If You Love Something Set It Free
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Last year when I was travelling to Florida for Zumba Convention one of the biggest decisions was which places to visit to experience dolphins, turtles, manatees and yes, even killer whales. Florida is one of the most amazing places to experience these animals, but there is a fierce debate amongst those who are passionate about marine mammals about whether it is acceptable to keep them in captivity so that we can "meet" them.
I didn't get too involved in the debate, but I have enough Facebook friends involved in marine research, documentary filmmaking and so on to receive enough posts about "Blackfish" (the documentary about Seaworld orcas) and general requests to free marine mammals to decide to give it a miss.
I was rewarded with the magical experiences of dolphins coming up to the beach to check me and other humans out, plus seeing a mother and baby dolphin playing in the wake of Little Toot. I did have to go to rescue centres and nature parks to see rescued manatee and turtles. The manatee Rosie sadly won't be released into the wild because she has spent too much time in captivity to survive and the turtles are all receiving medical treatment. It does seem cruel when you walk into the research facility with all the baby turtles, until you read what they are actually doing and these are all released again after a short time and many are rescued hatchlings.
Even visiting Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park (phew!) the excitement was in the completely unexpected appearance of a manatee from the spring who decided to come and join us and hang out for a while with no incentive, just wanting to say hello.
So, last week when I finally watched "Blackfish" I was so glad that I had never visited a park that kept dolphins or whales captive. I thought the documentary was actually very well balanced and kept the content safe for viewers – what freaked me out was the research I did straight afterwards wanting to know more about the state of the whales following the film. If you do decide to look into it please don't do it right before bed – I couldn't sleep and I had nightmares.
Looking at some of the practices of Seaworld and other "amusement" parks holding marine mammals I struggled with the ethical and moral reasoning of these corporations – how could they deliberately do so many of these things and how do you understand it? Some researchers believe that dolphins and orcas may well have a more developed intelligence than humans, they certainly have what seems like an even stronger family bond, with family members living together for life, up to 100 years for the females. When you know that, the idea of keeping an animal locked up for decades is truly appalling, but that's not even the part that freaked me out. Their breeding program did that.
Ultimately I decided there are three ways you can look at this:-
- If you believe marine mammals have an equivalent or higher intelligence and emotional life than humans it's wrong.
- If you believe that marine mammals have a different but strong intelligence we could consider them as an alien species. Imagine how we would feel if an alien species abducted and imprisoned us. So, it's wrong. (Interestingly this is the definition some marine researchers use to decide whether to intervene when an animal is in distress in the wild, if "rescuing" the animal would only prolong its agony and cause further distress then they leave them to die naturally.)
- If you believe that marine mammals have as much feeling and intelligence as a dog it's wrong. If I read about a dog breeder who treated their animals like this I would call the RSPCA.
My job is Explorer-in-Chief and it's important for me to have new experiences and seek out new ways of healing, whether it's an excellent coffee shop or a once in a lifetime moment connecting with another species. But my experience is no more important than any other tourist's and the regular human duty to live ethically doesn't disappear because we're on holiday (what goes on tour comes home with you). The kids want to go to Seaworld to see an orca? Tough. Just because we relax the rules about bedtime or eating all your greens on holiday doesn't change the big picture.
In Iceland I hit the moral quandary of whether or not to visit a restaurant that had whale meat on the menu. Yes, in Iceland they still kill whales for "scientific research" and somehow the rest of the meat ends up on local restaurants' tables. The argument exists that as this is something the Icelandic people do we should respect their culture and tourists head to restaurants with whale meat dishes to see how the Icelanders do it. It's already dead right? The truth is that Icelanders do not eat whale meat, the majority respect and love whales and are disgusted by this practice but don't want to upset the tourists. We ended up inside one such restaurant after a blizzard forced us to take cover, there's no way I would ever order whale meat, but I didn't even eat the food we had ordered as there was such a terrible vibe in the place.
