This past winter I watched the documentary Blackfish on Netflix... And after making a post on FB yesterday because I kept running into a number of posts asking to join the petition to keep orcas out of captivity. I had to write something.
Now, I’ve always been one for animals and wildlife, learning about them, seeing them and quite frankly finding them more interesting than most humans... Heck, I grew up going to zoo camp and taking adventures to wildlife refuges. In high school I helped set up a watershed grant for the Lynnhaven River with my school as well as 3 years of the Oyster Restoration Project for the Chesapeake Bay... But, I also grew up going to the circus and visiting Sea World... I loved it but taking a step back, I am almost embarrassed to say, I enjoyed it...
Life for animals is not like the movies these creatures may like doing tricks but they aren’t like Alex (The Lion from Madagascar) who get a sense of celebrity and forget if Blackfish portrayed only the negative or edited the film to the director’s liking, the big picture of the film I think, is to open up our eyes to what is really happening... That these mammals (some captured, some born in captivity) are given a fraction of space in which they should be given to live... That most of these orcas were separated and forced to become family with other orcas making new pods and most of them hating the others for it, ganging up on the outcasts as if they were in middle school together. As I said in my FB feed I understand rehabilitating and researching wildlife but profiting off of animals while making them do tricks for treats or confining them to a limited space is upsetting... And it is, it’s not fare and it truly saddens me to think that they have a life of imprisonment for profit.
Places like Sea World or watching the circus are great if it’s the shows with people on water skis or guys riding motorcycles in steel cages with fire everywhere, I like the sense of community and watching all the people and hearing children laugh but what I don’t want to see or hear is animals being hurt or crying out... If I ever have kids, I want to take them to places where the animals and mammals are free to roam, to let them experience creatures in their own habitats letting them truly explore the wonder that is around us not what is brought to us.
I know that by signing my name isn’t going to change everything and I don’t expect for the orcas to just be released because they would need a release project that would help them back into the wild, so there are many steps to taking action but I do feel like by making people aware is the most important and then using our best judgement as to what we spend our money on and what we go see is a step in the right direction.
Long Live the Circle of Life.
Nants ingonyama bagithi baba, Sithi uhhmm ingonyama, Ingonyama!
