Aquariums

What is there not to say about aquariums? They're places of lost spirits and souls, depressed animals, exploited marine life and animals locked against their will. Orcas and dolphins have been put into these glass chlorine tanks since the years of 1930 for dolphins and 1960 for Orca whales. Orcas are very social animals that spend their lives with their mothers and stay within a blood related pod of orcas and have their own unique dialect, but when separated from their wild families they are forced to create false bonds with other orcas in the tank (whom usually fight over calves, mates or dominance) This usually results in death, but even if it isn't, than life has a different fate for these curious and under knowledge animal... exploitation!

Every marine mammal there is has it's own ability, for Orcas it's able to splash water from the tank onto the audience and leap high with trainers balanced on its nose, for dolphins, it's agile and well tempered nature makes it a very good animal to swim and play with and for seals and sea lions they're curious and funny nature brings them to a way to be exploited as circus clowns and made to perform the dullest tricks ever!

Not long ago a major campaign was set to stop the Dolphin Petting Tanks in the famous Sea World Parks of California, Texas and Florida. A large petition was filled out with over 200, 000 signatures, but would you know, the million dollar industries didn't shift and kept their fat, dying dolphins in these pathetic little tanks that cause injuries to not only cause dolphins serious harm, but humans too. Dolphins are kept in this tight little tanks and are never shifted in till their deaths around two years later. The tanks are filled with over 2o dolphins, male, females and calves and fight for food from the people that are foolish enough to pay $5 - 10 for a packet of 5 fish. The dolphins are fed by the people and very regularly people do foolish acts of childless and boasting which causes illness to the dolphins and possible themselves. Like the man to the right who is feeding a dolphin a fish with his mouth it is due to the shows that dolphins perform where this man pulled this stunt, in the shows the trainers never say 'don't try this at home' but they presume that people will not be silly enough to do such a thing... Well, they are!

To date there lives a whale named Lolita that was formally named Tokitae who lives at the Death Prison, Miami Seaquarium. Today she is the only survivor of the Puget Sound roundups that was caught in 1970 in Washington. She was caught with bombs and loud noises to disorientate them and drive them into a panic, she was than torn from her mother, father, brothers and sisters to live in an illegal tank of the Miami Seaquarium. This tank is actually illegal by government standards. Her tank is tiny and she still has to share it with three white sided dolphins (when she should have been sharing it with another orca named Hugo who killed himself in 1980 by banging his head against a manatee tank were he was kept for ten years) Tokitae is alone, depressed and she is dying. Unlike another famous orca named Kago (Keiko) who was freed after the final production of the film Free Willy, Tokitae is being fought for, there are many who pray and activate for her freedom (myself being one of them) and many days they protest outside the Miami Seaquarium. We must free Tokitae today because she is dying, she must go home soon.

Sea lions and Seals are above the poorest animals in these parks. They have to perform the most un educational shows that man has ever created. In Sea World there is a show called 'Clyde And Seamore Take Pirate Island' which is about Pirates, not sea lion. It's a pathetic show of dominance and man taking control over that things that God gave us. Sea lions are also thrown into the petting pools were they are hand feed dead fish and made to swim with several other hundred sea lions. I do not appose the ideas of watching rescued animals, those that CANNOT be returned, but feeding them dead fish and putting them into a tank with many other (Lots more!) sea lions and seals to dominate, that's just wrong, there is just no excuse for that! Many people have no knowledge for sea lions, they are very under known by man in their aquariums and that is why their skills are not used. Sea lions in actual fact are very social animals that have tight close relationships with their mates and kin. Many seals and sea lions spend years, or even decades mating with the same partner. Sea lions spend hours a day swimming in the cold waters of the Antarctic, but when put into parks to be exploited they are placed into small tanks (hardly ever are seals and sea lions are placed into big tanks on their own, even when they are in big tanks they have to spend a frustrating time with other mammals like dolphins and also seals or sea lions. Seals and Sea lions are two completely different species, another thing under knowledge by man) If you have ever seen a sea lion or seal show you will know that they are used as clowns when they should be out in the wild with their mates, friends and pups.

Due to dolphins well matured temperament and their lovely smile they are aquariums biggest attractions, having to perform massive jumps through hoops and having to balance trainers on their noses. In one case a white sided dolphins nose was broken because a trainer had balanced on its nose. A dolphin can weigh as much as 200lb and the average man can weigh as much as 800lb, a man could crush a dolphin if he went too far. Dolphins have to jump as high as eight to nine feet in some parks, or in other extreme case, as much as 100 to 200 feet just to impress the crowd who whoop and cheer, but do the audience know that before this dolphin was taught this trick it would naturally jump in the wild anyway? Did they know that that dolphin was starved to perform such an idiotic trick? Probably NOT!

There are solutions to aquariums,

1. DON'T BUY A TICKET! Putting down your money on their booth is going to insure a dolphins, an orcas, a sharks or any other animals nightmares to continue.

2. Educate Others. Spending the time to share a little respect to these animals and talking to a friend about them is the second best thing to do. 

3. Write letters to people who own aquariums. Thanks to a youth society called 'Lolita's Legion' Kodak Film no longer support Miami Seaquarium and with that little money is being given to the prison and now they are suffering! 

4. Write a project about animals in entertainment. Writing and doing speeches on entertainment issues is a great way to stop abuse

These are the best ways to get active about animals in entertainment, if you need any help on doing a project on aquariums please email Stephanie at either Veggie_Roxs@Hotmail.com and headline it Stephanie or you can email her personally at Blue_Dolphin88@MSN.com. Stephanie is the best one to contact about Sea World and things like that because she has studied captivity for nearly five years and is well educated on the subject.

Note: I would like to personally thank all of those who have aloud me to use their pictures. Please have a look at the links to find out more about captivity.