The oil spill in the Gulf upsets me, though I’m ashamed to admit, sometimes I forget. Living in So Cal, I don’t see daily reminders of the devastation down there. But when I flip on the TV or seek out updates online, I’m reminded of the awfulness of the situation and how the people living on the gulf coast don’t have the luxury of forgetting about their oil-slicked shores.
After seeing some particularly disgusting images, I couldn’t help but think of the time I went to San Diego for a week when I was eight. It was pretty much the only family vacation I ever remember going on where we stayed overnight and it featured my first trip to SeaWorld.
On a side note, when I asked my dad what the difference was between a motel and hotel he said that a motel was nicer and that’s why we were staying in one. ::grin:: Ah, parental white lies.
Most of the trip is lost to wispy memory now, but I do recall a few vivid details. For instance, I was dressed identical to my mother: over-sized sunglasses, black tank top and white bicycle shorts with black flowers–hey, don’t judge.
But what stands out the most from that day was the moment we approached the dolphin tank. There was a round tank in the middle of the walkway. I believe it was connected underground to a larger tank (at least I hope it was!) and you could walk up very close and see dolphins swimming around. I was fascinated by their shiny skin and graceful tails swishing.
Then, out of nowhere, a dolphin emerged from the water. He (I say he because his actions befitted a little boy’s playground antics) turned to one side with his head out of the water. One fin extended up as if to wave. Then he slammed it down onto the water’s surface, sending a huge wave right onto my small frame. I was soaked. And before the dolphin plunged back into the water, he paused, looked at me with those black glassy eyes and laughed.
I’m dead serious. That dolphin laughed at me.
He thought splashing me was pretty damn funny and because of his bold attitude I never forgot him.
So what on earth does this memory have to do with the oil spill to end all oil spills? Sorry people, this is about to get serious.
To say I was greatly upset when I saw images of dead dolphins floating to the water’s surface in the Gulf, and a man carrying a baby dolphin out of the foam, only to learn it died later, would be an understatement. Photos that don’t seem to make it to the nightly news of animal carcasses and workers covered in oil also disturb.
I don’t know how people can go from day to day without acknowledging this issue. Or act as if it’s not a big deal. “Oh so some sea life dies, so what? We’ll be okay.” Where does this sort of passivity come from? Is it a natural reaction when faced with issues that are too big to comprehend? Or does it stem from the seemingly acceptable apathy that runs rampant in our society?
People that don’t at least want to clean off pelicans, sea turtles or even those poor dolphins, dumbfound me. What kind of people are these? If I had money, I’d like to think that I’d attempt to go down there and try to do something (despite BP’s desperate attempts to prevent anything from getting done).
I can understand people feeling powerless, but those who don’t care at all baffle me.
But maybe I’m just biased. I mean, a dolphin pretty much made fun of me once. How many people can say that? In my opinion, a creature capable of that sort of tomfoolery doesn’t deserve such a devastating fate. Nor do any of those sea mammal’s fishy friends. Pardon me if that’s hippie dippie, but it’s true.
Hahaha fun story! Dolphins are fun.
I actually posted about the spill today too! Check it out if you want, http://denwrites.com/2010/07/01/a-politicalartistic-post-against-oil-spills/
Great post! 🙂
Great story. I’ve had days like that… And i’ll never go back to SeaWorld again…
It really hurts to see those lovely creatures die of people’s wealth seeking.. Shame on BP for this!!
It is so horrible what has happened and extremely frustrating!
http://www.wutevs.wordpress.com
hi Brenda,
no you are not a hippie dippie, people who don’t feel that way don’t belong in this Blue Planet. whether the cover the sea with their priceless oil or not , if they damage the chain then we the human race would be hit. we are at the top of the food chain . any damage to the structure below the chain would collapse the whole building.
i mean if we melt the snow then New York would be under the sea due the resultant rise in the sea level.
if we pollute the atmosphere with our CFC’s the we drill a hole in the Ozone which would fry us like a Fish in a frying pan.
and all of these indirectly affect us.
happy to hear a good soul exists.
yours,
vignesh
False. Being at the top of the food chain means that we can sustain damage to organisms which are below us and still survive. This oil spill has had no impact on crops, no impact on cattle, and barely any impact on fishing (sports fish yes, edible fish no).
