On Becoming an Activist

Nassau, Bahamas 2011. 

Going through these pictures was extremely difficult for me. The joy on my face and the dolphin's deceiving smile made for the perfect photo opportunity. But the truth is in this dolphin's eyes.

I grew up in a family that traveled to Florida regularly. By the time I was five I had already been to Disney six or seven times. When I was seven or eight I expressed the desire to visit Sea World on our next trip to Florida. We spent roughly two days exploring the park on that trip. I was totally enchanted by the entire experience. I interacted with the dolphins at the park and went to the "Shamu" show at least three times. I will never forget watching that massive black and white whale fly through the air with a trainer standing on its rostrum. I even remember bits of the speeches they gave about how much they loved and respected the whales and how lucky they felt to work at the park each day. I thought it would be so cool to grow up and work at Sea World as an animal trainer. We were an extremely water oriented family. We lived on the Atlantic coast and owned several boats. We spent weekends fishing and regularly observed dolphins and whales. Having seen some of these animals on display at Sea World in their natural habitat didn't seem to impact my experience at Sea World. To me, there were wild whales and then there were "Shamu" whales. They existed in my mind as an entirely different species. Why would Baby Shamu live anywhere else than the place she was born? As a seven year old I didn't contemplate what it meant to have a 3,000 pound animal in a tank.

My love for marine animals and the oceans they inhabited only deepened as I grew. I visited Sea World in San Diego several times and went back to the park in Florida once more. As I became a teenager I lost interest in Sea World and did not return again. I did note the event that occurred on February 24, 2010 in which a whale trainer by the name of Dawn Brancheau was killed by one of the Orca whales that the park owned. I was horrified by the event but severely misinformed and also willfully ignorant to what was really happening - so I put it out of my mind.

I prepared to visit the Bahamas for the first time in 2011 and I knew that I wanted to do a swim with the dolphins program during my vacation. I was responsible for planning all of the excursions we did on the trip and so I put this one at the top of my list. So off we went to Nassau in April of 2011.

I was really excited as we approached the man made lagoon at the sprawling resort. I observed a session that was already underway. Dolphins were flipping in the air and people seemed to be having a lot of fun interacting with them. We got into wetsuits and made our way over to the water. Over the next hour or so everyone in our group (around six) interacted with the dolphins in what was obviously an extremely rehearsed routine. I fed and kissed the dolphin and spent a few precious moments just talking to him and admiring his beauty. The entire encounter seemed to be centered around capturing photos we would have the chance to purchase later. The staff at the resort had large cameras with waterproof covers and instructed each guest on how to pose with the dolphins throughout the encounter. After that portion was over a few of us had the opportunity to go to the middle of the lagoon and free dive with four of the dolphins in around 20 or 30 feet of water. I kept my distance from the crowd and had a small interaction with one of the dolphins, but they all seemed quite timid. Some guests had a hand motor that allowed them to dive deeper and swim faster to essentially chase the dolphins around. I left the resort that day with an uneasy feeling but managed to push it to the back of my mind.

A couple of months later I was out on my father's boat for a quiet day of fishing - just the two of us. We were drifting only 100 feet from land. I looked over to my right at the Cape Henry Lighthouse and admired the uninhabited stretch of beach. I looked over to my left and observed a pod of dolphins making their way over to us. They passed by us quickly and I assumed they were chasing fish around. I watched for a moment and went back to baiting my line. A couple of seconds later a bottle nose dolphin spy hopped not three feet from me. I glanced up in disbelief as the animal locked eyes with me for almost a minute before he swam off and splashed me with its tail. I was in shock that the animal was curious enough to glance at me for so long. I was confronted with an undeniable truth; that these were self aware animals who belonged in the open ocean.

Two days later I watched The Cove and wept through a lot of it. I was overwhelmed by the wickedness of the industry I had been supporting for most of my life. I couldn't believe that my willful ignorance initiated a 500 dollar transaction between my mother and a resort that enslaved dolphins. I felt I had inflicted immeasurable suffering upon innocent animals that couldn't be undone. I couldn't take back the money that I had thrown into the industry. I couldn't free the dolphin I interacted with in the Bahamas. I couldn't bring back the dolphins who were slaughtered in Taiji. There were so many things I couldn't undo or change. I started at square one and the first step for me was getting solidly educated on the history of marine mammal captivity. I went on to learn a lot about Orca whales in captivity and in the wild as well. I studied the contrasts in behavior between wild and captive cetaceans. What I uncovered was horrific and only strengthened my will to fight for these special animals.

Sea World has done a fantastic job at convincing the public that everyone is entitled to an encounter with a cetacean. And while it is a pleasure unlike any other.....if letting these animals be free meant never encountering a cetacean again I would accept it in a heartbeat. Sea World continues to claim that no one would care (especially children) about wild cetaceans if these animals were not displayed in their parks. Sea World publicly prides itself in displaying animals to people who wouldn't have the opportunity to see these animals in their natural habitats. It is unfortunate that everyone isn't afforded the opportunity to observe these wonderful wild animals in the same way that it is unfortunate that not everyone has the chance to marvel at the Taj Mahal.

Sea World also claims that its "scientific" endeavors and public education are paramount to the survival of the whales. And if keeping a few cetaceans in a sea pen (or larger tank, I suppose) meant saving a species it would be hard to protest. But that is not what is happening at Sea World's parks or any others like it. They are not on a mission to serve the greater good of the species. They are not on a mission to inform. They are in the business of making money because that is what they are! A business.

I would implore anyone considering a trip to Sea World to learn more about these animals before they go. You will learn about their unrivaled intelligence and self awareness. You will learn that scientists have found evidence that suggests their emotional capacity could be greater than ours. Think about what it means to be aware of yourself and your environment. Think about what it means as a human to be a social being. Think about what it means to be driven by love and deep familial bonds. And next learn about a whale named Tilikum and a whale named Lolita, two of the saddest whales on the planet. They are undoubtedly aware of their hopeless predicament. They remember the rhythm of the ocean and their families. Now do you still want to visit a marine mammal park? Do you still want to pay to swim with enslaved dolphins?

When you uncover the truth you cannot accept that cetaceans live in these conditions. You cannot deny that they are meant to be free.

A picture I recently snapped near my home in Coastal Georgia in an attempt to capture a glimpse of the playful pod I was observing. I regularly encounter bottle nose dolphins in the area and also in my hometown in Virginia. I usually don't go for my camera and simply enjoy the moment. I have gotten some lucky shots in the past and this attempt was obviously a failure and it's the perfect photo to demonstrate my point about these elusive creatures.