Animals have been on the face of the Earth since the beginning. Different cultures praise them as Gods or consider them sacred. But as the years drag on, people disregard animals and put them to the curb. In America, research labs on college campuses and across the country are performing vivisection. Vivisection is when millions of "animals are dissected, infected, injected, gassed, burned, and blinded" (IDA). In Africa, poachers kill elephants only for the ivory from their tusks. Not only does cruelty happen to pets and land animals, but also to marine creatures. Around the world, people are inhumanely taking advantage of the rights of those swimming souls. Right now, this exact moment in time, over in Taiji, Japan thousands of dolphins and small whales are being brutally murdered. Twenty - six out of the five hundred fishermen on the island take part in this massacre. Through September 1st to March 30th, the annual killing takes place in a secluded cove. Even "the Japanese people don't know about this" (McNeill). Environmentalist, Ric O' Barry, calls this "secret genocide" the worst. The town hosts whale - watches in dolphin shaped boats "while the non - performing animals bump up against each other in a tiny concrete pool" (McNeill). The '07 - '08 season Taiji announced that they are "going to add Pacific white sided dolphins to the catch quota" (Fujiwara). Which means yet another species of souls are in danger in their own home. There are three steps to this savage killing: ?the chase, the capture, the kill" (Lonsdale). Step one - the chase. The fishermen go to where they know the dolphins migrate, they lower long, metal poles into the water "and bang them to frighten the animals and disrupt their sonar" (McNeill). The boats drop nets down into the water to confine them, and once the dolphins begin to panic that's when the fishermen pull out the weapons. Step two - the capture. They start to slash mercilessly at the peaceful creatures. Blood pours out of their blowholes and turns the bay, literally, red. The fishermen tie rope to their tails and pull them to the shore to purposely beach them so the dolphin trainers can have their pick. Now with any swimming cetaceans (whales, dolphins, etc) is that the water pressure supports their body weight. When the sea animals are beached, naturally they don't have the normal water in their body, their whole weight "rests on the narrow strip of skin which is touching the ground [and] any flesh or organs near the ground are bruised and crushed.
Currently, live whale performances have become well liked for tourists to visit. When they are there, they only see what they want to see and do not care or want to know all about the complications the whales go through just to make people smile. The documentary “Blackfish” exposes the truth about the whales, their habits, and why they act the manner they do when in captivity. The inhumane treatment of whales in captivity causes negative effects on the animals which, in turn, affects the humans who care for them.
Imagine yourself living in a bathtub for 25 years and you could do absolutely nothing about it. Wild orcas, better known as killer whales have been captured to entertain audiences world wide at aquariums. The most popular location being Sea World. Growing up in Miami, I could not control my excitement when it came time to go visit Lolita the killer whale at the Miami Seaquarium. To be able to see such an amazing creature right in front of me was mind blowing. How amazing is it that you can be face or face with an animal of that size? Well, I wish I'd known then what I know now. In the following paragraphs, I will start off with the difference between the life of a wild orca in the wild versus their life in captivity and I will end with reasons as to why families should not participate and give their time and money to these companies who commit such inhumane acts. I hope that towards the end of this essay, you will change your view on wild orcas and not look at them as just an animal that is used for entertainment purposes.
In the past twenty years a large amount of bottlenose dolphin have been killed due to the tuna fishery. In the Eastern Pacific swim large schools of tuna, these shoals tend to be under herds of dolphins, for some unexplained reason. Because of this, fishermen can easily find schools of tuna. The tuna are being caught under purse seine nets, which encircles the shoals of tuna and then is pulled back on board the fishing vessel, catching both tuna and dolphin. Initially the mortality rate was 500,000 each year for dolphins alone. Although some efforts are made to encourage the dolphins to leave the net by backing down part of the net, which allows the dolphins to escape, there are still a large number of mortalities (Bryant). On the other hand, in the last few years there has been dramatic progress in stopping the fishing industries from using purse sine nets. It has been found that dolphins are in immediate danger of extinction if these fishing techniques don’t stop.
Reza, H. G. "Whales Collide, 1 Is Fatally Injured in Sea World Tank." Los Angeles
The quest to gain international agreement on ethical and legal norms for regulation of whaling has had a long and troubled history. The modern phase of global concern over whaling ethics and conservationist management originated in 1946, when the International Convention on Regulation of Whaling was signed. Thus the International Whaling Commission was created. The International Whaling Commission was designed to control and mandate the whaling industry. From it’s beginning as simply a whalers club with scientific guidance, to the current day conservationist body; the IWC has undergone many revisions and transformations since the start. In 1982 the IWC voted to implement a “pause” on commercial whaling (which is still in effect today). Which major whaling nations, Japan, Norway, Peru, and the Soviet Union (later replaced by Russia) lodged formal objections, due to the fact that the moratorium was not based on advice from the Scientific Committee. One major disappointment of this regulation was due the fact that the moratorium only applies to commercial whaling. Thus, whaling under scientific-research and aboriginal-subsistence is still allowed. Japan and other countries have continued their hunt in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary under the “scientific research” loophole. However, environmental activist groups openly dispute the claims and continue their rally to end the whaling industry for good.
