Recently posted on You Tube: two scuba-divers, allegedly swimming not-too-close to feeding humpback whales, got You Tube worthy footage when the whales chased their food source (swarming sardines) directly under the men, then came up, to scoop and siphon the tiny fish, as humpbacks do. The men "narrowly escaped death"--or so they said, on camera--and so it was carried on the morning and evening newscasts.
The footage catches the humpbacks--which seem to this blogger, not at the distance recommended for watching whales, but much, much closer. Then, the divers go into the water. Someone on board shoots footage as the whales breach, about ten feet away, sending the men sliding on whale-waves, and the sardines flashing away from the humans. Finally, we see the whales flipping their tails and continuing to feed in the distance.
Hmmm....
Interesting that the camera on the boat "caught" the event as it naturally occurred. Also interesting that these guys were diving that close to feeding whales. The warnings, massive bubbles from below; flocks of circling seagulls feeding off what the humpbacks don't take in the school of sardines; the whales themselves, breaching close...How innocent are these two divers? How "dangerous" are the humpbacks--who don't eat humans and stick to small fish they filter through their baleen slits in their mouths?
Having foregone any "whale watching excursions" on either coast, precisely because of the stupidity of people and the greed of the captains of these boats (they violate "whale space", chase mothers and their calves--many of whom are newly born and trying to reach homewaters, getting between the coastline --whales navigate by following the coastlines in their yearly treks) and generally pack as many screaming tourists as possible onto the excursion craft, I find that humans and marine mammals are usually a terrible mix--at least for the animals. Some crew members and captains are into "educating the public"--I'm sure. However, their honesty has done little to regulate their peers on the waters of the bays where the whales travel, each year. The consequences for the whales are obvious: fewer numbers; having learned of the boats and harassment, they take routes that are less sure and less secure, farther out to sea; dwindling births each year. Pollution, also caused by humans; changing climate--most probably adversely affected by humans, and dwindling food supplies (need I write the cause?) contribute to lowered numbers, too. Yet it is the carnival attraction and thrill ride of these whale watches that most disturbs me because I get to witness our species, once again, in the open, taking pleasure in the pain of the animal kingdom--however "well meaning" they think it is.
In California, Sea World takes the biggest cake. I have refused to ever set foot in that park again, after my one time visit, decades ago. I had heard rumors from my animal-loving friends--some of them oceanographers. I felt I needed to justify my outrage by a first-person educated visit. It was worse than I'd been told.
Dolphins, not only tanked, and forced to perform for dead fish, but some in what appeared to be a large wading pool, only a few feet deep, at the entrance of the park. Smaller dolphins and beluga whales, forced to swim in tight circles, while tourists could "pat them and feed them" as they scooted by. At one point, a beluga stopped, in front of us. I looked into the small whale's eyes and didn't see "animal". It clearly wasn't a human, but the intelligence and pain that registered there was shocking. Yes, I did reach out to pat its head--because there was nothing I could think to do otherwise in that instant. I mouthed the words: "I'm sorry." Corny as hell, I know. Bleeding heart liberal, I know. But the visceral exchange came from a deep place inside me. I KNEW this was a travesty, the way you know a hit and run scene is fundamentally a crime. I didn't need PETA or sad music to lead me to my own conclusion.
The plight of the larger mammals, especially the orcas, was worse. To be a huge animal in captivity has always seemed to me a kind of slavery. No matter how rough and wild and unforgiving the free world may be, nor how close to extinction the animal could become if left out there, we humans should especially feel kinship when it comes to false imprisonment. (Don't we always fight to break out?) To put such huge animals in chlorine tanks, separated from their natural families, for the rest of their lives, forced to eat frozen, dead flesh, when their entire programming is about being hunters, is, well, an atrocity. Now, add to it all of the research we have acquired from the wild: these animals are with their families for life; they have dialects in their orcan language; they have personalities and "sing", as well as "talk"; they do not hunt humans--in fact--unlike sharks--they are not known to attack divers, nor even small craft, like kayakers, who often share water-space with them, and who could easily be a snack. They seem to share a curiosity about us, even as we do, about them. And yet, they do not hurt us in the wild. (I can't say we are as generous.)
