Being the brilliant person I am, I realized this morning "Hey! I'm already awake, today would be a great day to go see the baby panda!" Of course, by the time I realize this, it's already 8:45. I hadn't showered yet and my camera batteries were uncharged. The zoo opens at 9. While I could probably get to the zoo by 9 (and thus arrive early enough to avoid the gigantic line to see the baby), I would have a dead camera and I'd smell like crap. So I scratched that idea and went back to being lazy.

Added a new icon! Made it awhile back. Some people here have already seen it elsewhere, but just thought I'd add it here, too. And I made a new LJ header last night! Since I seem to have icon and header ADD, it's back to Fantasmic now. Just a little quick-n-dirty Photoshop job I threw together in about 10 minutes.

Speaking of Disneyland, for those who haven't heard: Bengal BBQ is closing! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!! I just can't believe they're doing that! I mean, it's incredibly popular. There's a line there like 24 hours a day. It's one of the greatest passholder traditions of the park! I'd imagine it's a BIG money-maker, too. Between the popuarity and the fact that they charge you up the wazoo for a few pieces of meat on a stick, I'm surprised they're not keeping it simply for the cash. I think they only way they could stab fans through the heart more would be to take away the churros. (NOTE: Mr. Ouimet, please do not take that as a suggestion! *mourns for the already-lost strawberry churros*)

At about 6 this morning, I got a craving for Taco Bell. I was good, though, and waited til dinnertime to go. Also made a pitstop at Vons, and seeing the Disneyland tickets for sale there reminded me... When I was back up in WA, we were at Safeway when I saw you could buy Disneyland tickets at the checkout lines there. WTF? in Seattle?! I can just imagine the scene now:
"Dammit! I forgot to buy the Disneyland tickets again! That's what happens when I don't bring a list. I've forgotten to buy those tickets for the last three trips. It's going to be such a hassle now. I'm going to have to drive 1100 miles to buy them at the park entrance now."

And while I don't normally make such LJ long rants about personal opinions, recent events in the killer whale world have really piled up to touch off this one...

So Kandu VII died at Marineland Canada on December 21, and the word is just now getting out. I have to say, I'm absolutely stunned at that. I was just thinking about him the other day. He was so incredibly beautiful (god, I'm such a sucker for those huge adult male pecs), and I was just thinking how wonderful it would be to see him in person. That's not gonna happen now.

But that's the ninth killer whale death (plus two miscarriages) at MLC since '98. They have only three surviving whales. What are they doing so wrong? That kind of statistic looks like it belongs in the 60s or 70s, back when we didn't know how to care for killer whales. Not the present. It's disgusting. I have no doubt that the trainers love and care for them very much, but obviously there's a bigger animal care problem going on here.

Death Stats from Orca Home for MLC:
-miscarriage (winter 01/02)
-miscarriage (July '04)
-April (May '04 - lived 1 month)
-Algonquin (August '02 - lived 2.5 years)
-Hudson (October '04 - lived 6 years)
-unnamed (June '98 - lived 11 days)
-Nova (August '01 - lived 4.5 years)
-Malik (March '00 - lived 4 years)
-Kanuck ('98 - 4 years)
-Neocia (August '04 - 12 years)
-Kandu VII (Dec '05 - 21 years)

I will give them the benefit of the doubt on Malik, because she was reportedly sickly from birth, and would not have even survived without constant medication. But these are NOT acceptable life spans. They aren't even typical marine park lifespans. When you look at the female whales of the Northwest that are topping 80 years old, and then look at how many of MLC's whales don't even make it past 10, it's disgusting.

It kind of brings me a to a larger rant on killer whales (and hell, all dolphins) in captivity in general. For those who are relatively new to my LJ, I am pro-captivity. In fact, I spent my life dreaming of having the chance to work with captive killer whales, to interact with them on a daily basis. Those who knew me back during my freshman year of college might remember the countless days I spent at SeaWorld, just hanging out at Shamu Close Up, watching the whales and running and playing with them when they were so inclined. I was there at least once a week, taking photos by the dozen, and just relaxing in their presence.

Now... I haven't been to play in the park since September, and even then, my time with the killer whales was fleeting. It's the direction that the whole industry has taken that disgusts me. When Ted Griffin set out to capture a killer whale in the 60s, he wanted to send the public a message: orcas are not mindless killing machines. He wanted to show the world that the killer whale was an intelligent creature worthy of our respect and admiration. He wanted to stop the machine guns that were being mounted along the straits in British Columbia in preparation for the wholesale slaughter of killer whales. And you know what? He did it. He and Namu turned the tides of public opinion. I shudder to think how much more the Northern and Southern resident pods would have been decimated if those machine guns had been used. (Although admittedly, the capture industry in full swing did some heavy damage to population levels itself)

Unfortunately, his plan backfired. It's not about educating the public anymore, no matter what the marine parks may say. It's about entertaining people, and making money. For awhile, they made half-hearted attempts to include real education. Back when the Shamu Adventure first premiered in its un-butchered form, there was beautiful footage, great educational moments... I really loved the segments on hunting, because it's something that people don't think about or want to think about in their cuddly image of killer whales. That segment was cut up due to public sentiment - although I'm still stumped as to why the footage of the Argentinian whales catching and flinging seals on the beach was okay with people, but the dainty plucking of a penguin from the kelp was too much. Some of the footage is still there, but the message is lost. Over the years, the show and its accompanying message has been cut to nothing but an excuse to show off the whales.

Which brings me to my thoughts on Believe. No, not the Disneyland fireworks show, although I'm amused that they'll share a name (and my feeling that SeaWorld is taking a page from Disney's book and trying to evoke "magical" feelings everywhere, but that's a rant for another time). The new Shamu show that's premiering this spring. During my stint at SeaWorld, I saw the concept art. I saw the models of the stage, heard the pitches from the execs. And as time wears on, I see my greatest fear coming to pass: it seems like there will be no education to it whatsoever. It will be simply a stun-you-with-our-cool-tricks (yes, animal people, I am deliberately avoiding the use of the word "behaviors" here) and dazzle-you-with-our-pretty-ballets show. From a purely theatrical perspective, that's great. Good on ya, it'll be fun to watch.

However, that's completely missing the point. Why are these animals in our care in the first place? Ted Griffin wanted to teach the world to respect these animals. How do we respect that which we turn into nothing but a theatrical spectacle? I am reminded of the "Whale of a Business" show that aired on PBS many years ago. The image of Ted Griffin holding back tears as he talked about his history in the killer whale capture industry and the mess that it's become will never leave my mind. The man who started it all, now wallowing in regret over what it had become.

I'm not saying that I'm going to pull my support for the captive industry all together. I still consider myself pro-captivity... but not in its current state. If there's killer whale shows out there that are still geared towards education, thank you to them, and it's those kind of shows that I support. And I'm certainly not against theatrical spectacle - that really captures peoples' attention! If they could create a spectacular show that managed to clearly convey and feature messages of conservation, I'd be ecstatic. Because that is where the captive killer whale industry has its roots: in teaching the world to love and respect the most beautiful, majestic creatures that have ever graced the Earth.

"In the end, we will conserve only what we love.
We will love only what we understand.
We will understand only what we are taught."
-Baba Dioum


My baby, L-57. Don't know where the photo came from - my apologies