As far as I am concerned these whales are wild and belong to no nation, so no nation should be allowed to destroy them.
Respect for a host country's customs does not include abandoning all morals and beliefs.
I comfort myself with the knowledge that we are getting better. When I was a child we visited a zoo (we knew circuses were cruel) and saw dead eyed apes in the "monkey house". I was shocked by just how much an orang-utan looked like us, but after a few minutes it was boring and sad to see them sitting there just looking back at us. I wanted to stay to spend time with them but wanted to go because it was awful. We saw a polar bear walking endlessly, frantically from one side on an enclosure to the other, clearly disturbed.
The places I have visited since then are a different world; Marwell, Port Lympne, Howletts, London Zoo – with enclosures and activities arranged to try to simulate the wild as far as possible and with the ultimate goal of many programs to try to reintroduce these animals back into the wild. One thing I have learned is that when natural conditions can be recreated and animals behave naturally they are far more interesting than any tricks we humans could devise for them.
In Victorian times explorers found an animal, shot it, stuffed it and brought it back to show society. They were applauded for scientific research.
Later we caught those animals and brought them back to zoos. I was captivated by a series of books about two young boy explorers who went out to catch animals for zoos, theirs seemed like a great life, especially as there was always some other group behind them trying to capture the same animals but for private collectors or "bad zoos".
Then we created safari parks and natural reserves so we could go out and see these animals in the wild. Whaling towns became whale tourism towns.
Then we realized that while safari parks and reserves might work for the rich they were at odds with the needs of local people, so local tribes were asked to help, to take over the safari parks, take ownership, become gamekeepers.
I was reading an article about the green Kalahari where apparently in the mid 19th century permits were given out to shoot the local tribespeople as they were "in the way". We are getting better. Slowly, but surely.
The title of "Blackfish" comes from the Native American name for the orca; a deeply spiritual animal you don't mess with.
In many places around the world modern governments and business people are "giving back" what was taken from indigenous people. Ayers Rock is now Uluru and Kata Tjuta, as it was for thousands of years before settlers arrived in Australia, and the local tribe helps tourists to understand its significance without breaking their traditional laws.
Around the world there are many places where tourism is providing an impetus for healing old rifts and restoring indigenous people to their land and traditions, even in the green Kalahari where previously hunted tribespeople are now the tour guides.
Sadly Seaworld and other tourism businesses are taking time to catch on. When "Blackfish" was released many music artists cancelled their tour dates at Seaworld venues. Legislation is being argued in California that would effectively end orcas performing and the captive breeding program in that state. Many states and countries have already banned keeping orcas (and sometimes dolphins too) in captivity; New York, South Carolina, Hawaii, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, India, Nicaragua, Slovenia, Switzerland as well as countries where the standards of keeping marine mammals mean that it is economically impossible to keep them; Brazil, Luxembourg, Norway and the UK. There is currently a huge campaign to Free Morgan; a young wild orca who was rescued but has since been transported to Loro Parque in Spain (which may or may not be affiliated with Seaworld depending on who you ask) and is being taught to perform and may be forced to breed as part of their captive breeding program. http://www.freemorgan.org/
Legislation is constantly changing and it cannot be too long before common sense and decency prevails and we see the end of these circuses. Those involved in these businesses have the chance now to see the bigger picture and be part of the change, maybe even rescue some public goodwill or they can wait until they are forced to change.
You might ask why I care so much about animals when this is really a healing website for humans? Because I don't believe that mistreatment of other humans or animals is good for us as individuals or as a society. If you do decide to watch "Blackfish" what is obvious is the pain and regret so many of the trainers feel as they look back; that they believed the lies they were told, that they helped feed this production but mixed with regret is the pain they felt at the thought of leaving the orcas alone to their life of captivity. (Corky, or more specifically Corky (II) is a female orca in Seaworld San Diego who has been in captivity since 1970, 44 years of captivity so far, she could live for a further 50 years in the wild, so it's possible she may spend 94 years of her life in captivity.)
