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Okay, so I just recently made a choice and it was pretty darn easy to make, let me tell you. I chose to give a damn. I chose to care. About myself and the world around me, and my environment, I choose to care about these things and do my best to make sure they are well cared for. You can make that choice too and it's easy as pie, man.

Imagine this, you are a Mother or a Father and you're at the Mall with your kids. Everything is hunky dory until one moment you look away and when you look back heavily armed men are stealing your children, right before your eyes, and the whole Mall just watches. You can't do anything about it, not a darn thing. One of your kids even dies because the armed men are so rough, and they just toss the corpse aside. The armed men take your remaining kids and leave and you know deep down in your heart that you will NEVER see them again.

How does that make you feel?

Obviously if you're a human being that makes you feel pretty awful, the idea of someone just kidnapping your loved ones, in fact that happens all the time in places like Columbia, but that's for another time. If you really take a moment to think about it it's pretty terrifying, and if just thinking about it doesn't make you feel sorry for the victims then maybe youtube some footage of kidnap victims losing their heads and you'll get the point.

Now that you're in the mind set, consider this. Orcas, or "Killer Whales" as they are more commonly known, are one of the most highly evolved and intelligent species on the planet. They even have extremely sophisticated vocalizations that vary greatly from family pod to family pod, in fact you might even say different families of Orca have different dialects. Something interesting about Orcas is that they have a special region in their brain that is completely unique to them, only Orcas have this, and scientists believe this unique region of the brain is responsible for things like emotions. If this is true that means that Orcas are the most evolved species on Earth, emotionally. This would go a long way to explaining the fact that Orcas never leave their mothers, from birth until death, and would also help to explain why Orcas are so aggressive in captivity. They are a highly emotional creature, almost spiritual if you will. You see where I'm going with this?

Yeah, of course you do! You get it! Every year SeaWorld makes ton of money from the suffering and degradation of animals like the Orca. Does anyone remember the very first Orca born in captivity? Well just a short time after that they separated the daughter from the mother and well, no surprise, the mother went mad with grief and a short time later attacked a senior trainer, nearly killing him. In fact if you watch the video, she thinks she has killed the trainer and that's the only reason he escapes. Can you blame her? What would you do? If you're a mother in real life you can probably identify with that.

So why are we doing nothing? Why do we let this go on and on? Because SeaWorld lies to us and says Orcas only live to maybe 30 years, ALL their fins get floppy and of course all the animals love doing tricks for rotten fish out of a slop bucket! And yeah, we believe this stupid crap, but it's not our faults, I mean hey, who here amoung us is a Marine Biologist right? Thankfully though there ARE real scientists out there and not all of them are on the payrolls of major corporations!

If you want to know more about Orcas and the trouble they are in right now please go out and watch the film "Blackfish", it is a wonderful documentary about Orcas in captivity (that's not the wonderful part obviously!) and the way the are treated. I'll warn you now this movie is graphic and shows actual footage of Orca attacks, although tastefully and in respect there is very little footage of attacks that end in fatalities. It is a brutal and disturbing movie, but at the same time if you let it, there is a message in there that can touch your heart and maybe even make you mad enough to take action. I can say with surety that this film changed my life. Let it change yours.

This is bigger than environmentalism, or being green, this is bigger than recycling or social consciousness, it's bigger than me or you or any of us put together. I know it sounds cliche but this is about our planet, our home and ultimately our future. If we can't scrape together enough human decency to keep ourselves from engaging in such despicable activity as whale hunting or keeping animals in cages for our viewing pleasure then we really have no hope. Please, help change this attitude of apathy. Get inspired, get involved and hey guess what? You might just feel like you finally have a place in the world.

Are you going to take your place in the world?

So what are you going to do? I mean, besides making a post in a war-games forum about whales and comparing it to murdering children. Caring and not doing anything about it isn't really caring, dude.

You should find out what the workers currently at Sea World have to say. You are only taking the word of one documentary (one that uses footage and interviews without permission). Don't base your world view on one movie.

So .... are you against clubbing baby seals? I am just wondering because I am not against it. I do not do it but I think that it is a right that people should have. I am not willing to travel to extremely cold places anymore, but if someone brought one to the house .....

No.

*Goes back to painting plastic man-dollies*

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/580110.page

Blackfish certainly was disturbing and heart-breaking, but, as already mentioned, you should seek other sources of information to confirm or alter your perceptions. Almost everything written, filmed, produced, or directed is biased one way or the other, so having multiple perspectives on an issue is important. That being said, I agree completely that these animals should never be kept in captivity and that in many ways they are more than just animals. Good luck!

 Ouze wrote:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/580110.page

No need for two of these, so...