Sure, it destroyed habitat. Oil spills happen. Before you complain about people’s “priceless oil” I ask you to try living a few years without plastics, and without vehicles of any kind (which means no shipping and having to walk everywhere- because bikes also require lubrication and tires could not be manufactured without oil). I think you’d be begging for oil to make a comeback.
The question is whether BP avoided safety protocols in order to increase profit, or if it was simply an accident. If it is determined it was an accident, I’m filling up my tank with BP gas for the rest of the year.
Cheers <3
It’s all fine and well that we can survive without sea life, but that’s not the point. If we’re at the top of the food chain and capable of self-awareness (including what our actions do to other living things), don’t we have an obligation to preserve what we can? I think the people living the Gulf whose seafood restaurants will be closed because of this would disagree with you.
Oil spills happen, sure, but employing unsafe drilling practices knowingly is criminal.
Of course we need oil for plastics, vehicles, fuel and such, but just because we need it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t start trying to switch to more sustainable forms of fuel. After all, I like some plastic products and don’t want to face a day where they’re no more because we’ve burned all the oil as fuel.
No one is saying to get rid of all oil. But BP did avoid safety protocols. There is no question. There are numerous records of this (will post links soon). They cut corners to drill deeper and faster without regulation. They knew the risks and even knew the blow out preventer wasn’t fool proof. The fact of the matter is now the Gulf is filling with oil and because BP lied and never invested their billions of dollars in profits in safety or clean up technology, we’re faced with the largest environmental disaster ever.
And if you want to fill up on BP oil, go right ahead. You’re not hurting hippie dippie people like me any. Besides, all the the oil companies are the same. BP was just guilty of this week’s “accident.”
Dolphins are very clever creatures that have given happiness (such as your experience) to us…too bad we can’t return the favor.
http://lawyergal.wordpress.com/
That’s a fun memory! Have you read or watched The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy? It’s a great book, good movie because it for the most part holds true to the book.
The story begins with how dolphins aren’t actually from Earth, and they are Aliens. It’s really funny because they are such intelligent creatures, and this movie pokes fun at how they are just using us for fish.
Great post though. I live in Boston and I live close to the water but no oil spill here. We just have polluted streams, the charles river, and ocean from waste, not oil.
I’m hoping that because these animals in the ocean have lived through thousands of years, they will know for the most part out of instinct to stay away, but birds aren’t that lucky.
Makes me wish I could help.
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wow so funny 🙂
Oils spills and dolphins in tanks are both atrocious. We live in a disconnected world. http://tdaait.wordpress.com/2009/08/09/the-cove/
This is a wonderful post! *hugs* Do you mind if I repost it to mine and link back to you?
And I agree, its amazing how many people DON’T care about the oil spill.
Personally I keep my little marimo cellphone charm(its a ball-algae) to remind me there are good things in this world still, and this oil spill is killing TONS of sea(and other forms) life!
And to think MOST people only care because they won’t be able to eat said sea creatures anymore(shrimp for instance)
Whatever happened to not wanting them to die for the sake of not dieing!? They’re living too, it doesn’t matter if they die for an oil spill or peoples stomachs, they still die for money! They should be free of that!
The problem is that we all want to shove responsibility off on someone else. We don’t want to admit that all of us have played a part in the disaster in the Gulf, with our insatiable need for oil. It’s up to all of us to do our part to change, to consume fewer resources.
Dolphins have a great sense of humor. I’m not surprised that he laughed after he splashed you. I’ve seen dolphins, killer whales and seals all splash people who got too close to the tank and then seem to laugh at those people afterward.
Dolphins love us unconditionally even though they probably know it’s us that is destroying their world. I am trying to figure that out. Very nice post, thanks!
I completely agree with you. We humans have done a lot of damage to everything around us. Its time we feel responsible and do something before the situation goes out of hand.
P.S. Swimming with the dolphin must have been fun.
So true, yet so sad! When will they, or should I say we learn?