Two recent documentaries have outraged (and educated) us about the current situation of marine mammals around the world. Both have been Sundance features. Both have been boycotted and honored--for many of the same reasons. "Blackfish" is newly released. (Check out all details about the making of the film and its controversial themes, on Google.) I haven't seen it yet, but a close friend has. She hasn't slept since the viewing.
Before "Blackfish", this humanistic, highly educated person truly believed that the killer whales at Sea World were "pampered";living the equivalent of the high life. (She has lived in southern California since she was eighteen years old, but never thought about what Sea World, and all of us who allow Sea World to exist, is doing to these animals. Her world is filled with damaged humans; homeless youth; battered children. There is little time spent in amusement parks--which is sort of where she put the idea of "Sea World".) Viewing "Blackfish" has changed her life. At least she is clean-hearted enough to admit her lack of education and to begin to make up for it... though, now, she must deal with the guilt.
"Blackfish" follows the trials of the orca with the limp dorsal fin. An orca separated from its mother and family pod, as a "child", and dumped into a chlorinated existence among strangers of all species. Bullied by other whales in their own pods, this orca begins to break down, psychologically. As many children who are bullied become, it becomes a danger--to itself and to its trainers. Ultimately, the whale kills three humans--partially devouring one of them. In an irony right out of Herman Melville's imagination, the "killer whale" becomes what humans have dubbed it: a killer.
"Blackfish" also goes on to follow the case against Sea World and its controversial tactics. Trapping and training and housing animals until they die at a young age (Though Sea World educates the public with false statistics and insists that captive animals live far longer lives...), all in the guise of conservation and public knowledge about endangered species, Sea World prospers on the backs of the American thirst for entertainment; a safe "adventure" in the wild.
Of course the franchise is livid about the documentary. There are abundant arguments on both sides. One can explore these, in depth, with a bit of research on-line. I don't have the space to go into them, here. (Honestly, I think each of us MUST do our own research--think these issues through--rise and act upon our own decisions. I'm just tossing out my own thoughts, as a blogger who has had some personal interactions in these arenas.)See the film for yourself. Instead of visiting Sea World, if you are anywhere near its parks, go to the beach. Rent a kayak or a surfboard. Spend a morning on the waves. Chances are, you will encounter a dolphin or a seal or a sea lion, yourself. Up close. In the open water. Or be able to sit on some rocky outcropping and watch them from the shore, Alive and free.
In the second documentary that exposes the underside of dolphin catching, the equally controversial "The Cove" will also keep you up at night. Again, it is not so much about eating dolphin meat and cultural dietary choices (we are all participants in that scenario) as it is about how dolphins are harvested--and tortured before their deaths. One doesn't just blame the Japanese for this, either. We only have to look at our own American slaughterhouses and the cruelty going on in our fast-food franchise driven society's name. It is a human sin. Once necessary for survival. Now driven by acquired "tastes"--human karma is a frightening consideration.
Both "The Cove" and "Blackfish" are documentaries that raise fundamental questions about the place of all sentient beings in the universe. You don't have to be a Buddhist to understand. Personally, I have had several close encounters with wild dolphins--in the surf and from ten feet away, while I walked along the beach. Dolphins have also come right up, alongside my kayak, choosing to swim as I paddled, and then, taking off for their own adventures, into the deep. Each time this has occurred, there is a feeling of euphoria and deep silence inside me. It has nothing to do with PETA or politics or lunch. It has everything to do with connection. (I have been close up to wild eagles on Catalina Island; to coyotes and cougars in my own back yard, at the UCI Farm School property; to black bears on backpack excursions...even to rattlesnakes which allowed me to pass by, warned but unmolested...yet none of these encounters left me with the same awe as I was filled with among the sea mammals. They are different. They are interacting with us...perhaps, they know us and feel pity?)
