Empty the tanks - the view of a hypocrite
I'm a hypocrite. I just thought I would acknowledge that before I go on and say what I have to say.
I have been twice to Seaworld. Once when I was six and again when I was fourteen years old. This was in the 80's and 90's. I had very little memory of the first visit but the second time my dad took the video camera to capture the wonder and amazement on our faces. Only, it wasn't wonder or amazement, I looked uncomfortable, awkward and a little worried. The great Shamu show did not create the impression i'm sure it intended.
On my recent visit to the States, Seaworld had an advert stating that their whales were thriving and that they cared about them as much as the public do. I can only imagine this was in response to the backlash from the documentary Blackfish. If you have not heard of Blackfish before, its a documentary which detailed some of the practices used by Seaworld and included interviews with ex-Seaworld trainers and the accidents that had happened during interaction with the killer whales. I had already seen the documentary but in light of the Seaworld advert I wanted to watch it again.
It sounds ridiculous saying this but we never gave any thought as to where the killer whales were taken from when we visited. I do remember that we were shown a video of a killer whale giving birth at Seaworld prior to the show and in our naivety assumed they were bred in captivity. If you are shouting at the screen right now, trust me I get it.
A couple of years ago we went on a whale watching trip off Monterey Bay on the California coast. An area where grey, humpbacks and killer whales are found. However, all we saw on the trip was a couple of Risso dolphins. The company that arranged the trip offered us a rain check ticket to go out again on another day. I thought this was a nice gesture.
When dealing with wild animals you have no control over what you see and you accept the risk that you may not see anything.
We did take up the offer and this time managed to see a grey whale and the largest pod of dolphins. The exhilaration of seeing them in the wild was far greater than anything they did at the Seaworld show and we were buzzing for hours after. We visited San Diego in January this year which coincided with the whales migrating to Baja to give birth to their calfs so we wanted to go on another trip. This time were were lucky to catch the elusive sight of a humpback whale breach. Both of these trips had me thinking why on earth you needed to have Seaworld when you could see these amazing creatures right off the coast and in some places, even from land!
Killer whales are far too large for the pools they are kept in and far too intelligent to be performing tricks for food in the name of entertainment. Taking the ability to hunt away from an apex predator will never end well and I think the trainers are fooling themselves if they think they have control over them. When I think back at the little kid being picked out the audience to have their photo taken on Shamu's back I shudder.
I can only go by my own experience. On both trips they kept a certain distance away from the whales which I believe is legal requirement. Getting up close is not an option. They are not allowed to interfere with, intercept or do anything that may make the whale change its course. You have a marine biologist on board who explains the whale behaviour and will answer any questions you have. Monterey is well known for activity and the BBC wildlife crew had filmed sequences of a killer whale attacking another whale the week before we went. This charter was more about being a passive observer. The San Diego charter was a bit more concerned with clocking up the number of whales sighted. On our particular trip they said the whale count was 11 but we noticed that we kept within the same landmarks so to us it was the same pair of whales just from a different side of the boat (although the breach was pure luck). I questioned the company about this and they said that each sighting is noted by the marine biologist in accordance with the whales specific markings but that they would investigate. So even from my two trips you can see that Company's have different motives. It would be naive again to assume that multiple boat trips were having no environmental impact nor that the increased chance of interaction with whales, could eventually result in an accident. If i've learned anything it's that you really need to think about and research the companies before you book your trips. Conservation, rehabilitation and breeding programmes are not always the top priority.
Having seen whales and dolphins in the wild I will never go to Seaworld again. I would love them to empty the tanks and (if possible) return these mammals to the wild. Then I thought again about the other aquatic life kept in tanks and aquariums. Like octopi, who are also incredibly intelligent. Shouldn't all tanks and cages for that matter be emptied? The simple answer is yes.
We should all take the risk that during our lifetime we may or may not see certain creatures in their natural environment.
However, I cant help but feel sad to think that future generations may not experience what it's like to visit an aquarium and see the creatures from the deep or go to a zoo and see the big five that you just would not otherwise get to see..... and for this reason I am a hypocrite.