Will the Gulf ever recover? I don’t know. . .Great blog . . . my heart bleeds, when will the politicians get out of each others way and DO something???
Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
evelyngarone.wordpress.com
Wow! I’m overwhelmed by the response to this post! (Thank you WordPress gods for bestowing the Freshly Pressed gift unto me…)
Glad to hear so many people out there agree with me and at least wish they could do something.
squirrelsloveacorns: I have seen Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (and it’s on my to-read list) and I seriously had the “So long, thanks for all the fish” song in my head while writing this. At least the happy part of the post, anyway.
sakakikala: Go right ahead! I’m glad you enjoyed it and do something to remind yourself of what’s going on everyday. It’s sadly easy to forget. It is sad that some will only care because it’s loss of a food source. I feel bad for people who make a living fishing and who’s entire way of life is being stripped from them, though. That can’t be easy to deal with.
Evie Garone: It makes you feel so powerless, but it’s the people that don’t care at all that worry me. And thank you!
I guess the dolphins have been laughing at the human race for a looong time…check the whaling pics from Denmark
http://keenookevin.wordpress.com/2009/11/08/stop-killing-whales-and-dolphins/
I liked the innocent emotion in your blog…
zingzangbar@wordpress.com
i love this blog
some people tend to not care about any life but human life
it feel good to know that its still people out here who care about all of gods creations
good work
im going to subscribe to your blogs
when you can check me out
im only 18 so my blogs might not grab your attention but it will still be nice to feel the support
good work with your blogs
I guess it comes down to wether or not you care about being called a hippie or crunchy person.
I am ashamed to say that even I forget about this sometimes. I recently saw an eerily beautiful picture of the oil spill, looked like something on Jupiter. But then this is earth. That oil doesn’t belong on the ocean.
I read about the baby dolphin. Terribly sad.
Hi dear, your thinking is so prety you want to help the others and bring them up, try to do your best to help the otthers. if every body think like you this world can be more beatiful and attracting but any how dolphin pic was so lovely and i like it…….thanks
Hey Brenda,
Great heartfelt post. For me it’s a very sad commentary on what we’ve managed to do to our planet through over-consumption and greed.
It’s like we’re on a runaway train pushing everything out of the way to go after the big bucks. In this case a gushing money pit in the ocean, and if that ocean and all of the wildlife that depends upon it gets destroyed in the process, oh well, we’ll move on to the next ocean. It’s frightening.
Even though I am absolutely a hippie dippie, I feel powerless. I hate knowing that all those innocent creatures are suffering at man’s hand, we’re supposed to protect them! I sign every petition and appeal to the government. So many of us, and so many organizations are working hard to stop this abuse of our planet and wildlife, but the greed just keeps on steamrolling forward.
How do you stop runaway greed?
Thank you for your kind comments. I have no idea how we stop runaway greed. I feel powerless, too and being not exactly affluent, it’s hard to know where to even start. But I do know this much: it’s comforting that there are people that at least care and are upset by this unbelievable mess as much as I am!
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Loved this post 🙂
this is such a cute story! very well written 🙂
Dolphins are known to be one of the most intelligent living creatures. Also modern day scientists are trying to learn their means of communications.
Being that it sounds like you are a dolphin fan, I’m a little tentative to suggest a documentary (that won on Oscar), called The Cove. It is wonderfully written and beautifully done, but there are definite ‘sad’ points to it. I found it rather informative and as a citizen of the world who enjoys the pleasure of all beings, I felt it important to see what my fellow “man” are doing. I don’t expect everyone to take this viewpoint, but it comes highly recommended. 🙂
With Love and Gratitude,
The Intentional Sage
Thank you for the suggestion. I’m familiar with The Cove, though I’ve yet to see it. Though it pains me to see animals suffering, I think it’s important to see and to understand what’s going on in this world, so I’ll likely add it to the Netflix queue. =)
Thank you!
Nice story! yes, all the animals are suffering now,and sure you may hear their pain as I am hearing their voices. Also the people and their businesses are affected. What a drama!
Let me know when you have good news, thanks!
how are you hearing their voices?