This column may seem ludicrous to some readers. Outrageous and accusatory--even disappointing to others. Or, perhaps worse, maudlin. It is meant to give you just enough information for you to do your own research. Understand issues you might never have considered, before. Ask questions. Pass on what you find.
God forgive us all.
The footage catches the humpbacks--which seem to this blogger, not at the distance recommended for watching whales, but much, much closer. Then, the divers go into the water. Someone on board shoots footage as the whales breach, about ten feet away, sending the men sliding on whale-waves, and the sardines flashing away from the humans. Finally, we see the whales flipping their tails and continuing to feed in the distance.
Hmmm....
Interesting that the camera on the boat "caught" the event as it naturally occurred. Also interesting that these guys were diving that close to feeding whales. The warnings, massive bubbles from below; flocks of circling seagulls feeding off what the humpbacks don't take in the school of sardines; the whales themselves, breaching close...How innocent are these two divers? How "dangerous" are the humpbacks--who don't eat humans and stick to small fish they filter through their baleen slits in their mouths?
Having foregone any "whale watching excursions" on either coast, precisely because of the stupidity of people and the greed of the captains of these boats (they violate "whale space", chase mothers and their calves--many of whom are newly born and trying to reach homewaters, getting between the coastline --whales navigate by following the coastlines in their yearly treks) and generally pack as many screaming tourists as possible onto the excursion craft, I find that humans and marine mammals are usually a terrible mix--at least for the animals. Some crew members and captains are into "educating the public"--I'm sure. However, their honesty has done little to regulate their peers on the waters of the bays where the whales travel, each year. The consequences for the whales are obvious: fewer numbers; having learned of the boats and harassment, they take routes that are less sure and less secure, farther out to sea; dwindling births each year. Pollution, also caused by humans; changing climate--most probably adversely affected by humans, and dwindling food supplies (need I write the cause?) contribute to lowered numbers, too. Yet it is the carnival attraction and thrill ride of these whale watches that most disturbs me because I get to witness our species, once again, in the open, taking pleasure in the pain of the animal kingdom--however "well meaning" they think it is.
In California, Sea World takes the biggest cake. I have refused to ever set foot in that park again, after my one time visit, decades ago. I had heard rumors from my animal-loving friends--some of them oceanographers. I felt I needed to justify my outrage by a first-person educated visit. It was worse than I'd been told.
Dolphins, not only tanked, and forced to perform for dead fish, but some in what appeared to be a large wading pool, only a few feet deep, at the entrance of the park. Smaller dolphins and beluga whales, forced to swim in tight circles, while tourists could "pat them and feed them" as they scooted by. At one point, a beluga stopped, in front of us. I looked into the small whale's eyes and didn't see "animal". It clearly wasn't a human, but the intelligence and pain that registered there was shocking. Yes, I did reach out to pat its head--because there was nothing I could think to do otherwise in that instant. I mouthed the words: "I'm sorry." Corny as hell, I know. Bleeding heart liberal, I know. But the visceral exchange came from a deep place inside me. I KNEW this was a travesty, the way you know a hit and run scene is fundamentally a crime. I didn't need PETA or sad music to lead me to my own conclusion.
The plight of the larger mammals, especially the orcas, was worse. To be a huge animal in captivity has always seemed to me a kind of slavery. No matter how rough and wild and unforgiving the free world may be, nor how close to extinction the animal could become if left out there, we humans should especially feel kinship when it comes to false imprisonment. (Don't we always fight to break out?) To put such huge animals in chlorine tanks, separated from their natural families, for the rest of their lives, forced to eat frozen, dead flesh, when their entire programming is about being hunters, is, well, an atrocity. Now, add to it all of the research we have acquired from the wild: these animals are with their families for life; they have dialects in their orcan language; they have personalities and "sing", as well as "talk"; they do not hunt humans--in fact--unlike sharks--they are not known to attack divers, nor even small craft, like kayakers, who often share water-space with them, and who could easily be a snack. They seem to share a curiosity about us, even as we do, about them. And yet, they do not hurt us in the wild. (I can't say we are as generous.)
