And yet you went there and it made so little impression on you that you thought of them as fish. Obviously very educational. And you saw them performing unnatural behaviors in an unnatural environment with what you assume to be a permanent smile on their faces and now you think you know something about dolphins, their families, their way of life, the way they live, thrive and survive in an environment that is otherwise hostile to mammalian life. Right.
I have no idea why you would use the Vietnam War as an example/vehicle for the idea of hidden beauty within things one cannot normally see. But if you mean that cinema or video can catalyze caring or concern, I agree, and as such will ever support nature documentaries and maintain they are more than adequate and in every way superior to dolphinariums as a mean of educating the public and generating support for marine protection.
The Vietnam War was far from beautiful. However, the photography and film showed the world what was actually happening. The reality shown in the video and images had an effect that rallied many American citizens into protest. In turn, eventually the American Government reversed it's previous aggressive actions. People are generally visual learners. If we see what is going on then we can act on it. Just like video evidence recorded by unnamed people showing the horrible actions from whalers and poachers.
However, in my experience, although a documentary is informative (assuming it's quality of course) they don't hit home as hard as personal experience. Also, documentaries are biased (that's the point of them) so they will give a skewed interpretation on the reality. Now I think you'll agree with me, having nearly 7 billion citizens of the planet Earth all exploring the Cheseapeake Bay Watershed would cause more harm than good so why not bring them something they can explore. Better yet, why not make a hub where we can catch a small, artificial glimpse into even other worlds. Sure it's not as great as visiting the Great Barrier Reef but it's a lot less destructive than having millions of people visiting the GBR is it not? Visiting a location like the Baltimore Aquarium is like watching a documentary in person. You gain the emotion and excitement from personal experience while not straining the system you're learning about. These institutions are biased like documentaries but provide the inspiration that can make a difference.
The atrocities from whaling and poaching can not be stopped without a strong public effort. In order to gain this backing the public needs to be educated fully on what is going on. For example, at the Baltimore Aquarium, during the dolphin show, multiple videos play explaining the current environmental problems the Chesapeake Watershed is facing due to pollution, overfishing, development, and the introduction of invasive species. I'm not sure about you but the most apparent one of these to me is pollution. Whether I am walking around the Inner Harbor or driving down the highway on I-495 I see human-made artifacts polluting the environment. I can't pick up all the trash in the world but with the public's backing we can reduce the amount of waste that enters the watershed directly.
As for you saying I think dolphins are fish you clearly misunderstood. I was talking in general. Most people associate fish with aquariums. Also at the aquarium are turtles like Calypso, the rescued Green Sea Turtle that had to have an emergency amputation of one of her front flippers. She would not have survived if it was not for the Baltimore Aquarium's programs intervention. She would not survive in the wild and quite frankly I believe it would be cruel to let her struggle.
The dolphin show is artificial but does show pieces of natural behavior. In the wild, as you know, dolphins are incredibly acrobatic. These acrobatics may be used as a form of communication. Studying the animals in the wild can tell us lots but it's also much more difficult to get a closer look. Also, there are many variables we can't control in nature. By isolating the system we can control much more.