... further pain to the whale then necessary. They have a respect for the whale and what the whale does for them. They should be allowed to continue in their hunting of the whale.
“… building a tank the size of Rhode Island wouldn’t be large enough for a six-ton male killer whale such as Tilikum, an animal capable of swimming 100 miles a day,” states an anonymous whale expert. Whales have been in captivity since 1861 when P.T. Barnum displayed the first live whale that was captured in Canada. However, Barnum had no idea how to care for the mammal and it died after only a week in captivity. (Animal Legal and Historical Center, 2014) Being up close with killer whales could give us some clues about how they interact with each other, including physical behavior, their dialect, and how their pods work together as a family unit. However, what we are finding is that whales who belong in the wild are suffering in captivity. Killer whales have no record of ever harming a human being in the wild. In captivity, there have been many incidents of killer whales harming or even killing their trainers. What would cause them to do this in captivity, but not in the wild? They have been known to resort to aggression toward themselves and each other, in what scientist believe to be a stress induced behavior. (Animal Legal and Historical Center, 2014) Evidence against having these wild animals in captivity is increasing and we need reevaluate the value of capturing and holding killer whales for our educational purposes, enjoyment, and profit.
Kirby, David. Death at SeaWorld: Shamu and the Dark Side of Killer Whales in Captivity. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2012. Print.
Although it is remarkable that these marine mammals are capable of so much, there are things the public does not know. According to classified statistics, twenty-three out of forty-three animals died while being transported from their natural habitat to foreign aquariums for training. Another thing the public does not know is in reference to a similar marine mammal program in the Soviet Union. It has been reported that Soviet dolphins were trained to do "kamikaze" missions. Explosives were supposedly strapped to their backs and they were sent out to destroy enemy submarines. According to statistics, about two thousand dolphins have died on these, and similar, missions.
The Cove is a film of activism, a film meant to move the hearts of individuals who love and support the rights of mammalian sea-dwellers like that of whales, porpoises, and most importantly dolphins. Produced in 2009 by the Oceanic Preservation Society it offers a unique perspective, when compared with other activist documentaries. In The Cove the producer and co-founder of the Oceanic Preservation Society was actually personally involved in the filming efforts and worked directly with dolphin trainer Richard O’Barry in drawing light on the events occurring in a private cove in the city of Taiji, Japan. The documentary is, of course, very biased towards the topic, with obvious pro-animal rights leanings supported indirectly with a strong utilitarian basis. When analyzing documentaries such as this it is vitally important to take as objective a perspective as possible, though humanity tends to be innately prone to bias, and scrutinize through perspectives that have established ethical guidelines.
Imagine being at home enjoying quality time with your family when all of a sudden someone comes into your home and takes you to prison for the rest of your life. No explanation, no warning, and no communication with your family, ever again. In a single moment you have lost your family, your home, and your freedom. That is a very scary thought, yet that is exactly what is happening to killer whales. We, as a society, are going to the ocean, and taking killer whales away from their home, and their families for the sole purpose entertaining us. These beautiful, majestic animals are suffering physically, mentally, emotionally, and they are dying prematurely because of our selfish actions. Mahatma Gandhi said “The greatness of a society
Millions of people visit Sea World each year (The Fate). They crowd into Shamu Stadium to be entertained by the killer whales as they perform. Their eyes widen, and they sit in awe, as these enormous creatures effortlessly propel themselves out of the water. The children in the audience squeal with delight as the orca’s giant tail sends a wave of ice water over the crowd. But these fast-paced, high-spirited shows hide a darker reality. They are designed to mask the reality of the bare, cold concrete walls that the Orcas are forced to call home. It’s time for people to realize the plight of these mammals. Keeping Orcas in captivity is both harmful and cruel.
...legal fishing, caught in fishing nets, collisions with boats and or propellers, and marine pollution. The subsequent captivity of dolphins in research and aquarium facilities contributes to their deaths.
The ugly truth is that animals are dying at the hands of their owners everyday, some in very violent ways that can be avoidable given the right solution. Slaughterhouses, puppy mills, dog fighting, and so on, are just a few examples of how animals are being treated badly by people. Animal cruelty is a form of violence which, un...
Whaling is the hunting of whales for their usable products like meat, oil and blubber. Its earliest forms date to at least circa 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of subsistence whaling and harvesting beached whales. Industrial whaling emerged with organized fleets in the 17th century; competitive national whaling industries in the 18th and 19th centuries; and the introduction of factory ships along with the concept of whale harvesting in the first half of the 20th century. By the late 1930s, more than 50,000 whales were killed annually. 1