In Defense of Cetaceans

(Artist credit: Christian Lassen)

So what's up in this world lately?  Bear with me for a few while I do a rare mini-political rant today.

(1) The Catholic Church and the ongoing saga of child abuse.  Two words come to mind:  Ugh and ugh.  Personally, I'm no believer in organized religion and from my experience, have found most to be hypocritical organizations.  But I digress.   Pope Benedict is supposed to be a man of God and the go-to guy for moral authority :: cough cough ::   But as usual, these high holy men protect one another, hide their secrets, and preach to the world about what not to do.

Yes, this is a religion I am convinced the whole world should be following.... religiously.

Do I sound judgmental and self-righteous?  Ah well ... I guess I just have a thing for wealthy organizations that pretend to be the word of the almighty God, preach to people about gay rights, abortion, marriage, morality, etc etc, and take in millions and billions of dollars while raping children. Yes, I am aware I'm painting a very broad stroke here and not being too kind.  Most Catholics are not like this ... but I'm left to wonder if there's a link between organized religion and personal and sexual oppression/repression.

Religions, to me, are cults.  I believe in spirituality.  I do not believe in religion.

(2)  Health Reform.  Where does it say in our Constitution that the government has a say in our health care choices, let alone putting the IRS in charge to ensure our compliance?  I'll refrain from getting into a lengthy rant about this topic, but to all those who are arguing from a Republican vs Democrat standpoint - these parties are two sides of the same coin.  Hasn't anyone figured that out yet?

Perhaps my viewpoint is overblown .. but I see further tyranny in action and most people just accepting it.  The government is just getting bigger and bigger and more and more intrusive.  Will the day ever arrive when people will finally wake up and say "Enough!"

"When the government fears the people, there is liberty.  When the people fear the government, there is tyranny."

'Nuf said.

Want to be an armchair activist and proud of it?  If you are someone who cares about the fate of our planet's cetaceans (and I assume you are or you wouldn't be reading my blog :: grin :: ) go to this page and follow the suggestions on making your voice heard to the IWC in defense of the whales, dolphins, etal.  Email Action for Full IWC Ban on Whaling

Don't believe our ocean's inhabitants are endangered?  These 13 most endangered creatures start off the list convincingly:  Endangered Sea Creatures

More on the captivity debate:

Whales and Dolphins Do Not Belong in Tanks

Set the Killers Free

Pens and Pools: Prisons for Cetaceans

Some people argue that those who are speaking up against the captivity of whales, dolphins, etc. are hypocrites because not as much attention is given to say, cows, pigs, horses, etc.

If you wonder why there's so much attention given to the rights of cetaceans, I recommend this book by Thomas I. White: In Defense of Dolphins, The New Moral Frontier

I'm sick of certain countries like Japan and Denmark defending the killing of whales and/or dolphins by way of claiming it's their tradition or custom. 

Denmark's killing of dolphins doesn't get as much press attention as say the whale culling or dolphin slaughter in Japan or the harp seal killings in Canada.  But it's definitely worthy of our attention and attention absolutely must be paid.

Please see this article.  Please also be forewarned that it includes videos that are very graphic and quite upsetting:  Denmark's Cruel Slaughter of Dolphins

Canada has decided to give the green light for another season of seal murdering.  They have set an approved quota of 388,200 harp, grey, and hooded seals to meet their demise via the evil and cowardly method of clubbing.  Want to help give these seals a voice and let Canada know how you feel?  Please go here:  Seriously, Canada?

I have to say I'm confused by New Zealand.  On one hand, they support and endorse non-lethal whale research.  On the other hand, they are considering supporting a deal which would see the ban on commercial whaling overturned in return for Japan reducing its so-called "scientific" whaling.

I do not believe there should be a compromise in the murdering of sentient beings.  But maybe that's just me.

“Earth does not belong to man, Man belongs to the Earth.  This we know.  All things are connected like the blood which unites one family.  Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth.  Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it.  Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” ~ Chief Seattle ~

Barbarian Cowards

(Artist credit:  Jim Warren)

Hot on the heels of The Cove winning this year's Oscar for Best Documentary, is a new TV reality docu-drama called the Dolphin Warriors.  What's that?  Well you've heard of the Whale Wars.  The Animal Planet is working in concert with the people from The Cove and filming them for episodes that are projected to begin airing on TV this summer or fall.   Keep an eye out for this one!  Anything that gets more people aware and active on this issue has my full support.

Have you seen Pirate for the Sea?  It is a two hour documentary that focuses on Sea Shepherd's Paul Watson.  It gives a brief history of his time with Greenpeace, how he came to form the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and the things he does around the globe to raise awareness and to get directly involved in saving marine mammals.  A lot of people associate him with saving the whales, but he's also very involved in preventing shark finning and in his ongoing battle with the Canadian government over their annual harp seal cull.

If you have not yet seen this, I highly recommend it.  Be forewarned, however, that there are some pretty awful and graphic scenes showing various marine mammals being slaughtered.   There was a scene showing a barbarian coward seal killer just standing over a helpless harp seal and clubbing it to death.   I'm not a violent person and I abhor violence, but I wanted nothing more, in that very moment, than to reach through the television screen with my own club and bash this coward's head in.  

That's exactly what they are - barbarian cowards.  Words do not do justice in describing the rage I feel in witnessing such horrific acts against our marine friends.  It shows a complete lack of respect for our environment, nature, fellow living beings, and more broadly, our very planet.  It also obviously shows an utter lack of regard for oneself to engage in such an evil and cruel act.  