The disaster is horrible in so many ways. All we can do is try to help out best we can
Totally agree, people can be quite selfish sometimes. We are all God’s creatures, all living beings. The sea animals have just as much rights as us to this Earth. We all make up this earth, people might not realize but without animals there prob won’t be humans. Like what they said about bees, if bees become extinct, human will soon after too.
Your post caught my eye because Dolphins are my favourite type of creatures, they are so clever, friendly and beautiful. I hope they will keep trying to minimize the aftermath of the oil spill…..
Great post. I live near enough to the Gulf side of FL that I feel compelled to try to help clean some animals at some point…. but praying it doesn’t affect us this far south.
Your post has encouraged/reminded me to make a serious effort to do that.
If we can each do something, no matter how small, we can make a difference.
Keep blogging!!
Covetousness is the mother of ruin and mischief.
Sometimes, we just can do nothing for them……I totally agree with you.
cute story…….
Great point. Agree with you. Good story.
Check out the movie The Cove… it’s pretty scary because of how Sea World obtains their dolphins. Wild creatures like dolphins need to be left out in the ocean in the wild, and being in captivity with Sonar messes with their brains and they get all these health problems.
The oil spill is upsetting because I volunteer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, THE BEST AQUARIUM in the world, and they sent a letter asking BP to use switches on their pipelines, which is a comment on how BP chooses to conduct business because it refuses to listen to the top aquarium in the world.
This reminds me of an experience I had this last December, when I visited family in Orlando Florida and visited Sea World … three times! I had never seen dolphins before and I always thought they were over-rated, lumped them together with rainbows and unicorns and other such silliness. Then I saw them for the first time, and I stopped dead in my tracks and stared. I was hooked. When I was standing there with my camera, suddenly the viewfinder filled with grey and everyone around me gasped. I put the camera away to find a dolphin had popped up right in front of me. He looked -exactly- like the picture you have here, smiling up at me like “hi!” I was frozen at first, then I realised he wasn’t going anywhere, almost like he was saying “hello? aren’t you going to say hi back?” So I did, and I reached out and stroked his cheek and chin for what felt like forever – and simultaneously like a fleeting second I -wish- were forever. The dolphin is now my absolute favourite creature on earth, no contest. The only article I’ve seen is the one you referenced where the guy carried the little dolphin out and she died. Made me cry, made me nauseous. I haven’t been able to watch anything since then.
Wow, your experience is even cooler than mine! They are so intelligent and it’s impossible not to feel awful anytime you see these creatures in distress. Ugh and then I saw new images of oil covered sea turtles today. Makes you want to throw your hands up.
nah…in the words of the late Douglas Adams..that dolphin was saying “Thanks for all the fish!”
heehee
This is so very true…also (random fact) the oil spill is pushing all the sharks to the shore…very scary! My parents & family live there..ugh. There was a story that a girl wrote she had somehow gotten behind the scene access to BP and she said that they had special codes for when government officials would come to check on what they were doing to clean up the oil spill…and they would act like they were working only to then go back to doing nothing. So terrible. These are the people who should be in jail!!!!
Thank you for raising the awareness.
They really should be in jail. Sadly, I don’t think that’s going to happen. As the oil pumps into the Gulf in perpetuity, we’re all left standing around and watching. I guess that’s what happens when corporations are tied up in the government–nothing will ever get done.
What a great childhood memory you have. What is happening at the Gulf is just horrible beyond words.
dolphins are really smart. i’m sure he splashed you on purpose. 🙂 the oil spill angers me also. not just because of the endangered species, because the media is lying to everyone about it, and in order to find the truth in this country you have to do outside research.
I am italian and I live in Florence. I don’t know if I have
well undesrtood your article about dolphin and petrol damage in USA. I don’t want make a process to anyboby, because we all are responsible of this situation. It is unusefull that persons, also very important, say pubblically
“It is my fault, the responsability is mine”. What does it mean? People will change this irresponsible way of life?
I don’t think so. In USA, principally, but almost in all the world now, the oly thing woth of this life is “MONEY”.
Men have now this idol, this God. And animals? Until the world exists they have been the victims, silent victims.
