Shamu drags trainer underwater....

[letterboy]

Oh, Lord.... let's not even start that thought!

I could have said something like: we all came from the same apes right

 

[sharkattack]

How do you know it's a good life for them?

Well if it were not, they would leave. Are your really going to compare two cats and a dog to Gorillas boxed in with 2 way glass during the day and caged at night? Or KW's and dolphins penned into cement pools not much bigger than themselves. Lets talk about Great Whites. Seems everyone they have scooped up from the ocean and put in a tank out her in Ca has died. Go figure.

Now I am not saying we should take all these animals and just set them free in the wild. I just think they should stop catching them for display and shows.

 

[letterboy]

OK sounds good to me

 

[sharkattack]

Just for the record, I am not some tree hugging, granola eating, earth 1st, eco terrorist. I eat red meat, drive gross poluting hot rods, and love the scuba. I don't have a lot of feelings. In fact the wife will agree I have only a feeling.

 

[sharkattack]

So what would we catch them for?

you tell me.

 

[erparamedic]

"Catching them for shows" is just a very small part of what they are in captivity for. In doing shows and such, we are learning about their communication, ability to learn, ability to comprehend, etc, etc. There are many reasons why animals are in captivity, and shows are just a "biproduct" of that. Yes, zoos and theme parks with animals/marine life raise hordes of money... but that money (or a large part of it anyway) goes right back into education and conservation. Which will better all of our lives in the long run.

Oh... and I'm not a tree hugger or eco-terrorist either!

 

[letterboy]

you tell me.

Personally I have no problems with Zoo's and aquariums, they are not a place I go visit, but I have no problems with them.

I also have no problem with fishing tourney's that when the sea animal is caught it is weighed for the competition and than dissected to find out about the animals.

 

[erparamedic]

I'll be diving in an aquarium in 10 days.... and I'm very excited about that. And, the money that it costs to dive the aquarium is used to fund conservation efforts. Will I think of the sharks and rays, etc. as aquarium pets? Of course not. They're still wild and should be treated as such.

 

[sharkattack]

"Catching them for shows" is just a very small part of what they are in captivity for. In doing shows and such, we are learning about their communication, ability to learn, ability to comprehend, etc, etc. There are many reasons why animals are in captivity, and shows are just a "biproduct" of that. Yes, zoos and theme parks with animals/marine life raise hordes of money... but that money (or a large part of it anyway) goes right back into education and conservation. Which will better all of our lives in the long run.

Oh... and I'm not a tree hugger or eco-terrorist either!

I would think we have learned more from animals by observing them in the wild than we could ever have learned from them in captivity. I know I have. I don't mean just by diving but from educational shows.

 

[sharkattack]

I'll be diving in an aquarium in 10 days.... and I'm very excited about that. And, the money that it costs to dive the aquarium is used to fund conservation efforts. Will I think of the sharks and rays, etc. as aquarium pets? Of course not. They're still wild and should be treated as such.

Sounds neat. I myself will be doing my IEC this weekend with my wife. Then the following weekend we have Deco planned for Friday at Point Lobos then just a fun dive on Sunday. Then teaching a class the weekend after that.