How would people feel if a harpoon was shot at them while they were minding their own business in the ocean?  Or feeling a knife cutting off your arms akin to the shark finning and then being thrown back overboard - alive.   Or a club being repeatedly bashed against your skull until your last dying breath?  Or being herded into a cove that soon turns blood red as all your dolphin friends, and ultimately you, get slaughtered and bleed out to a slow and painful death?

If you're against the harp seal hunt, you should check out this site:  Harp Seals

Much like Japan defends it's barbaric killing of whales and attributes it to "culture," Canada does the same thing in defense of their cowardly bashing of seal pups.  Only public pressure from around the world and a severe economic loss will wake up the Canadian government.  

Just because there's a possibility there won't be a seal cull this year, doesn't mean the battle is won.  Please remain vigilante on this issue by directly contacting the Canadian PM.   If you are not aware of what this is all about or why the big deal over this, please check out About the Canadian Seal Hunt and read up.

Will Japan ever get their stubborn harpoons out of their asses and finally listen to reason?  Will they ever realize that killing whales for research is not only a bogus lie on their part, but is completely unnecessary in order to conduct said research?  New Zealand is taking a stand that killing whales for research is NOT needed and will be arguing their case at the IWC this June.  Go New Zealand!

Talk has died down quite a bit from the Sea World Orlando incident a couple weeks ago.  I guess a lot of people really just don't care.  If they did, they'd have started boycotting Sea World immediately and the parks would be either completely shut down by now or in danger of bankruptcy.  This is an interesting article:  How Can Sea World Manage Tragedy, Criticism While Maintaining Business Brand?

Excerpt:

SeaWorld executives, he said, “have no interest in creating an environment where animals are not happy and not safe. ... Yes, they are in swimming pools. There’s no question. They’re also in an environment where they are taken care of.”

Color me stupid, but that sounds like an oxymoron.  Putting a 12,000 pound Orca in a swimming pool and say "they are taken care of."   

Another excerpt:

University of Florida professor Robert W. Emerson said he sees no easy way for SeaWorld to alter dramatically its business model in the short term. It would be like McDonald’s or Wendy’s abandoning hamburgers and scrapping their menus because of health concerns about beef.

“It’s difficult to do that without conceding what they’ve done up until now has been wrong,” said Emerson, a legal-studies expert. “If that’s your product, it’s a little hard to go too far away from it without saying there is something wrong with your product.”

Wow.  Comparing live marine mammals being held captive in the tiniest minature replication of the ocean that is possible, to hamburger.  I must be dense.  I don't get it. 

Here are a couple of suggestions on changing their so-called business model.  

(1)  Release the orcas and dolphins to sanctuaries.  It may not be the vast ocean but it's certainly better than swimming pools.  If the mammals were once wild, they could possibly be re-introduced back into the wild over time.  If they were never wild (hence, Sea World might actually cease supporting the slaughtering and capturing of dolphins around the globe and being sold to the likes of Sea World for their greedy purposes) then take care of them in the sanctuaries.  Who foots the bill?  Sea World and their subsidaries.   They created this mess, they should pay for it.

(2)  Educate people about our marine mammals and marine environments via hologram performances, big screen productions (like IMAX Theatres,) eco-friendly whale/dolphin watching tours, sales of DVD's, books, and other related materials that promote education and awareness, etc etc.

Anyone have any other suggestions or ideas?  I'd love to hear 'em.

Another excerpt from the above article:

“One more incident like this and the brand really would be in trouble,” Connor said. “You don’t want to cross your fingers and hope it doesn’t happen again. You can’t afford to do that.”

Well golly gee whiz.  Wasn't one incident enough for people to wake the hell up and stop buying tickets to Sea World?  Guess not.   The executives at Sea World are still raking in the bucks and the public continues to help them get richer - at a far greater expense to these mammals and ultimately our planet, than they'll ever fathom. :: shaking my head sadly :: 

"We share the Earth not only with our fellow human beings, but with all other creatures." ~ Dalai Lama ~

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Whale Wisdom

(Artist credit: Eva M. Sakmar-Sullivan)

Scott over at Dolphin Smile has an update about dolphin swims.  Do check it out if it interests you.

The Cove is officially nominated for an Oscar!

Good article:  Harvesting Meat that Few Will Eat

This blog post is a few months old, but worth reading:  The Politics of Whaling vs The Politics of Food Safety

Instead of appealing to the emotional side of appreciating nature, the wildlife, and our seas, this writer suggests we appeal to the economical side of it to get more people paying attention.  Would that work?  It's certainly an interesting premise.  You can read that here:  Saving Endangered Species - It's the Economy

It's been a tough season so far for the Sea Shepherd crew.  Paul Watson has his latest update here:  The Final Assault on the Cetacean Death Star

On the harp seal hunt front, Critics Accuse Canada of Using Inuit as a Political Tool

If you believe our cetacean friends have messages and lessons for us, you might be interested in this:  Wisdom From the Whales

Can DNA help to protect the whales & dolphins from poachers?  Links:

Taiwan to Use DNA to Protect Whales, Dolphins

DNA to Protect Marine Life

DNA to Help Catch Whale & Dolphin Poachers

Back on the sonar front, it's always good news and bad news.  For the moment, this is good news:  Whales Get Support on Sonar Ban

Another:  Researchers Warn of Drilling Dangers

I mentioned this book in a previous post written by Leah Lemieux. ((  Rekindling the Waters: The Truth about Swimming with Dolphins )) In that post,  the author dropped by here to leave a comment :-)   I wanted to share that she also has a website:  Rekindling the Waters   Please do check it out!

Website worth repeating, worth your while, worth your support - just worth it :-)

Mahalo,

Dolphin