Bottlenose Dolphins in the wild, New Zealand - ©Natassia Wijdeveld 2010
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Since the says of Free Willy, viewing whales or dolphins in captivity has been a popular excursion for many tourists.
The sight of these wild, and in many cases endangered, creatures kept against their will in tiny (think of the size of the ocean) swimming pools is devastating and un-natural.
Recently the issues of whales and dolphins in captivity is gaining more attention in the media as an increasing number of trainers are “attacked” by the stars of the show, such as the recent case of Tilikum, the killer whale who killing his trainer at Sea World in Orlando. Today I even saw this video of a “fake” killer whale leaping out of its take, perhaps in a bid to freedom.
But what the media doesn’t show is the sad situation Tilikum (and other such whales), now has to live, alone in an holding pen while his ‘family’ preform in separate tanks, and trainers will no longer go near him. To view the video follow this link.
In my posting on 17th May, “Are Our Oceans in Peril?” I mentioned the film The Cove. In this film it is clear that many of the dolphins, we believe or assume are born into captivity, are instead viciously taken directly from the wild, their mothers and older siblings slaughtered in the process.
So what can we do about this?
There are many things we can do to stop the trade and exploitation of wild animals such as dolphins and whales.
- The most obvious is not to support companies that participate in this form of animal cruelty especially live whale and dolphin shows.
- Get informed, learn about the situation, search the web, talk to marine biologists talk with friends.
- Voice your opinions, tell everyone you know abou this, sign petitions such as this one on The Petition Site, which is aiming for 100,000 signatures ASAP, write letters or join up with one of many campaigning group.
- If you are in a position to do so, donate, many organisation fighting for animal rights are immensely underfunded.
- Visit websites such as savejapandolphins.org to learn more on how you can make a difference.
- If you have not done so yet, please watch The Cove. (It will shock you and horrify you, but hopefully also inspire you)
Do not hesitate a moment longer, signing a petition or reading a few facts on a website will only take you a few minutes, and it may inspire you to do more.
Dolphins and whales need our help now!
It’s time for us to speak out about this animal cruelty and you have power to do so!
Posted by Jeremy Nathan Marks on July 16, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Thank you for posting this! It is always good to know there are other people out there who are working to raise awareness about animal abuse and fight the good fight to make sure all animals are treated with respect.