They cannot speak, but they laugh, like a dolphin did when you was a child. Animals love men and wemen, but we don’t love animals. It’s a great ipocrisy say: I love aninals
undestanding that I love cats and dogs. And what about cows, chickens, gorilla, tigers, lions, selvaggina?
An italian writer Curzio malaparte wrotw on his book “La PELLE” that at the end of this world ONLY animals will
save themselves. I think Malaparte was right.
Paolo Campidori – Cultura Mugellana
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I wish I’d go down there, too, to help. I’d take a brush and wash those poor animals if I could.
It’s ironic how large corporations can pull at both ends with disasters like these on one hand and CSR on the other, both at the same time. BP will probably do an AIDS campaign some years down the line and all it’s errors would be happily forgotten. Where responsibility replaces cleaning up.
Good post!
http://www.njaiswal.wordpress.com
funny childhood memory! hmn, what the oil spill is doing to sea life is upsetting.. i wish they’d be able to come up with a solution asap..
Nope, your not hippie dippie, your spot on. I’m right beside you, im dying to help but cant exactly run away from home and half way around the world can I? I wanted to help in Haiti too, but same sad story. I hate being young. 🙁 I know Ill regret it one day, but its how I feel now.
Jealous that you got to see a dolphin. My dream is to swim with wild ones, but my dream seems to be drifting farther and farther away on the oil sliked tide. 🙁 I want to grow up to be a marine biologist, so it will be my job to help these innoccent creatures and no one can stop me, not age, not lack of money, not lack of innitiative. Adults commemorate me for wanting to work in the environment sector. They think purely economicly. they think ill be in high demand and that the sector will be widening. But what if, but the time I’m done school and am ready for the feild work, theres nothing left for me to do? I mean if the world was healed, id be happy to have my aspiration taken. I’ve got others I’d follow in that case. But I mean what if we’ve gone too far. We have already found cancer in whales for the first time. That the effect of our window cleaners and dish washer detergents have finally reached the oceans depths brings tears to my eyes. What if they have all departed by then? the turtles, dolphins whales?
I don’t eat fish any more. I havent for two years. If I can do it i know someone else out there is doing it too, so there are some people taking some strain and demand off of the fishing industry. if only more people could realise…
there is so much id like to say. but too much. it scares me. But that wouldnt stop me from taking action if i could. Ihope.
Very nice story. I agree, very sad. Thanks for sharing.
He like in the song Adiemius Admiemius , sweet dolp 🙂
I had a water fight with a dolphin once. Good times 😀
For a politically incorrect view of dolphin culture, I strongly recommend Derek Bickerton’s 1979 novel, KING OF THE SEA.
A researcher breaks the dolphin language and goes to live in the wild with a pod, only to discover dolphin culture and values are not those humans assume – we anthropomorphize the cute and cuddly wildlife to make us feel better.
A great culture shock thriller novel.
You’ll have to find a 2nd hand copy, it’s been out of print for a long time.
http://www.amazon.com/King-Sea-Derek-Bickerson/dp/0425048462/
(was the dolphin laughing at you or saying “Eff you for keeping me in this tank!”?? It’s more comfortable to us if we believe it was laughing – that’s OUR cultural bias.)
I like Dolphins lol i like the picc
This makes me so sad. My dad told me a story once of a dolphin following his boat, swimming leaning towards the side so he could look up at what my dad was doing.
This is such a horrible tragedy. The world will never be the same. I wish someone would mail every dead dolphin to BP.
They are so beautiful and intelligent and it all makes you feel pretty helpless. In a way, dolphins were just an example though. All of the animals in the ocean dying because of human greed is just incomprehensible.
No one ever swims with cod. It’s a bit fishist.
Great story, keep writing. Don’t let a year go by again.
I too am so devastated by the death of the Gulf and all the creatures that live in the ocean.
Sandra Van Asch
Love your thoughts on this….
At Sea world…..I can relate to a dolphin splashing me, and then it also seemed to acknowledge me, by doing it again, and again. It was so fun. It made my day….
