I remember being fascinated with dolphins when I was a kid. Sea World was one of the coolest vacations we ever took. I got a stuffed animal Shamu there that I would tuck away in my armpit and sleep with every night. I had a white t-shirt with a big picture of two dolphins on the back of it for years until holes wore into it.
Another fact about me is that I've always been bothered by the captivity of animals. I've never really liked the circus, or zoos. I've willingly gone to them and paid my money, but there is something about a sad animal wandering around a cage that doesn't seem right. Dumbo always makes me cry. It even seems a little sad every time I see a dog crated. I know, i know, its their home, they like it in there. But there is something about looking at a pair of eyes through a fence that's a little sad.
I recently watched, and soon cried while watching, "The Cove". This is a must see. Everyone should see this. I rented it on my netflix so I don't know if its available in stores or not. Its a documentary about dolphins being slaughtered in Taiji, Japan. Now that I've seen this, I sure am glad I signed up to go on the Sea World field trip at the end of January (sarcasm inserted).
Helpless is an emotion I feel on a regular basis with this sort of thing. The Lord has emblazoned my soul with so much passion, fire, motivation...and yet, I can't seem to land on a place to unleash all of this fight. Overwhelming are the problems in the world. How many inhumane things are being done to humans, let alone things like dolphins and animals? I don't claim to always know what "the right thing to do" IS at times? Should I stop eating tuna and fish altogether unless I caught it myself? Should I become a vegetarian because I could never actually kill something myself? Should I never again give money to an organization that holds animals in captivity for my entertainment?
I see the benefit on the other side as well. I had this conversation once with Jeremy after we went to the St.Louis zoo. His argument was that when else in your life would you have the opportunity to see a giant polar bear? And it WAS such a cool feeling this summer to have a Toucan stand on my arm. And I couldn't believe i got to feed a kangaroo right out of my hand in Australia. Those were all very wonderful and powerful memories. But I also have a couple more memories that were meaningful...
Like when Randy and I were sea kayaking in New Zealand and 3 dolphins came swimming up next to us. And, being in a kayak, we were right at sea level with them. And THEN a seal came next to us and swam along too! Our tour guide said that was the first time he'd seen that happen in years! How special was that?!
Or when I was visiting Clint in Alaska, we saw a huge caribou from the road and decided to hike along this stream until we could see it up close, in the WILD! ...now granted I almost peed my pants when it made eye contact with us, but it was an incredible moment.
There was a saying in the documentary that if you're not an activist, you're an inactivist. And I may never be able to cut free a baby dolphin that's about to be stabbed to death...but the very least I can do is advertise it on this blog...for the 3-4 of you that read it. GO see this film. TELL your friends. Its made me reconsider the prepackaged tuna lunches I so flippantly buy. We already gave up the idea of riding elephants in Laos last summer, and now I've let go of the idea of swimming with dolphins in Hawaii someday. I'd rather God allow me to see His creatures as He intended, otherwise I'll just replay planet earth and watch them on dvds.
TakePart.com/TheCove
