4 replies to this topic

[Desert_Diver]

Huh. I never heard of this movie, and the info says it came out in 2003.

http://www.slavetoentertainment.com/

I haven't seen it yet, but between the info on their site and the trailer, it makes me want to run out and join one of the radical animal rights groups. Don't get me wrong, I like a good fillet as much as the next omnivore, but I don't club it or try to drown it to get it to do tricks, first.

In a similar vein, I got a REALLY bad taste after seeing one of the 'swim with dolphins' places down in the Keys a few years ago. Although it's nice for the kids to see 'em up close and personal, it's terrible the conditions the poor animals live in. They're stuck in teensy caged-off areas, and the vis was around 3 or 4 feet. Pretty brutal home life for a social animal like that, whether they'd been part of the captive breeding program or not. It's like putting a mountain lion in a 20' square cage. You *know* the animal is gonna go neurotic in short order.

Don't even get me started on the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas... if the reports I hear from some of the locals down there are true.

[Dive_Girl]

I'll also try to not get started, but I don't frequent Sea World types of places for similar reasons.

My only interactions with dolphins have been wild encounters. I am fortunate that the dive operation my friend runs in Bimini only involves themselves in wild encounters. She also maintains a no-touch approach, which I have also advocate in my own student teachings.

[6Gill]

I'm not a big fan of zoos....

[drbill]

Fortunately we have the World Aquarium or the real Sea World to visit as often as time permits. I much prefer my encounters wild and wet rather than in a public aquarium or zoo.

I am torn however by the fact that our world is increasingly urban in nature, remote and detached from much of the natural world. I have long been concerned about what this "abstraction" of nature does towards people's attitudes, and their willingness to preserve what we have. I have taught many children who had never seen the ocean before even though they lived in southern California.

This increasing (sub)urbanization has concerned me for decades, perhaps a result of having grown up in a small town as it rapidly converted forests and fields to housing tracts, removing many of my "discovery" places.

Therefore I am still somewhat ambivalent about aquaria and zoos, but only positive towards them relative to their value as educational experiences for these urban dwellers. The conditions many animals are held in is a major concern on the other side.

[ScubaHawk]

There ain't any good choices in this case, but I do support the aquariums, sea parks and zoos efforts to educate and enlighten. Mankind seems bent on destroying the animals and their habitats no matter what - using captive animals may be the only way to reach many people.

On a side path - the whale's name is Lolita: with a name like that, it's going to be used and exploited