I feel terrible as well about the gulf. I pray, for the healing of the waters. We are going to go there soon, and when I do, I am going to lay my hands on the water and pray. I don’t know if anybody believes with me, in prayer, but I am going to ask God….
Anyway, thats who I am…and feel free to check out my blog as well. I wrote an article….This Christian angry over the spill in the gulf….Thanks. Elena
http://elenasjustmythoughts.wordpress.com
lmfao
love story man
btw nice dolphin
That dolphin is so damn happy.
All the while reading this post, and then afterwards the comments (i love reading the comments) I had a poem on the tip of my tongue. One that we had read and studied this year and that I had taken into my stride particularly. It was driving me crazy cause it was still there, lines swirling around aimlessly in my mind, this morning so I decided to take that into consideration, sit down and breakdown the lines and figure out what poem it was (I’m very bad with remebering names of any sort, dates too, so I might love a book, and remeber the plot after 5 years but can’t recal title or author… real helpful for going to a library!)
Thats when I realised it was actually 3 poems we had studied this year. All three of them were about the environment, but one was more potent than the others in my mind because it was so fitting for this poem. I can’t recal the authors, but I’ll write the titles and see if I can find the Authors if you are interested.
one was “Amends” which is beautiful, but not my favourite. THen there was “Flower fed Buffalos” which is also beautiful, and I like it better. The one that I really found touching, and I still think of it, constantly was the one I had the most difficulty remembering the title of. But I believe it was called “Lament”. Yes it was. It’s about the second Gulf War. They said the oceans wouldn’t be able to sustain themselves after another catastrophe of that scale. Well there have been minor ones since, and now this major one. Lets see how it holds up -she says with a straight face and no emotion save the tears in her eyes.
Dolphins are friendly animals. Can we raise these for pet in our homes.?
Thank you for this amazing and timely reminder of the preciousness of what we are losing by not paying attention.
Dolphins are intelligent too…
Nice post too btw. 🙂
We react to the deaths of the dolphins because humans like them a lot and we see them as being cute. The real tragedy is the not-so-cute aquatic life that’s being destroyed by the oil spill, the type of marine life on which dolphins feed. If you lose them, then the waters in the Gulf will be dead for a long time to come.
i loved reading this post, the connection you drew between the dolphin who laughed at you and then the dolphins dying on the sore is very touching.
it sickens me to see the amount of apathy in our world. there is SO much to fix, so much we can take care of or just care about, yet people would rather live in their own safe bubble. as a Lebanese woman, i’m pretty familiar with apathy towards my country and other countries that have suffered from war.
^ ya, can a dolphin be a pet??
Beautiful post. It is sad when people don’t care. All we can do is care to the best of our ability and continue to love the best way we know how.
We, human are being cruel to the environment. I hope there’ll be a day dolphins show us a real ‘smile’ in their nature. We should act from now and try to save their lives.
Your story is really funny. I lived in San Diego for thirteen years and I know Sea World very well. Yes, I have been laughed at the dolphins and and also by Shamu.
San Diego has beautiful beaches like La Jolla. The oil spill that has been on T.V. for the past weeks is very heartbreaking. The clear water and the marine life slowly disappearing in front of our eyes is disappointing. Although I currently live in Japan, I am hoping there is a way that this oil spill will not cause further harm to animals.
I think this was written well, because you said your opinion really well. I understood what you where saying, and I totally agree about saving the dolphins. I`ll start to do what I can, after reading this.
I wanted to know more about how the dolphins get killed.
Interesting story!
It really hurts me to see the cute animals dying because of us humans.
Seeking wealthiess is a sinful thing sometimes.
I think this is a problem we have to think about more seriously.
Hi!, I’m a highschool student in Japan.
It IS very sad that we forget such disasters if we’re not at the site where it’s happening. In Japan there’s a very upsetting fact that this news isn’t largely presented.
Your blog entry reminded me of not only this disaster, but of all the pollution human does to the world.
WE MUST think of a way so that not only dolphins but all the living can live!!!You alarmed me!
I loved reading this post. I know how it is becoming a big problem about the oil spill. I was shocked when I heard on the news. There are many living live in the ocean, and it is only people who can destroy it.
