I was reading my morning newsfeed, my eyes barely open, when I spotted "animals" and "swimsuit pictorials" not three words apart. Naturally I perked right up. However, things took a turn for the sour upon further investigation. According to Folio Magazine, "Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, a Washington state-based organization that supports chimpanzees 'discarded from the entertainment and biomedical testing industries,' has organized a letter-writing campaign protesting Sports Illustrated's use of animals in its swimsuit pictorials."

SI answered, saying:

"We have tremendous respect and admiration for those who share our passion for the protection of animal rights. "We are rigorous in our adherence to the laws protecting the rights of animals and continue to place close scrutiny the ways in which we feature the beauty of the animal kingdom."

Interesting, and not unsurprising to see animal rights groups weighing in on these pictorials, as these have become such a trend. Have I mentioned that before? Perhaps the taxidermists will see an upswing. In any case, I applaud Sports Illustrated's transparency here; they have loads of online imagery, even behind-the-scenes at their swimsuit shoots, and it's, um riveting. And not even because there are boobs; here we see the photographic process in action, with a wary looking (photo?) assistant* standing in for miss thang. She handles it a good bit better than he, I should say.