The Next Generation Doesn’t Have to Repeat Our Mistakes

We grow up within the cultural context that describes our times.  The lens through which we learn to view the world is essential to shaping the values we’ll carry with us into our adult lives.  I feel fortunate that I’ve had the benefit of an education which conveyed to me not only a respect for other species, but also the ability to empathize with them.  This was a gift I’ll always be grateful for, and I hope that I can be worthy of it in the ways I choose to live.  I believe that my life’s journey is greatly enriched by sharing the experience with kindred spirits in the animal kingdom.

Perhaps I’m simply lucky that such values were much more engrained in the lessons I was absorbing as a child than what my Dad relates to me was the case in his youth.  He’s told me a number of times how he would go see dolphins in captivity – many times when living close to West Edmonton Mall in the late 1980s, and later when visiting the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas in the early 2000s.  Times have changed, and though there are no longer captive dolphins in Alberta (and thanks to Bill S-203 never will be again) but the ones in Vegas are still there.  Like most of the people who still flock to these morally bankrupt attractions, he described being filled with wonder and admiration for these obviously magnificent creatures.  

He remembers asking an employee  at the Mirage whether it was true that captive dolphins live only half as long as those in the wild.  So the seeds of doubt must have been planted somewhere along the way, it would seem.  (She lied in her answer, in case you’re wondering.  And she had to know by then that it was a lie.)  But he hadn’t yet taken the trouble to follow up on these suspicions, and to learn what really had to take place behind the scenes in order for those dolphins to appear in those tanks.  Or what the experience of being held there was really like for them.  An experience, he later realized to his horror, that he had helped make possible by handing over to their captors the price of admission to the show.

Then came Blackfish, and The Cove, and his shock at the cruelty of it all.  Followed by his efforts to educate himself about the truth.  I have the benefit of that knowledge now.  Because he did the work then, I’ll never need to feel the regret of learning the scale of injustice and lack of compassion I would have been supporting had I ever purchased a ticket from the owners of The Mirage, or SeaWorld, or any other of these moral monstrosities who bill themselves as entertainment.  

We can do much better by our children by presenting them with a more positive vision of our world.  One which is inclusive, and where no one group retains the right to dominate over others and, as in this case, profit from their exploitation.  Among the invaluable tools we possess in this regard are the books we read to our children.

So meet Debbie Bailey, Children’s Author & Orca Advocate.

The mission of her website is to “create a safe place for Adults and Children alike to learn about Orcas:  both real Orcas, and the Orcas in [her] Children’s Books”.   She has loved these animals since she was a child, and recounts her memories of meeting Shamu, among the first orcas captured and forced into a life of entertaining people.  

“Shamu had a powerful impact on me. She was still all alone when I met her in 1968, and we spent time together in her small round viewing pen in between her shows. Shamu would make these terrible sounds on many occasions, and I knew she was unhappy. There was nothing I could do to help her but visit and keep her company. Shamu died in August of 1971, and I’ve never forgotten her.“

Debbie describes her ultimate goal as being to “entertain, educate, and engage both adults and children to rethink their opinions about all Marine Parks”.   Contrast that with the trainers at Mirage’s Dolphin Habitat, who regularly host school groups where children are told that the circus-style tricks the dolphins perform are “natural behaviors.”   This is lying to children in a most callous and self-serving way.  Setting them up to be future attendees at the dolphin show, unaware that their patronage is costing someone their liberty, and dramatically shortening their life.  

Debbie Bailey offers us a potent antidote – one that will help us to one day end this charade.  

Orion & The Orcas is a children’s book series about an 8 year old girl who is rescued by a family of orcas and has many adventures with them, learning a valuable lesson along the way.  The 3rd book in the series – Escape From Ocean Land – centers on the wish of many around the world to see orcas retired back into the wild, or to seaside sanctuaries.  Put in simple terms children will understand, the message that the captivity of these highly intelligent, social and family oriented animals is wrong is unmistakable.  And of course there is also a clear message that we need to get our oceans cleaned up. 

“My hope is that we see the end of the Captivity of these beautiful mammals, free from concrete tanks around the world. I do not know if this can be achieved in my lifetime, but have all faith in our children. They are the future, and our hope. THE MORE OUR CHILDREN KNOW: THE MORE THEY WON’T WANT TO GO! Thank you for your support.”

After all, once we’ve arrived at a proper understanding of the true nature of these complex, sophisticated and beautiful beings – when we really begin to grasp what the experience of captivity is truly like for them – we will be offended by the very idea of confining them to tiny, concrete show pools.  Our world will look very different once we’ve come to recognize this.  It will be much kinder, and there will be more justice in our relationships to one another, and to the other species that inhabit our world.  A world I look forward to living in.  

Debbie Bailey is a children’s author and orca advocate who helps move us closer to that vision.  

Debbie Bailey Orion and the Orcas

For The Orca’s Voice, 

Dani, Canadian Cetacean Alliance