Dolphins and the ocean of compassion

Most of humanity has been fascinated by marine mammals since the beginning of times. In ancient Greece there were numerous tales of dolphins helping humans and taking them to safety, and these accounts continue today. There have been many cases of dolphins protecting swimmers from shark attacks. The brain of dolphins is only next to that of us humans. They are sentient, self-aware beings, capable of feeling emotions, and watching a family of wild dolphins playing with the waves together with a group of surfers is something that opens the heart. I had the fortune of witnessing this event while I was in California, off the coast of Malibu. It was an amazing experience, and immediately the entire beach was filled with joy, as people gathered to watch them, while smiling to each other in awe.

If you have been thinking of spending a nice summer afternoon at SeaWorld or your local aquarium, think again. Your hard earned money will support unimaginable cruelty. Capturing dolphins and orcas (or any other animal, for that matter) for our own entertainment, is a horrible thing to do, and the manner in which it happens is so intolerable, that no business of this kind – including zoos – should be remotely supported.

Capturing even one wild orca or dolphin disrupts the entire pod. To obtain a female dolphin of breeding age, for example, boats are used to chase the pod to shallow waters, where the animals are surrounded with nets that are gradually closed and lifted onto the boats. Unwanted dolphins are thrown back. Some die from shock or stress, and others slowly succumb to pneumonia when water enters their lungs through their blowholes. Pregnant females may spontaneously abort babies…

…In the wild, orcas and dolphins swim up to 100 miles per day. But captured dolphins are confined to tanks that may be only 24 feet long, 24 feet wide, and 6 feet deep. They navigate by echolocation—bouncing sonar waves off other objects to determine their shape, density, distance, and location—but in tanks, the reverberations from their own sonar bounce off the walls, driving some dolphins insane.

While most of us instinctively love dolphins, unfortunately mankind is their worst enemy. As if the Navy intoxicating the oceans with sonar waves, disorienting whales and other marine mammals, was not enough, thousands of dolphins are killed, captured, and mutilated each year. This shame has to come to an end. In a high definition digital age, and 3D virtual worlds, there is no excuse to keep animals in captivity. A captive animal is far from educational to any child. Children would learn a lot more about them if they see how they live in their natural world. Captivity teaches only cruelty to a young child, and that the suffering of other sentient beings for our entertainment is a viable thing to do. Captivity shows no respect for the natural world and the value of freedom.

The award winning movie The Cove, by director Louie Psihoyos, exposes the secret killing of over 20,000 dolphins each year in Japan. Over twenty thousand self-aware, highly intelligent beings, the size of an entire town, over nine times the September 11 attack. Each year. A barbaric act, fueled by a multi-billion dollar industry. Most of the Japanese people are completely unaware that this is happening, and they need to open their eyes, along with the entire world, for this to change.

It is here, under cover of night, that the fishermen of Taiji, driven by a multi-billion dollar dolphin entertainment industry and an underhanded market for mercury-tainted dolphin meat, engage in an unseen hunt. The nature of what they do is so chilling — and the consequences are so dangerous to human health — they will go to great lengths to halt anyone from seeing it.

Everyone can help in raising awareness over this tragedy. No person is too small, and you can learn more about it on SaveJapanDolphins.org. My hero of the moment is Frankie Churchill, a 9 year old boy, who is not giving up, and writing repeatedly to Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki, at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C. Frankie cares. Frankie knows that dolphins are a treasure for all of humanity. Frankie is a third grader with the consciousness that I am hoping to see in all future generations.

Dolphins have the rare gift of showing compassion for a species other than their own. While some of us slaughter and capture them, they will still come to our rescue, often risking their own lives in doing that. In a world where we sometimes do not show compassion to our own kind, busy as we are fighting wars, there is so much we can learn from our loving marine brothers and sisters.