Travelling or just sitting on your computer experiencing life from around the world we realise just how interlinked our planet is, it's all our neighbourhood. As a child you might experience something in a zoo and look back in sadness when the truth of the cruelty of that exhibit becomes clear, however I know my mother would have never taken us there if she had known. You may think you are bringing your child delight by taking them to Seaworld but will they look back, like the trainers with the same tears when they realise they were part of such cruelty?
If you are heading for Orlando there are some amazing wildlife projects and countless dolphin boat trips. You may not get a dinner show or see tricks, but you may get the chance to see these incredible animals when it's not going to distress them and that experience will be richer for knowing that they chose to come and see you too.
Here are some of the animal encounters I recommend and here also is a link to the Born Free Foundation page on marine mammals – which offers some information but is not as disturbing as some of the other information online.
http://www.pearlescapes.co.uk/Spa_Breaks/clearwater---the-sight-–-dolphins-–-caladesi-beach-and-little-toot.html
http://www.pearlescapes.co.uk/Spa_Breaks/clearwater---side-trip-–-homosassa-springs.html
http://www.pearlescapes.co.uk/Spa_Breaks/vero-beach---the-journey-–-drive-from-key-largo-(and-back-to-orlando).html
http://www.pearlescapes.co.uk/Hong_Kong_Spa_Princess/The_Sight_-_Pink_Dolphins.html
http://www.pearlescapes.co.uk/Spa_Breaks/the-activity---the-icelandic-horse.html
http://www.pearlescapes.co.uk/UK/Livingstone_Lodge,_Port_Lympne,_Kent.html
http://www.pearlescapes.co.uk/Spa_Breaks/the-sight-–-new-forest-ponies-from-the-back-of-a-horse.html
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/campaigns/marine/
Lovely video about Corky
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/campaigns/marine/campaign-action/orcalab/
Much love, Pearl
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Last year when I was travelling to Florida for Zumba Convention one of the biggest decisions was which places to visit to experience dolphins, turtles, manatees and yes, even killer whales. Florida is one of the most amazing places to experience these animals, but there is a fierce debate amongst those who are passionate about marine mammals about whether it is acceptable to keep them in captivity so that we can "meet" them.
I didn't get too involved in the debate, but I have enough Facebook friends involved in marine research, documentary filmmaking and so on to receive enough posts about "Blackfish" (the documentary about Seaworld orcas) and general requests to free marine mammals to decide to give it a miss.
I was rewarded with the magical experiences of dolphins coming up to the beach to check me and other humans out, plus seeing a mother and baby dolphin playing in the wake of Little Toot. I did have to go to rescue centres and nature parks to see rescued manatee and turtles. The manatee Rosie sadly won't be released into the wild because she has spent too much time in captivity to survive and the turtles are all receiving medical treatment. It does seem cruel when you walk into the research facility with all the baby turtles, until you read what they are actually doing and these are all released again after a short time and many are rescued hatchlings.
Even visiting Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park (phew!) the excitement was in the completely unexpected appearance of a manatee from the spring who decided to come and join us and hang out for a while with no incentive, just wanting to say hello.
So, last week when I finally watched "Blackfish" I was so glad that I had never visited a park that kept dolphins or whales captive. I thought the documentary was actually very well balanced and kept the content safe for viewers – what freaked me out was the research I did straight afterwards wanting to know more about the state of the whales following the film. If you do decide to look into it please don't do it right before bed – I couldn't sleep and I had nightmares.
Looking at some of the practices of Seaworld and other "amusement" parks holding marine mammals I struggled with the ethical and moral reasoning of these corporations – how could they deliberately do so many of these things and how do you understand it? Some researchers believe that dolphins and orcas may well have a more developed intelligence than humans, they certainly have what seems like an even stronger family bond, with family members living together for life, up to 100 years for the females. When you know that, the idea of keeping an animal locked up for decades is truly appalling, but that's not even the part that freaked me out. Their breeding program did that.
