I recall hearing of several Baluga whales at the St. Lawrence Seaway with skin sloughing off of their bodies some years ago. It was attributed to toxins being put into the waterway from the manufacturing of PVC. In the film, “The Cove”, the annual slaughter of tens of thousands of dolphins at the shores of Japan is exposed. The brave crew of Sea Shepherd’s vessels are out there putting themselves in harm’s way on the oceans of the world, intervening on the behalf of cetaceans (dolphins, porpoises and other larger whales.) Surfers, divers and others are all getting involved, lending our marine brothers and sisters a human voice… and still, it’s just a drop in the bucket.
We have decades of history, proof that we’re messing up their environment and ours. All the time, there have been people expressing dismay and claiming to have been unaware… and still it continues — on and on, more and different ways of abusing every day. Casino boats still dump their filthy toxic wastes into the ocean with impunity. Large corporations continue to “dispose” of their toxic and radioactive waste by using the oceans of the world as their trash cans. The North Pacific Gyre (AKA Garbage Patch) is now twice the size of Texas — and still growing — filled with insidious photo-degrading plastics that are spreading their noxious make-up into ever smaller parts, eaten by fish and shorebirds alike. Coral reefs, the miner’s canary of the oceans, are dead and dying all over the planet. What more proof do we need? What will it take for these facts to overcome our greed?
Do you still buy “dolphin-safe” tuna? The ONLY tuna that is truly safe is Albacore, but the same companies sell the other types as well. Even salmon (tastes almost the same when prepared with mayo and is better for you) is often sold and packaged by the same folks who put out so-called “dolphin-safe” tuna. It’s inexcusable to kill thousands of self-aware creatures every year for the sake of a cheaper can of tuna.
What will you do? Will you stop buying canned and packaged tuna? Will you stop eating tuna sushi? Will you stop going to parks that keep dolphins in captivity? Will you bring your own shopping bags with you? Will you share this with your friends? Will you tell others the ugly truth about all of this?
Most people think that it doesnt’ matter to them because we live our lives and have our problems on land…but our planet is all one huge organism. Legitimate scientific predictions suggest a global collapse of the ocean within about 40 years… fisheries, everything. That’s 3/4 of our planet in terminal distress. Such a tremendous threat to our existence is not to be ignored or taken lightly.
Please, do whatever you can. Do all you can… and don’t stop. What is slowly happening is a change in our collective consciousness. Gradually, people are becoming aware of the horrors behind these parks and commodities. When there are no people going to those parks, the billions of dollars will go away and the dolphins will be released, never to be captured and kept captive again. When we stop buying cheap tuna, they will stop sending out the boats after it. Isn’t paying a dollar or so for a can of Albacore instead of 60 cents for “light” tuna worth so many hundreds of thousands of dolphins’ lives?
People have devoted their lives to stopping these atrocities. Corporations that profit from these things have KILLED people to keep the truth from getting out. Don’t let their deaths have been in vain.
Time is always running out, for those dolphins in captivity now, and those who will be caught up in the days and months and years to come. The ocean’s reefs are living ecosystems, taking hundreds of years to form. They cannot be rebuilt quickly, and they spawn a third of all the marine fish on the planet. We can’t afford to put these matters off until later, next week, or after the holidays. Don’t wait. Make the changes within yourself, and talk to others as well.
I look forward to a day when dolphin-dangerous products are looked upon with scorn and trying to buy them is met with disgust. WE are the only ones who can make this happen. There are billions of dollars on the line each year. Those corporations aren’t going to give up that money without a fight. But they can’t make you buy their soiled goods. When we stop buying their wares, and only then, will the atrocities will go away.
Do what you can. Do all you can. Please, do it now! Keep on doing it until no dolphin on this planet is held captive, and we learn to coexist harmoniously with the rest of the sentients and other life-forms on this planet. No act or gesture is too small. Everything helps. Thank you!
JT
