The Big Business of Dolphins
Part Two of our Feature: Dolphins and People
Last week, we looked at the amazing intelligence of dolphins, their self-awareness, their society and their culture.
We also looked at the nature of “personhood” – what gives someone certain legal rights as a “person”, and how, by every one of those criteria, dolphins qualify as “persons.”
In Part Two, we look at the big business of dolphins, and how they’re being exploited by unscrupulous companies in exactly the same way that whole categories of humans – women, black people, children – have been denied personhood at various times in our history.
Today, a revolution is under way that will most likely lead to the end of keeping dolphins in captivity for entertainment and research. There’s much work to be done, but the big businesses like SeaWorld already know that the writing is on the wall.
In many ways, the revolution began with the release of a movie in 1993. Free Willy captured hearts and minds, and led to the release of the orca who played him in the movie.
Next: The Movie that Launched a Revolution
Part Two of three:
The Big Business of Dolphins
(See also Part One: The Smartest of Us All?)
The Business of Dolphins
How they’re exploited by unscrupulous companies.
The Movie that Launched a Revolution
At SeaWorld, Free Willy has never been anyone’s favorite movie!
The Real Story: Freeing Keiko
The first orca to be returned to the wild.
Ric O’Barry: From Flipper to The Cove
Once a dolphin trainer; now their biggest protector.
Tilikum: The Slave Who Fought Back
He killed his trainer – Was it really an accident?
Life and Death at SeaWorld
How Tilikum is faring.
The Drive Hunts
Capture a few, kill the rest.
Interviews & Reports
"Don’t Buy a Ticket!”
Interview with Ric O’Barry.
More about Ric O’Barry
From the Earth Island Journal.
The “Spartacus” of whales
Alexander Cockburn on Tilikum’s rebellion.
My Visit to SeaWorld
At “the scene of the crime.”
A Whale of a Business
The PBS special report
The Cove
The Oscar-winning movie
COMING NEXT WEEK: Part Three: Saving the Dolphins.
See also Part One: The Smartest of Us All?
Posted September 15, 2010, by MichaelMountain
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