Ultimately I decided there are three ways you can look at this:-
- If you believe marine mammals have an equivalent or higher intelligence and emotional life than humans it's wrong.
- If you believe that marine mammals have a different but strong intelligence we could consider them as an alien species. Imagine how we would feel if an alien species abducted and imprisoned us. So, it's wrong. (Interestingly this is the definition some marine researchers use to decide whether to intervene when an animal is in distress in the wild, if "rescuing" the animal would only prolong its agony and cause further distress then they leave them to die naturally.)
- If you believe that marine mammals have as much feeling and intelligence as a dog it's wrong. If I read about a dog breeder who treated their animals like this I would call the RSPCA.
My job is Explorer-in-Chief and it's important for me to have new experiences and seek out new ways of healing, whether it's an excellent coffee shop or a once in a lifetime moment connecting with another species. But my experience is no more important than any other tourist's and the regular human duty to live ethically doesn't disappear because we're on holiday (what goes on tour comes home with you). The kids want to go to Seaworld to see an orca? Tough. Just because we relax the rules about bedtime or eating all your greens on holiday doesn't change the big picture.
In Iceland I hit the moral quandary of whether or not to visit a restaurant that had whale meat on the menu. Yes, in Iceland they still kill whales for "scientific research" and somehow the rest of the meat ends up on local restaurants' tables. The argument exists that as this is something the Icelandic people do we should respect their culture and tourists head to restaurants with whale meat dishes to see how the Icelanders do it. It's already dead right? The truth is that Icelanders do not eat whale meat, the majority respect and love whales and are disgusted by this practice but don't want to upset the tourists. We ended up inside one such restaurant after a blizzard forced us to take cover, there's no way I would ever order whale meat, but I didn't even eat the food we had ordered as there was such a terrible vibe in the place.
As far as I am concerned these whales are wild and belong to no nation, so no nation should be allowed to destroy them.
Respect for a host country's customs does not include abandoning all morals and beliefs.
I comfort myself with the knowledge that we are getting better. When I was a child we visited a zoo (we knew circuses were cruel) and saw dead eyed apes in the "monkey house". I was shocked by just how much an orang-utan looked like us, but after a few minutes it was boring and sad to see them sitting there just looking back at us. I wanted to stay to spend time with them but wanted to go because it was awful. We saw a polar bear walking endlessly, frantically from one side on an enclosure to the other, clearly disturbed.
The places I have visited since then are a different world; Marwell, Port Lympne, Howletts, London Zoo – with enclosures and activities arranged to try to simulate the wild as far as possible and with the ultimate goal of many programs to try to reintroduce these animals back into the wild. One thing I have learned is that when natural conditions can be recreated and animals behave naturally they are far more interesting than any tricks we humans could devise for them.
In Victorian times explorers found an animal, shot it, stuffed it and brought it back to show society. They were applauded for scientific research.
Later we caught those animals and brought them back to zoos. I was captivated by a series of books about two young boy explorers who went out to catch animals for zoos, theirs seemed like a great life, especially as there was always some other group behind them trying to capture the same animals but for private collectors or "bad zoos".
Then we created safari parks and natural reserves so we could go out and see these animals in the wild. Whaling towns became whale tourism towns.
Then we realized that while safari parks and reserves might work for the rich they were at odds with the needs of local people, so local tribes were asked to help, to take over the safari parks, take ownership, become gamekeepers.
I was reading an article about the green Kalahari where apparently in the mid 19th century permits were given out to shoot the local tribespeople as they were "in the way". We are getting better. Slowly, but surely.
The title of "Blackfish" comes from the Native American name for the orca; a deeply spiritual animal you don't mess with.