Two recent documentaries have outraged (and educated) us about the current situation of marine mammals around the world. Both have been Sundance features. Both have been boycotted and honored--for many of the same reasons. "Blackfish" is newly released. (Check out all details about the making of the film and its controversial themes, on Google.) I haven't seen it yet, but a close friend has. She hasn't slept since the viewing.
Before "Blackfish", this humanistic, highly educated person truly believed that the killer whales at Sea World were "pampered";living the equivalent of the high life. (She has lived in southern California since she was eighteen years old, but never thought about what Sea World, and all of us who allow Sea World to exist, is doing to these animals. Her world is filled with damaged humans; homeless youth; battered children. There is little time spent in amusement parks--which is sort of where she put the idea of "Sea World".) Viewing "Blackfish" has changed her life. At least she is clean-hearted enough to admit her lack of education and to begin to make up for it... though, now, she must deal with the guilt.
"Blackfish" follows the trials of the orca with the limp dorsal fin. An orca separated from its mother and family pod, as a "child", and dumped into a chlorinated existence among strangers of all species. Bullied by other whales in their own pods, this orca begins to break down, psychologically. As many children who are bullied become, it becomes a danger--to itself and to its trainers. Ultimately, the whale kills three humans--partially devouring one of them. In an irony right out of Herman Melville's imagination, the "killer whale" becomes what humans have dubbed it: a killer.
"Blackfish" also goes on to follow the case against Sea World and its controversial tactics. Trapping and training and housing animals until they die at a young age (Though Sea World educates the public with false statistics and insists that captive animals live far longer lives...), all in the guise of conservation and public knowledge about endangered species, Sea World prospers on the backs of the American thirst for entertainment; a safe "adventure" in the wild.
Of course the franchise is livid about the documentary. There are abundant arguments on both sides. One can explore these, in depth, with a bit of research on-line. I don't have the space to go into them, here. (Honestly, I think each of us MUST do our own research--think these issues through--rise and act upon our own decisions. I'm just tossing out my own thoughts, as a blogger who has had some personal interactions in these arenas.)See the film for yourself. Instead of visiting Sea World, if you are anywhere near its parks, go to the beach. Rent a kayak or a surfboard. Spend a morning on the waves. Chances are, you will encounter a dolphin or a seal or a sea lion, yourself. Up close. In the open water. Or be able to sit on some rocky outcropping and watch them from the shore, Alive and free.
In the second documentary that exposes the underside of dolphin catching, the equally controversial "The Cove" will also keep you up at night. Again, it is not so much about eating dolphin meat and cultural dietary choices (we are all participants in that scenario) as it is about how dolphins are harvested--and tortured before their deaths. One doesn't just blame the Japanese for this, either. We only have to look at our own American slaughterhouses and the cruelty going on in our fast-food franchise driven society's name. It is a human sin. Once necessary for survival. Now driven by acquired "tastes"--human karma is a frightening consideration.
Both "The Cove" and "Blackfish" are documentaries that raise fundamental questions about the place of all sentient beings in the universe. You don't have to be a Buddhist to understand. Personally, I have had several close encounters with wild dolphins--in the surf and from ten feet away, while I walked along the beach. Dolphins have also come right up, alongside my kayak, choosing to swim as I paddled, and then, taking off for their own adventures, into the deep. Each time this has occurred, there is a feeling of euphoria and deep silence inside me. It has nothing to do with PETA or politics or lunch. It has everything to do with connection. (I have been close up to wild eagles on Catalina Island; to coyotes and cougars in my own back yard, at the UCI Farm School property; to black bears on backpack excursions...even to rattlesnakes which allowed me to pass by, warned but unmolested...yet none of these encounters left me with the same awe as I was filled with among the sea mammals. They are different. They are interacting with us...perhaps, they know us and feel pity?)
This column may seem ludicrous to some readers. Outrageous and accusatory--even disappointing to others. Or, perhaps worse, maudlin. It is meant to give you just enough information for you to do your own research. Understand issues you might never have considered, before. Ask questions. Pass on what you find.
God forgive us all.
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