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.
You mean like this? http://vimeo.com/7784773 Very corny, dated and fraught with errors but I think it's what you're talking about. Partially covers the first 5 years of 25.
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 world's ocean's (where dolphins live) could easily accommodate 7 billion visitors though it's a lame argument as not everyone would care to make the trip. In any case You're making my earlier point which is that the (sur)reality of a dolphinarium is so far removed from every true aspect of any wild dolphin's actual life that its counter-educatonal. A dolphin show is a circus - hardly an exalted educational affair because the prized "experience" you're alluding to is so artificial and misleading that it's a lie, as are the resulting perceptions. I fail to see how learning that dolphins can be induced to do cartwheels and backflips for extra sardines is going to help save them anymore than old reruns of Flipper or Free Willy.
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.
I just happen to know a little bit about this.
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.
You're saying there were no videos on whaling or dolphin drive fisheries but the dolphins are the key to saving the Chesapeake? Right... Just how many dolphins actually live in the Chesapeake? Zero. Other than infrequent trips to forage they are rarely seen beyond the mouth of the Bay. That's like rationalizing captive elephants to save the redwoods.
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.
I think I understood you perfectly - they were your words not mine. And a stranded turtle with a brain the size of a lentil is a bit different than a dolphin (bottlenose - captive of choice) with a brain bigger than yours, or do you still not see the difference?.
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.
You are so talking out of the wrong orifice with zero experience to back up any of this and even less in the way of scientific literature to support your "position". I've known most of the pre-eminent dolphin researchers of the last 30 years and none of them studies "acrobatics" as a means of demystifying dolphins. The only real research that has ever been done or that can be done on dolphins in captivity (that control you mention skews everything) is on pathology - as in what kills them. Sea World and their ilk know more about that than anybody.
Believe whatsoever you wish, but until you actually have some real-world experience relating to public policy reforms and wild dolphins, you might consider the possibility that you're just engaging in lot of wishful thinking and practicing what's known as a reverse hypothesis - arranging the"facts" to fit your desired conclusions. With very very few exceptions, the real saviors of wildlife and species do not work in zoological parks or aquaria - they're in the field where it matters, or legislatures or international conservation fora, not perpetuating myths about the relevance of captive animals to conservation dynamics that hardly benefit a whit from the existence of gussied-up theme parks, swim-with programs or pseudo-educational venues.
When I was young I wanted nothing so much as to be a zookeeper one day, but the truth is that most of them serve people, not animals or their habitats, and nowhere is this more true than with dolphins. Cheers.
, i ordered another mammal im more familiar with, cow! ...just saying