In many places around the world modern governments and business people are "giving back" what was taken from indigenous people. Ayers Rock is now Uluru and Kata Tjuta, as it was for thousands of years before settlers arrived in Australia, and the local tribe helps tourists to understand its significance without breaking their traditional laws.
Around the world there are many places where tourism is providing an impetus for healing old rifts and restoring indigenous people to their land and traditions, even in the green Kalahari where previously hunted tribespeople are now the tour guides.
Sadly Seaworld and other tourism businesses are taking time to catch on. When "Blackfish" was released many music artists cancelled their tour dates at Seaworld venues. Legislation is being argued in California that would effectively end orcas performing and the captive breeding program in that state. Many states and countries have already banned keeping orcas (and sometimes dolphins too) in captivity; New York, South Carolina, Hawaii, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, India, Nicaragua, Slovenia, Switzerland as well as countries where the standards of keeping marine mammals mean that it is economically impossible to keep them; Brazil, Luxembourg, Norway and the UK. There is currently a huge campaign to Free Morgan; a young wild orca who was rescued but has since been transported to Loro Parque in Spain (which may or may not be affiliated with Seaworld depending on who you ask) and is being taught to perform and may be forced to breed as part of their captive breeding program. http://www.freemorgan.org/
Legislation is constantly changing and it cannot be too long before common sense and decency prevails and we see the end of these circuses. Those involved in these businesses have the chance now to see the bigger picture and be part of the change, maybe even rescue some public goodwill or they can wait until they are forced to change.
You might ask why I care so much about animals when this is really a healing website for humans? Because I don't believe that mistreatment of other humans or animals is good for us as individuals or as a society. If you do decide to watch "Blackfish" what is obvious is the pain and regret so many of the trainers feel as they look back; that they believed the lies they were told, that they helped feed this production but mixed with regret is the pain they felt at the thought of leaving the orcas alone to their life of captivity. (Corky, or more specifically Corky (II) is a female orca in Seaworld San Diego who has been in captivity since 1970, 44 years of captivity so far, she could live for a further 50 years in the wild, so it's possible she may spend 94 years of her life in captivity.)
Travelling or just sitting on your computer experiencing life from around the world we realise just how interlinked our planet is, it's all our neighbourhood. As a child you might experience something in a zoo and look back in sadness when the truth of the cruelty of that exhibit becomes clear, however I know my mother would have never taken us there if she had known. You may think you are bringing your child delight by taking them to Seaworld but will they look back, like the trainers with the same tears when they realise they were part of such cruelty?
If you are heading for Orlando there are some amazing wildlife projects and countless dolphin boat trips. You may not get a dinner show or see tricks, but you may get the chance to see these incredible animals when it's not going to distress them and that experience will be richer for knowing that they chose to come and see you too.
Here are some of the animal encounters I recommend and here also is a link to the Born Free Foundation page on marine mammals – which offers some information but is not as disturbing as some of the other information online.
http://www.pearlescapes.co.uk/Spa_Breaks/clearwater---the-sight-–-dolphins-–-caladesi-beach-and-little-toot.html
http://www.pearlescapes.co.uk/Spa_Breaks/clearwater---side-trip-–-homosassa-springs.html
http://www.pearlescapes.co.uk/Spa_Breaks/vero-beach---the-journey-–-drive-from-key-largo-(and-back-to-orlando).html
http://www.pearlescapes.co.uk/Hong_Kong_Spa_Princess/The_Sight_-_Pink_Dolphins.html
http://www.pearlescapes.co.uk/Spa_Breaks/the-activity---the-icelandic-horse.html
http://www.pearlescapes.co.uk/UK/Livingstone_Lodge,_Port_Lympne,_Kent.html
http://www.pearlescapes.co.uk/Spa_Breaks/the-sight-–-new-forest-ponies-from-the-back-of-a-horse.html
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/campaigns/marine/
Lovely video about Corky
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/campaigns/marine/campaign-action/orcalab/
Much love, Pearl
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