For
one thing, SeaWorld executives are quick to note that the orcas they
put on display are not taken from the wild. That statement is, in
itself, recognition that the only thing worse than trying to keep such
large, intelligent and social animals on display in miserably small,
artificial containers of water, is capturing them in the wild. But if
SeaWorld recognizes that fact, then what can we say about the
recent effort
by the Georgia Aquarium and other partners, including SeaWorld, to
import wild-caught beluga whales, another majestic marine mammal, to put
them on display in parks?
Here’s what we can say: Thank heavens for
yesterday’s decision by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
After tens of thousands of Americans raised their voices, the agency
refused to bend the nation’s two-decade old policy of “no wild capture”
of whales. As a result, the import permit for 18 wild-caught belugas,
some of them destined for SeaWorld, was denied.
And
we can also say this: The movie “Blackfish,” plus David Kirby’s
important book “Death at SeaWorld,” build on years of work by The Humane
Society of the United States and other respected organizations to bring
an end to the captive display of whales by eliminating breeding and
allowing whales the opportunity to live in large sea pens. The public
would learn more about whales by seeing them in more natural settings.
Never in our nation’s history has there been a better time for the
promotion of humane, environmentally sustainable education about marine
mammals. As SeaWorld should know by now, that is earned with real
leadership not with a PR contract.
And
for those of you familiar with the great Canadian children’s songwriter
Raffi, let’s give him the last word on what to say. He knows where
beluga whales belong, and it’s not in a cement pool:
Baby beluga in the deep blue sea,
Swim so wild and you swim so free.
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