• Academic Homepage
    • Educational Development Portfolio
      • Statement of Educational Development Philosophy
      • Artifacts and Evidence
    • Teaching Dossier
      • Statement of Teaching Philosophy
    • Multiple Acts of Birding: PhD Research

Gavan P.L. Watson

A website proudly muddying the line between my private and public persona.

dolphin

A crystallizing moment?

July 13, 2010 by Gavan Leave a Comment

OK, I should be editing my dissertation at this very moment, but I came across videos of an event on July 4th, 2010 at Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, Japan, that I need to share. I found it to be disturbing, as a warning.

There is no doubt in my mind, especially seeing an event like this, that having cetaceans in captivity is not what ought to be done. What is fascinating, however, is to see the reactions of the other companion Dolphins and False Killer Whales. At 1:00 of the footage, the cetaceans watch (I hear echo-locating going on too, but it would be hard to determine from a video like this which of the cetaceans were making the noise) their companion through the pool’s glass enclosure.

I watch this and it makes me sick to my stomach. In part, because I feel deeply empathetic for that whale. Falling out of a pool can’t be enjoyable. While many shows like this one include the cetaceans “gliding out” of the water, the mammals do this on their stomach and are still can get themselves back into the water. Here, the False Killer Whale has no ability to do that. Imagining what that whale is thinking lying there on the concrete is overwhelming.

But it is interesting to hear the crowd’s reaction in the following clip:

As I watched this for the first time, I thought (always the researcher), “Boy, this would be a rich source of data if you could interview these people.” I wondered if this would be some kind of ethically crystallizing moment where a new perspective about whales in captivity could erupt—literally. As you listen to the reactions of the crowd, I hear gasps and giggles. More than anything, perhaps, this event simply reinforced people’s perspectives on whales—there to entertain or as innocent natural objects (or something else). That could be an interesting research question.

Posted in: Animals Tagged: aquarium, dolphin, ethics, false killer whale

About me

Gavan Watson headshot Work life? Director, Centre for Innovation in Teaching and Learning & Associate Vice President, Teaching and Learning at Memorial University with a Ph.D. in environmental education. Home life? Father, naturalist, photographer, husband, philosopher, & member of a hybrid human-dog pack.

Latest tweets

My Tweets

Three Teaching Things

Add your email below and subscribe to an email newsletter I author.

Flickr Photos

At the eastern edgeGolden light on Topsial BeachWinter light on the Topsail BluffsVOR-DMEFrost brocadeFirst freeze
More Photos

Keyword Cloud

Academia Academic Alaska birders Birding Birds blog Conference cupe 3903 Dissertation Environmental Education ethics Flickr goals handwriting higher ed house sparrow How-to learning map migration Natural History Nature note taking ontario photograph Photography presentation reflection research Review rondeau solution spring strike Support Teaching teaching assistants Technology Toronto twitter upgrade wordpress york strike york university

Archives

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Copyright © 2021 Gavan P.L. Watson.

Omega WordPress Theme by ThemeHall