Did you know there is such a thing as National Shamu the Whale Day? Celebrated every September 26, Shamu the Whale Day started in 1985 to mark the birthday of the first surviving Baby Shamu born in captivity. Clearly things have changed a lot since 1985. Rather than celebrating captive breeding, the day has now become a flash point for anti-captivity activists. I came across this holiday on one of those “did you know, fun days to celebrate” lists that make the rounds online, and the subject and origin story really struck me.
In 1985, I was 6 years old. I was completely obsessed with whales and dolphins of every sort – especially orca. I had books and pictures and stuffed animals. I traced pictures out of the books (some of which I still have) with my pencils. I talked about becoming a marine biologist when I grew up. (I didn’t.) And my parents took me to Sea World. Actually, we went to Sea World a number of times over those next few years. My aunt and uncle lived right outside Orlando making their house a popular summer stop for easy access to Disney World. We went there too – once. But it was soon clear that I would much prefer to go to Sea World than Disney World. Seeing those creatures delighted, thrilled and amazed me, so Sea World was the destination of choice.
Today, I can only see the profound sadness and horror in confining these magnificent creatures in places like that. As an adult, the first time my husband and I made it to the Pacific Northwest, we had the opportunity to take a boat into the San Juan Islands to see the resident orca there. It was a lifelong dream come true for me to see orca in the wild and was one of the most exhilarating, awe-inspiring and memorable days of my life. When I came across National Shamu the Whale Day, I couldn’t help but start thinking again about those childhood trips to Sea World. Defenders of Sea World and places like it extol the educational benefits that it provides. By making it accessible for people to witness and even interact with these fantastic animals, they can teach and engender genuine interest in the animals and conservation efforts.
On the surface, my childhood experiences would testify that there’s something real in this assertion. The encounters at Sea World fed my imagination like nothing else. Certainly, to have seen orca in the wild then would have been nirvana. But that wasn’t something that was on the table for my family (or many others). While I didn’t ultimately become a marine biologist, I have sustained a lifelong interest in the world of the ocean and its inhabitants. And I have followed and supported research and conservation causes throughout my adult life. So does that make them right? Does that make the sacrifice of the few a noble cause in the name of the greater good? As a child, I was completely enamored. But I was a child, and not able to understand the depths of what I was experiencing within the confines of those tanks. On the surface, it was a fun and splashy show.
Now, as an adult, it seems to me a great testament to the arrogance with which the human race treats our natural world and the creatures great and small with whom we share it. Do we love them? Or do we just love containing them, dominating them, bending them to our own will and interest whatever the consequences? We make them small to make ourselves large. Captive parks don’t teach children to value these animals or to treat them with the respect and decency we owe to our fellow creatures. Instead, they teach children that all the splendors of creation exist at our pleasure and for our entertainment. They gratify the modern ego with tangible demonstration of mankind’s ability to break and subjugate. In doing so, we do ourselves and our children a great disservice. We rob them of the true greatness and wonder of this world. We teach them that whatever they like, they can take and do with as they will. We take away any reverence for the sacred and innate value of any and every life. We lull them into indifferent ignorance of the importance of respecting the wild nature of this Earth and the delicate balance that sustains our very world. An existence so callous is not an education. It’s heartbreaking. We all deserve better.