The post Empty the tanks - the view of a hypocrite appeared first on SerenandBelle.blogspot.com
Copyright 2015
I have been twice to Seaworld. Once when I was six and again when I was fourteen years old. This was in the 80's and 90's. I had very little memory of the first visit but the second time my dad took the video camera to capture the wonder and amazement on our faces. Only, it wasn't wonder or amazement, I looked uncomfortable, awkward and a little worried. The great Shamu show did not create the impression i'm sure it intended.
On my recent visit to the States, Seaworld had an advert stating that their whales were thriving and that they cared about them as much as the public do. I can only imagine this was in response to the backlash from the documentary Blackfish. If you have not heard of Blackfish before, its a documentary which detailed some of the practices used by Seaworld and included interviews with ex-Seaworld trainers and the accidents that had happened during interaction with the killer whales. I had already seen the documentary but in light of the Seaworld advert I wanted to watch it again.
It sounds ridiculous saying this but we never gave any thought as to where the killer whales were taken from when we visited. I do remember that we were shown a video of a killer whale giving birth at Seaworld prior to the show and in our naivety assumed they were bred in captivity. If you are shouting at the screen right now, trust me I get it.
A couple of years ago we went on a whale watching trip off Monterey Bay on the California coast. An area where grey, humpbacks and killer whales are found. However, all we saw on the trip was a couple of Risso dolphins. The company that arranged the trip offered us a rain check ticket to go out again on another day. I thought this was a nice gesture.
When dealing with wild animals you have no control over what you see and you accept the risk that you may not see anything.
We did take up the offer and this time managed to see a grey whale and the largest pod of dolphins. The exhilaration of seeing them in the wild was far greater than anything they did at the Seaworld show and we were buzzing for hours after. We visited San Diego in January this year which coincided with the whales migrating to Baja to give birth to their calfs so we wanted to go on another trip. This time were were lucky to catch the elusive sight of a humpback whale breach. Both of these trips had me thinking why on earth you needed to have Seaworld when you could see these amazing creatures right off the coast and in some places, even from land!
Killer whales are far too large for the pools they are kept in and far too intelligent to be performing tricks for food in the name of entertainment. Taking the ability to hunt away from an apex predator will never end well and I think the trainers are fooling themselves if they think they have control over them. When I think back at the little kid being picked out the audience to have their photo taken on Shamu's back I shudder.
I found the documentary quite thought provoking. Was going on a whale watching trip actually any different to going to Seaworld?
I can only go by my own experience. On both trips they kept a certain distance away from the whales which I believe is legal requirement. Getting up close is not an option. They are not allowed to interfere with, intercept or do anything that may make the whale change its course. You have a marine biologist on board who explains the whale behaviour and will answer any questions you have. Monterey is well known for activity and the BBC wildlife crew had filmed sequences of a killer whale attacking another whale the week before we went. This charter was more about being a passive observer. The San Diego charter was a bit more concerned with clocking up the number of whales sighted. On our particular trip they said the whale count was 11 but we noticed that we kept within the same landmarks so to us it was the same pair of whales just from a different side of the boat (although the breach was pure luck). I questioned the company about this and they said that each sighting is noted by the marine biologist in accordance with the whales specific markings but that they would investigate. So even from my two trips you can see that Company's have different motives. It would be naive again to assume that multiple boat trips were having no environmental impact nor that the increased chance of interaction with whales, could eventually result in an accident. If i've learned anything it's that you really need to think about and research the companies before you book your trips. Conservation, rehabilitation and breeding programmes are not always the top priority.
Having seen whales and dolphins in the wild I will never go to Seaworld again. I would love them to empty the tanks and (if possible) return these mammals to the wild. Then I thought again about the other aquatic life kept in tanks and aquariums. Like octopi, who are also incredibly intelligent. Shouldn't all tanks and cages for that matter be emptied? The simple answer is yes.
We should all take the risk that during our lifetime we may or may not see certain creatures in their natural environment.
However, I cant help but feel sad to think that future generations may not experience what it's like to visit an aquarium and see the creatures from the deep or go to a zoo and see the big five that you just would not otherwise get to see..... and for this reason I am a hypocrite.
The post Empty the tanks - the view of a hypocrite appeared first on SerenandBelle.blogspot.com
Copyright 2015
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