MonicaFrom captivity to open oceans
Who doesn’t love whales and dolphins?
I have always been fascinated by these animals. My parents loved to travel and since I was a little girl, they would always take me and my sister on holiday with them. I remember seeing dolphins in Egypt, Florida, Cuba, Scotland, Tenerife and on other occasions.
When I was younger, my family took me and my sister to see dolphins, not in the wild though. Of course, at the time, I loved it. It was every childs dream! After that experience, it really didn’t take me long to learn more about the hurtful aspects of keeping animals in captivity.
The truth about captivity started coming out.
The world started talking about it too.
The sad truth of captivity today
Dolphins and Orcas (just to mention a few) are social and intelligent animals. They are born to swim and live in their big family groups, over large distances and great depths across all oceans. The small pools they are forced to live in when they are in captivity, are the complete opposite.
I believe that humans are able to give life to the most amazing inventions, but they will never be able to build an ocean!
There are still 200 dolphinariums operating in the world, around 60 orcas and 300 belugas are still kept in captivity. These majestic animals, filled with life and emotions are forced to live their whole life in small tanks. Swimming in circles for life, they end up going crazy (which I think is absolutely understandable).
It is very difficult to get all these companies to shut down. But, if we are able to inform people about the real situation, we can at least stop them from buying a ticket to one of these shows.
In this blog, I am just mentioning marine mammals. However, this is a problem affecting all animals worldwide: from elephants being stuck in circuses and lions stuck in cages.
Would you be happy if you were stuck in a cage for the rest of your life? I don’t think so.
Let’s talk about wild whales and dolphins!
Whale and Dolphin watching companies have substantially increased over the last 20 years. They provide humans with easy access to a new world, where they can see these animals in their natural environment.
I have participated in numerous whale and dolphin watching trips, where I carried out what I consider to be a very important role. My role was to engage and speak to the public on the boat. Trust me when I say that you will not believe how many people that are seeing dolphins in the wild, start talking to me about their ‘amazing experience at a dolphinarium last week’.
Nowadays, communication is the most needed and effective way to deal with most matters affecting our lives. I believe that only when people truly understand and learn about certain topics, they will then make a change and do something to help. As little or as big as that help will be.
When you are out on the boat searching for these animals, it is a whole different feeling.
You should already be feeling grateful for starting your day by being on a boat, surrounded by nature and other wildlife. Then, you have the thrill of looking for the whales and dolphins out in the ocean, mixed with that nervous thought of “what if we can’t find them?”.
Well, sometimes you can’t find them. The ocean is a big place and they might just be busy underwater! But when you find them, it is always incredible. I felt so blessed the first day I saw them in the wild and I still feel the same way now.
They are either showing off with some acrobatics out of the water, or they are swimming alongside your boat; either way, it is always wonderful.
Also, have you ever had the fortune of looking into the eye of a dolphin or a whale? Well that’s another story for another blog, but if you have experienced that, you know the feeling…
The world we live in allows us to witness these beautiful animals in the wild, where they belong.
“Don’t be captivated by captivity”
If you agree with me, spread the message, stop going to marine parks, learn about these beautiful creatures and enjoy seeing them in the wild, in the most sustainable way possible.
Oh and one thing for you to remember!
When you book a whale or dolphin watching trip, do your research. Make sure the company you are going with respects the marine life viewing guidelines (you may view an example here) and carry out their tours sustainably, without affecting and disrupting the marine life.
