Thursday, January 19, 2012

Why I love the Dolphins so much!

About three and a half years ago I took a trip to the Florida keys with my family and best friend from England, Jenni. We spent the majority of the trip taking care of Autumn and my little sister, Ellie, by the fabulous pool. On one of our last days my mum and dad treated Jenni and I to a trip to the Dolphin research Center in Marathon, Florida. To make a long story short we got to swim with a beautiful and intelligent young dolphin named Jax. The thing that got me was the way Jax would look me right in the eye, looking deep into my soul. He could sense any anxiety, pain or unhappiness I may have had at that point in my life. He could see through my fake-smile and he just knew. I am convinced to this day that all dolphins are far more intelligent that scientists ever give them credit for. It was a beautiful moment that I shared with this mammal and my love for this creature will never die.

I have felt tremendous guilt since my visit to the research center. I feel that the research center may have bought their dolphins from Taiji, Japan, an awful town that captures wild dolphins and sells them to aquariums, research-centers and zoo's across the world. Not only this, but, they also kill hundreds and thousands of defenseless dolphins every single year and sell the meat to the Japanese people, who often have no idea they are consuming Dolphin. It is even sold to schools and children eat this high-mercury containing mammal without a second thought. Not only is this harmful to their health, it's also wrong. Plain wrong. How many people are buying dolphin-meat that is labeled as something else? How many people are walking around not even thinking about how much mercury they could have coursing through their veins? The guilt I carry on my shoulders from this breaks my heart on a daily basis. To think that little Jax could have been captured from the wild, against his will, and transported across the world for my enjoyment purpose-only just kills me.

Every day animals are exploited and used for humans sick pleasure. I wish I could save them all. The fact of the matter is that I had a deep-connection (or I'd like to think I did) with Jax. His little helpless face continues to haunt me to this day. I try not to think about him being captured, wrongfully, and being taken away from all he knows. It's easier to remain ignorant but I refuse to do so. I cannot sit back and let the fisherman of Taiji continue to hurt the dolphins in such a cruel and unjust ways. I know that I wouldn't like it if I was kidnapped from my surroundings and forced into a life that I didn't agree with. I try to take this stance with Dolphins. It's unrealistic to think that I can save them all on my own. It is, however, realistic to think that I can educate as many people as possible about the fisherman in Taiji, Japan!

I'm not asking anyone to donate money (if you'd like to help the cause to STOP the dolphin slaughter in Taiji contribute money to the good volunteers here ) I'm asking people to think about the dolphins. When visiting an aquarium, zoo or research-center that contain Dolphins re-think if it's worth it? Do you want to give the establishment your money so they can wrongfully capture more dolphins for your own entertainment? Do you think it's right that an intelligent, kind and good-natured creature is being kidnapped from the wild so you can watch it jump out of the water for 20 minutes of your life? That's pretty sick in my personal opinion. My advice to you, should you take it, is to see dolphins in their natural habitat. Not only are they even more spectacular than at sea-world, they are also happier. I truly hope in the years to come, the water in the cove in Japan remains the normal blue that it is when dolphins aren't being slaughtered. Until then I will continue to educate and talk about this awful thing happening right before our eyes. Boycott aquariums, raise awareness and share the love. Well at least that is my personal goal.