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~ I am getting really sick of being told, by co-workers and by bloggers, that if I don't care about the Olympics, I obviously don't care about my country. Please. I am not interested in the Olympics because I am not interested in sports. Don't waste your time trying to turn it into anything more than that.
~ You've probably all heard of the trainer who was killed at SeaWorld Orlando on Wednesday due to an incident with one of the orcas there. I've had a variety of different reactions to this; the one reaction I have not had is surprise. Maybe I shouldn't even be talking about this, because I know I'm a total hypocrite on the subject of zoos and aquariums - I frequently visit them at the same time as I condemn them. And I guess I only really speak out against them when the specific animal in question is a marine mammal, because I am a hypocrite who plays favourites. But seriously, orcas and captivity just don't work. This is far from the first time that a captive orca has caused harm to a human (although I admit I was surprised to see that Wikipedia gives this subject its own page); captive orcas have also been reported to have injured themselves, for example by smashing their heads against the walls of their tanks. I find the arguments against keeping whales in captivity a million times more compelling than any of the arguments for it, especially if we're going to continue to use them as entertainers.
I have no idea how to write about this, so I'll link you to a blog post entitled A Few Thoughts on Tilikum which brings up a lot of the points I've been thinking about. It also briefly discusses Tilikum's history, which is not at all a happy one.
One thing that I'm really not impressed with is the number of people who are calling for Tilikum to be killed. This incident may have been an accident or it may have been intentional, but either way, it seems absurd to me to fault a wild animal for reminding us that he's a wild animal.
~ You've probably all heard of the trainer who was killed at SeaWorld Orlando on Wednesday due to an incident with one of the orcas there. I've had a variety of different reactions to this; the one reaction I have not had is surprise. Maybe I shouldn't even be talking about this, because I know I'm a total hypocrite on the subject of zoos and aquariums - I frequently visit them at the same time as I condemn them. And I guess I only really speak out against them when the specific animal in question is a marine mammal, because I am a hypocrite who plays favourites. But seriously, orcas and captivity just don't work. This is far from the first time that a captive orca has caused harm to a human (although I admit I was surprised to see that Wikipedia gives this subject its own page); captive orcas have also been reported to have injured themselves, for example by smashing their heads against the walls of their tanks. I find the arguments against keeping whales in captivity a million times more compelling than any of the arguments for it, especially if we're going to continue to use them as entertainers.
I have no idea how to write about this, so I'll link you to a blog post entitled A Few Thoughts on Tilikum which brings up a lot of the points I've been thinking about. It also briefly discusses Tilikum's history, which is not at all a happy one.
One thing that I'm really not impressed with is the number of people who are calling for Tilikum to be killed. This incident may have been an accident or it may have been intentional, but either way, it seems absurd to me to fault a wild animal for reminding us that he's a wild animal.