BLACKFISH – A Documentary on Seaworld Orcas

During the recent December 2015 vacations, we visited Atlanta, GA. Our son Aarav will turn 3 in March 2016; we thought it would be nice to visit a zoo and aquarium again. At his age, this was his 4^th visit to a zoo and 2^nd to an aquarium! We just assumed he has much better understanding now so he’ll enjoy better!

Atlanta Aquarium is rated as the best aquarium in USA! Personally, I have never seen whales! Never been to Seaworld. Had been to a small seaworld kind of amusement park in Hawaii where I saw the dolphin and sea lion shows; the jumps and tricks they do! Atlanta Aquarium has the Beluga whales and giant whale sharks! Huge magnanimous creatures that just leave you in awe!

Aarav was excited to see the Dolphins! He loved the show, though he was almost asleep by the time the show started! The dolphins were just beautiful!

After we returned we were discussing with our friends of the two amusement parks and how the Aquarium is one of the best! My friend shared that this particular corporation has intensive care for the dolphins and they have a panel of scientists, doctors and psychiatrist to study and provide them a healthy environment! She then suggested of a documentary “BLACKFISH” that’s available on Netflix which has the orca trainers disclose and share their experience of training the wild orcas, the unpredictable nature of the animals, how they are captured from the wild, the emotional trauma that the animals endure in captivity through their life, the major accidents that have occurred and how the huge business corporations ruthlessly work despite history of fatalities and clear indications of disturbed animals, while putting the trainers lives at risk each day!

The documentary is very emotional on many levels, mainly from the animal’s perspective that without a doubt it shames me to think of how selfish Human race is! And not just selfish, but ruthless, ignorant and utterly insensitive! There are so many points that the audience probably never thinks of like how did they get them, how are they trained, how are their enclosures etc. I never did myself!

Prior to this documentary, I never had any idea of how gentle, super intelligent and emotional these gigantic animals are, so much like us humans! After watching the documentary, I felt so so sorry for these animals, though they are so much larger in size than us, our cunning intelligence beats their innocence!

It makes me think how as an audience, I’m contributing to the animal’s captive life! I know that just sharing the information won’t stop people from going to these amusement parks, but can spread awareness. The story of Tilikum the Orca at seaworld is truly heartbreaking and to see that huge fish with a bent dorsal fin…you know it’s just WRONG!

Sharing the trailer video link on youtube. Recommend to watch and share.

While I was still disturbed after watching the documentary, I came across an article of how even Dolphins in captivity suffer and how the ‘Swim-with-dolphin’ program is disturbing!

The Disturbing Truth Behind Your Swim With The Dolphins

Pet Adoption

Mamma's got a funny tail to play with

How much thought should I really put when adopting a cat? There is an outdoor cat in my building that gave birth to two kittens 3 weeks ago. Since then I have had this desperation to get one home. Of course I did a lot of thinking. When I lived in the US, I used to see cats sitting in apartment windows. Cats there are more like indoor pets. Some do go out..those I believe live on the ground floor or have a yard. By the way, the cats there are just gorgeous, they are so much more furry, of course to help them with the cold weather, but still they look just beautiful all puffy with thick furJ.

So curious of the new surrounding

Needless to say Americans treat their pets no less than their kids. The food, the medication & vaccines and all the love and care is just like their own child. I live on the third floor and I have two balconies. So I will have to baby proof one of them so the cat is safe at this height. Since she will live on the third floor there is no way she can be an outdoor cat. So I will have to arrange the litter box for her, some toys and food. I looked for all these things and they are available here in Bangalore. Vaccinations can be done at a vet.

Two is company...playing tag!

But I still have so many apprehensions about really getting the kitten. I am not completely settled in Bangalore. We travel on trips once a month or two on the weekends. What if I get relocated to another place and I have to let go the catL. My mind doesn’t agree to use the pet for a while and put it away at a later point. After all, it is a living soul that will bring me joy and have an attachment with me. I can’t use it like a toy. If only I was 100% sure of my location I would totally get the cat.

It sounds like ‘I am putting too much thought to this..it’s just a cat’, but no..I can’t bring the pet for a while, it has to be for a lifetime. Arrgh! So confused!

Adoption for Animal lovers

Here is a cool blog I found from my husband that shares information of adoptions of pets. They share information of stray abandoned pets that need better homes. Do read the “Please read this first!!” column on the right to get a better idea of this blog.

http://adoptstrays.blogspot.com/

Animal tricks …animal cruelty

Last year I had seen a news article about elephants walking on ropes in Thailand. The mere image of the elephant on ropes was painful for me. It was difficult for me to imagine, how such a large animal with that weight and size can stand on a rope? It is difficult for humans too. How often have we seen FAT people walk on the tight rope?

That news had totally made me sad and to know that people come to watch it; why? Why do we want to see animals to do tricks that cause them physical stress and pain; tricks that they are forcibly trained to do with fear and pain? Do I want to watch an elephant do such tricks – NO! NEVER! Any living being could do deadly tricks, if forced to do so. What is so fascinating about watching another living being’s torture?

Today I read the news and saw the video about the training of the elephants in the new Hollywood movie Water for Elephants; it features top Hollywood actors Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson. As they mentioned in the news, the video is graphic to see little baby elephants beaten on the head and poked in the mouth while training; big grown up elephants standing on their forefeet and doing a upside down trick while they are tasered; sitting on a big chair like humans  etc. All these trainings are done with beating them, poking them and worst – giving electric shocks of high voltage of 1 million volts! Can you imagine?

Do we really want to see these tricks? For an entertainment of 5-10 minutes, these animals are tortured since they are babies. I don’t even consider it as ‘entertainment’. The training authorities say that this is the only way to train these giants, then I think people should stop asking for such entertainment. Boycott this kind of shows. If the elephant owners are out of business due ban on logging, then leave the elephants in the wild and get a decent job to earn your bread. Or the govt. should look into employment matters, than torturing these speechless animals.

By the way, do these heartless trainers know that elephants have a good memoryJ? One of the elephants beating the hell out of the trainers – now that would be a fun show isn’t it? Its pure animal cruelty and such shows should be banned all over the world.

 Note: The video clip in the news shows the graphic torture than the youtube video above.