Angels of the Sea Must be Free

Yes, I am an active Sea World Protestor... as long as active means that I never go there and any time any of my friends go there, I try to talk them out of it. I do not, however, post up in front of Sea World with signs... but I probably would if there was a rally :)

So, one summer, my family and I innocently went on a dolphin tour in Corpus Christi called the Dolphin Encounter. It is given by two University of North Texas marine biologists who have followed the same pod of dolphins for over ten years (probably twenty by now.) Anyway, they happily informed me of all of the horrors of Sea World, and they didnt have great things to say about the Texas State Aquarium either. They sold me a T-shirt that said Angels of the Sea Must be Free, and it stuck!

Dolphins, apparently, are one of the few animals that do not breathe involuntarily. They have to actually cut off one side of their brain at a time to "sleep" so that they will still breathe. They are also very social, and live thier whole lives in these pods of dolphins and stay with the same family. When they get separated from their pods and placed into captivity, they actually become depressed. This is why the first thing Sea World teaches them to do is to lift their tails to receive antidepressant injections! The unfortunate thing is, it doesn't actually make them not depressed, it just keeps them from shutting off both sides of their brain. Essentially, this keeps them from committing dolphin suicide. Instead, they will do things like try to beach themselves, or run into the concrete walls.

There is also the issue of the chlorine that keeps the salt water clear, is an irritant to the natural lining of the dolphins' skin. It also deteriorates the mucus lining that covers their eyes.

There are interesting studies on the lack of reproduction of dolphins in captivity. The very few that do breed (because they are depressed), the babies die because they have no exposure to natural bacteria and have a weakened immune system. So, I am sure you can infer that all dolphins that are in captivity have been CAPTURED from the wild. All of them. Most of them are captured in the Pacific near the Asian coast, because it is highly illegal in the U.S. (to capture, not to buy), so Sea World pays thousands of dollars for each dolphin, and when one dies, an order is placed for another one. How sweet.

So, PLEASE reconsider before going to Sea World! I know that it is a fun experience to see the marine life, but at what cost are you willing to see them? If you want to see a killer whale, or a family of dolphins, go take a tour on a boat and see them in the wild! They are much more beautiful in their natural habitat!