I think dolphins can laugh too. The way they come near us at the aquarium, they are so cute!!
I wish the ocean to get clean faster, and be easy for them to live in the ocean like before!!
Agreed. I know exactly what you mean. I once swam with dolphins in the Carribean. I liked reading your memory. The whole oil spill to me feels like the end of the world. We need to do better in protecting our earth and animal friends. Hippie dippie. Love that phrase.
Your blog seemed like a happy one in the beginning with all the memories you had with the dolphins until you started talking about the oil spill. It is really unfortunate that dolphins and other animals had to die because of it. I hope BP will not make the same mistake ever again.
This story reminded me about the photo I saw long ago.
One dolphin got oil all over its body, and was died on the beach.
I think knowing and helping these animals from danger is great.
This made me feel that people need to care more about the environment around them.
The dolphins are a very clever animal, so I think the dolphin actually laughed at you…! Oil spills are a serious problem and we human beings must be responsible for it. I will keep in mind about what we should do and care for the animals who are having trouble.
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It is said that when a dolphin talks, it sounds (to humans) as if they are laughing. Maybe the dolphin was trying to strike a conversation with you.
Very well written post. It makes one feel to go out there and do something for the poor animals.
This is a very interesting story. But I guess you love dolphins. I love dolphins too to it’s shocking about what is happening in the Gulf. Everybody should know about what is happening.
It’s so funny.I like this.Good job.Thank you!
you aren’t alone in the way you feel. while driving down the road the other day my daughter expressed the same feelings. i agree of course. even though she is 22 i still felt the compulsion to tell her a parental white lie and say don’t worry about it there are plenty people who are going down to help out. they are saving as many anmials as they can. when we stopped at the gas station and the fumes seemed so strong all i could think about was those animals. its heartbreaking.
Good, I love this post.
Wel, I am afraid the Dolphin did not really laugh. Dolphins in captivity suffer a lot. It is extreme cruelty what they do to the Dolphins. They all should be set free.
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Dolphins are great and this is a nice story and glad to know your experiences with dolphins
We as humans are inextricable from our obligations to the environment and our animal friends. I agree that BP should have to pay in some shape or form for them to live up to this indelible duty, especially when they’re harming creatures as precious as that in their wake. Thanks for the cute story!
Dear digitalinkwell:
My name is Leora Trub and I am a student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). I am conducting a study of the reasons that people blog and what benefits it brings, which at this point are still largely unexplored in research studies. I am therefore reaching out to you as a blogger who can help deepen our understanding of this phenomenon. I believe that your voice is an important one to be heard and hope you will enjoy participating in the study. I have developed an online questionnaire that asks about specific aspects of blogging as well as asking about feelings about yourself and others in your life. The survey is a mix of numerical scales and opportunities to reflect in an open-ended format about the role of blogging in your life, and how it has changed over time.
You are eligible to participate if you are at least 21 years of age and have been maintaining an English-language personal blog for at least six months that you update or visit at least twice a week (on average). Your participation involves completing a confidential online questionnaire. The data will be downloaded onto a secure server to which only I have access. No identifying information, such as your names or address, will be collected. If you desire, you may choose not to share your blog name, in which case I will not access your blog for any reason after this point. If you do share your blog name, it will NOT be connected to your responses in the survey. Additionally, you will be given the opportunity to be identified by a code name in research reports and to have your blog description changed slightly so it cannot be identified.
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If you have any questions about this research, you can contact me at ltrub@gc.cuny.edu, or my advisors Dr. Arietta Slade at (212) 650-5658 or arietta.slade@gmail.com and Dr. Tracey Revenson at (212) 817-8709 or trevenson@gc.cuny.edu.
The study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Graduate School of the City University of New York and meets of their guidelines as well as all state and federal guidelines for research with human participants. If you have any concerns about the project at any time, you can contact Ms. Kay Powell, Institutional Review Board at the Graduate School of the City University of New York (212) 817-7525 or kpowell@gc.cuny.edu.
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Sincerely,
Leora Trub, M.A.
