unknown, empty room with other kids who spoke entirely different languages. It’s cramped and uncomfortable, but you learn that the only way you’ll survive is if you entertain your captors. Orcas are extremely intelligent. Even more so than a human, emotionally. They form incredible bonds with their pod as soon as their born. It’s heartbreaking how disappointing the human race can be.
.... and you should start to support non-profit animal protection organizations, Obi Wan Kenobi.
Load More Replies... Orcas are among my favourite animals, in my culture they're considered sacred. This breaks my heart.
i thoughgt i took care of yhose onion cutin ninjes in tha vents a long time ago but n
Still timely, even though we've had 7 years since Blackfish and 39 years since the publication of Orca: the Whale Called Killer by Eric Hoyt. I support responsible zoos, wildlife rehabbers, and environmentalists, but keeping complex, large creatures like orcas in our tiny human world simply DOES NOT WORK. What I'd love to see is more charter cruises taking people out to see them in their native habitat.
These stories always make me cry. So unfair how animals are treated sometimes. :(
Orcas are my favorite animal. I have always hated the fact that people keep them in captivity.
Every single time I read one of these I think, "I can make it through this one without crying!" I failed yet again.
If a human was put into a 5' by 5' room for their entire life, it would be called inhumane torture. But that's what we do to dolphins and orcas, and seals too, really.
As soon as I saw the title, I knew it was Jenny, who was gonna call the invisible onion ninjas. 😭
I am trying not to cry in front of my zoom class, but its very hard...
I have a stepwhale ... or how is this called? Who is an Orca. Curry. Before, it was Uma, his/her aunt (I seriousy just now get I never got to know if my whale is a boy or a girl ... didn't matter, does it anyway?). It's ot much, a few € a month, but hopefully does at least the little bit that is to be required from anyone...
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