Georgia Aquarium Broken Homes
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I read an account on how a surfer survived a shark attack when a pod (family) of dolphins encircled him, protecting him so he could make his escape to shore. There were many comments on this article. One in particular stood out. Shawn Sutherlin said, “I served on submarines . . . Submarine sailors have had similar experiences world wide. All nations that have subs give the same award, Dolphins . Dolphins have always come to the aid of sailors.”
We have all heard of how dolphins save lives. I have to wonder how many accounts are out there. Just how often does this happen? These wonderful creatures protect us when we are in their world. They do it as a pod. They do it as a family. What do we do for dolphins? How do we treat them when they are in our world?
My friend Chasity Reed wrote a compelling article on The Georgia Aquarium. I highly recommend you have a look. She reports the family history of many of the wonderful cetaceans detained in the Georgia Aquarium concentration camp. It is sickening to see what man does for these wonderful beings. The subject of captivity being related to drive fisheries has been a real issue. Being born in captivity is no better for these sentient beings. They are forcefully removed from their families, usually for life. Below is what I added to the comment section of The Georgia Aquarium by Chasity Reed.
If a child is born in prison, should it be subject to incarceration for the remainder of his or her life? If so, why? I can only imagine the reasoning would be for paying for the crimes of the parents. What crimes have they committed?
“There’s about as much educational benefit studying dolphins in captivity as there would be studying mankind by only observing prisoners held in solitary.” – Jacques Cousteau
Anyone who can justify a family being split apart, must justify their own broken home in the same way.
“We do not need to reflect too long before we realize that all beings spontaneously look for happiness and try to avoid suffering.” – Dalai Lama
I do not doubt that trainers love their subjects. In the story ‘Misery’ the woman crippled that man so that he could never leave. She loved him in her own way. Trainers should not aid the warden in crippling these magnificent creatures. They should instead speak up to have them freed.
“And those who dismiss love for our fellow creatures as mere sentimentality overlook a good and important part of our humanity. But it takes nothing away from a human to be kind to an animal. And it is actually within us to grant them a happy life and a long one.” – Joaquin Phoenix | quote from EARTHLINGS
They say that the inmates could never be able to survive in the wild after being in captivity. Maybe they should train them to survive. If they can train them to do silly tricks, certainly they can train them to do what is natural.
“Science and the law can both help us forecast the consequences of our actions, but neither can tell us how we ought to act in a moral sense.” – Dalai Lama
Read The Georgia Aquarium
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I posted this article on my friend’s facebook page. Christopher Porter is a former marine animal trainer who is trying to make a difference in this world. This is his reply to Georgia Aquarium Broken Homes.
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Christopher Porter
Holise… give you the answer you are looking for on how it is justified… within the industry there is many of us that feel that there is something wrong holding the animals captive. But I did it and others do it based on the idea that th…ese animals are ambassadors to their wild counterparts and are part of the process of educating and making the public aware of their plight. I realized that our effect was not as great as we need on our planet and we should figure a way to build a better wild and not better aquariums. A new aquarium these days are in the range of 200 million plus for dolphins. This debate on the effectiveness of the process is up at the Directors and scientist level where they think even experimentation is part of the learning process.
So the people looking after the animals do it out of love with the thought if they don’t look after that individual well somebody else might that does not worry so much about them. It is a tricky road back and forth.
What needs to happen is an emergence of people that care for the animals and talk openly what is possible if both sides work together. IF both sides work together and admit what they do wrong and admit what they do right… they can work on a cooperative solution that will engage the general public more into wild conservation.
Aquariums think if they don’t exist nothing at all will get done in the wild, activists think if they don’t exist nothing will get done for the animals… the TRUTH of the matter is that NOTHING WILL GET DONE without engaging the General Public into helping both the wild and the animals in it. The mass of the public is indifferent to it. It needs us working together with our passion to make them turn on to helping this world and not relying on aquariums or activists to do it for them. There is not enough activists or aquariums to fix the marine animal’s problems.
Sorry for the long answer but this is my passion after years of watching and working around the world in the hope that we were making a difference. We can make a difference but egos have to be left at the door and everybody needs to meet at the table to find the best solution FTA!
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