Doctoral student in Clinical Psychology
Graduate School of the City University of New York
365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4309
ltrub@gc.cuny.edu
I enjoyed your post. 🙂 The dolphin looks adorable too. I agree, oil spills are tragic. 🙁
Cheers, Niconica
http://niconica.wordpress.com
You know what I think? BP is ridiculously stupid. After having this major catastrophe of an oil spill that will affect the and people along the Gulf for many years to come, they want to drill yet again in Alaska. Seriously, what are they, idiots?
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Here’s an alternate take on Dolphins:
http://mechanisticmoth.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/1000-things-we-hate-35-dolphins/
Nice
I have to sadly agree with you: Unless I go and seek out the information on the oil spill (such as turning on the news and occasionally hearing it, or looking it up online), I tend to forget about it. I don’t mean to, but it doesn’t effect my life in the ‘in your face’ kind of way it does to those down there and can see the damage in their back yards.
Great post though. I’ve never been to SeaWorld. If I ever get the chance to, I’ll be careful of those dolphin tanks!
I loved your post. Our treatment of all creatures on the planet is tragic. Because dolphins are so smart and seem to relate to us, the tragedy seems even deeper.
Very sad to hear about all the animals that are suffering because of this.
All the animals can smile
Every time I think about the gulf, I feel a little crippled. Like the world just lost a leg. I mean, I know we’ll go on and we can work to make things better, but it’s a LEG. Nothing we do will come close to what it was like when we had a leg.
Exactly! I can’t help but feel that the gulf will never be the same again.
I feel bad for the turtles they burnt alive. 🙁
Ugh, me too. It’s all too horrible.
hahaha ‘when good dolphins go bad!’
Very fun tale – and yes, I reckon Dolphins can laugh!
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I’m with @culturamugellana.
If we spot only this oil spill there would be loads of complains. If we think this is our fundamental issue we better stop using any products made from petroleum before blaming BP. Usually the market is about “Demand and Supply”.
I bet nobody from advanced countries can live without any petroleum products for one day either.
Many people may know plastic is from petroleum.
How about asphalt, roads you use daily?
It is true that a specific solution is needed here.
However in general do we not better state some fundamental solution instead of blaming specific parties?
This could be the fault of all of us who daily use petroleum products.
Ofcourse the dolphin laughed at you. Dolphins love to play because God created them to be playful creatures. And he probably was also laughing because he knows that there is a God that created him and exist. And he is amazed that you being much more intelligent than he is; don’t know that there is a Creator God!! He will probably be recreated and be in heaven for our enjoyment. You on the other hand might be in the great lake of fire and brimstone; screaming and agonies because you don’t know God and Jesus!!
When I get to heaven; I will have my own private lake that will be stocked with dolphins; who are my favorite water creatures. Along with my killer whales who will be totally tamed and peaceful then.
Yes, the dolphins will all be laughing at those who don’t know God, when they do!!
I thought it said in your bible that it was a sin to pass judgment on another?
Dolphins always grab my attention but I’m surprised nobody hear seems to mention The Cove – a movie everyone should watch – check out the website at the very least and show some support to a cause most have never even thought imaginable. http://www.thecovemovie.com/
I used to live in San Diego and I knew Sea World very well as well!
When I heard the news about the animals suffering from oil spill, I was shocked. I was also frustrated by the facts that we couldn’t do anything about it.
Government should have done something to prevent this incident.
You have my sympathy. I have worked hard on a novel that has never been read. Ha! I’m sure you are a more experienced writer than I, but that’s not the point, is it? We work hard and pour out our souls. Keep at it, anyway. It’s your calling. It’s the gift that’s in you. May God bless you in your work.
It seems my last comment should have been for another one of your posts, the one where you speak of the disappointment of rejection for writers. I have never blogged before and I am drowning in the sea of blogging.
Now I cannot find my way back to your name. It has been a pleasure browsing through your blogs.
As for the dolphin laughing: Don’t take it seriously. Dolphins laugh at everyone. They have that grin ingrained on their faces for all to encounter. If one happens to be in a bad mood, it could be taken for a sneer. It’s as you said, laughter.
Nice blog