Archive for the ‘Environmental articles’ Category

What does this Indy do?

Posted: September 1, 2019 in Environmental articles
Tags: , , , , ,

Updated Jan 1 – 2024

These words are evermore important as the world becomes increasingly more and more politically polarized:

Stay independent of mind even if you work within a system. Learn to navigate through organisations without surrendering your youthful ideals. Always be sceptical of the declarations of those in power and authority, especially when there is no accountability. Understand that the basic morality that ordinary people exercise in their own lives is not reflected by power. In other words, always look for the truth from the ground up, rarely from the top down. Journalists are never real journalists if they are the agents of power, no matter how they disguise that role. Real journalists are agents of people.

— John Pilger, 2014

On January 1, 2024 Declassified Australia published John Pilger’s final published essay before his death at 84. Pilger examines why across the media there is ‘a silence filled by a consensus of propaganda’ — There is a war coming, shrouded in propaganda.

I didn’t agree with EVERYTHING John Pilger said, particularly his rather brutish and unfair personal comments of President Obama. But that said, hands-down, he goes down in history as a giant of a journalist. His work and ideas resonate with many of the themes I write about and in part explore about below – political suppression, the nature of media blackout, amplifying the voices of the voiceless – understanding ideology, hegemony and discourse.

(Text to follow) was: Updated 2022

With the all-consuming presence of social media we could make the case that it is close to the truth that what we used to think of as real journalists has been somewhat corrupted — actually wiped out, in some instances, by a malicious media sound-byte.

We could even claim that not just journalists but we as people can be involuntarily shape-shifted by corporate media norm and spurious political machination.

Not just dead lawyers at the bottom of the ocean but dead journalists. You get the idea. Some might say this might be overstating it.

But some of us do continue to make the argument and carry the torch for independent media. What we think of as working journalists are expressing distress. We have to conform in a basic way to corporate conglomerates and cultural institutions that fundamentally mold and constrain our speech freedoms, as expressed by way of solid journalism example here.

Larger media outlets do have a mindset — this just can’t be ignored if the writer wants to be paid. Smaller publications often rely on volunteer writers. Not ideal. To remain part of the pack we have to constantly re-invent ourselves.

There’s always the pre-requisite, catchy media-outreach promotional phrases to stay relevant.

To those of you who might not know, this is Mediageode’s actual signature message.

— (c) Mediageode 2023:

“We understand the difficulties of editorial independence in these days of Big Media conglomeration especially what its effect is on the control of information. We possess a thoughtful cognizance of the impact that large corporate syndicates and bipartisan groups have on characteristically sound byte oriented media product.”

Independent journalists exist. “I exist”— as some famous philosopher once said but for the most part it’s always been on the margins of the literary media landscape. This isn’t a bad thing it is just a fact.

Blogging is a contribution as well. A contribution to the things that have happened by way of remembering them in writing. Blogs are archives, historical records. Hence this practical site, carefully preserved over 15 years +. Enjoy!

Basically I am about analysis and research. My writing (mostly blogging now) is intended to give my view and perspective, of observed events, that are of interest to me in what I call the nexus between the historical moment and the research purpose.

I am a reader of people and defender of all that is aesthetic and uplifting to the human spirit. I classify myself as a curious thinker with an investigative bent and tendency toward being a bit of policy reader or wonk.

I fault that to a certain extent to a background in political theory and policy studies.

My schooling and travel interests combined drew me toward eye-opening opportunities. These included adventures to learn new things about identity; things that seemed to me more relevant to my experience as an actualized person pulling me toward something called method-writing.

Journal-ing begins: The her-story narrative helped me to uncover learning methodologies on the human condition and on existential subjects such as power, pain, stigma — and something called relations of ruling (this is a phrase coined by Method Sociologist Dorothy Smith in the late 1980’s). Taken holistically, it can mean looking through a social lens with the researcher taking an active role to talk about struggle and Smith’s concept of ruling relations or as I’ve tried to suggest here, the power relations all around us, defining our lives.

Etymology is the study of the history of words. So think of my suggestion here as looking at the etymology-of-power. Loosely defined, in its usage here, I like to observe power properties or power relations at origin or development through a historical point in time.

The Math around us! As a researcher, I love biology, anthropology and sociology as subjects of study. I look for nexus points in the world around me. In observing life and all its lifeforms in my garden I seemed to evolve over the years through a series of intellectual stages in my own life trajectory and in my research interests in school.

I was drawn to the natural sciences almost instinctively.

As an early academic and a ‘social being in the forest’ so to speak I slowly begin to gravitate towards an interest in studying historical intervals (or tenets you could say) of symbolic-interactionism.

Out of that research-journey came a more pronounced commitment to ethnographical work in anthropology as a discipline. It began to show itself in my intellectual pursuits and most clearly in my animal welfare research interest.

I can say that I’ve always felt most grounded when I am outside in a park or near the river’s edge — places where I can observe the birds and animals roam and go about their business. Taking this one step further, I read about academic topics that bring me closer to nature.

The simplest way of putting it is today I am geared toward analyses relating to or resulting from the influence of human beings on nature.

My fascination is in ‘interpreting the Anthropocene’, a somewhat loaded thing to think about perhaps. But in simple terms it’s usually presented as an anthropological lens: an agreed upon geological epoch dating to an intense period of human impact on the Earth’s ecological order. Although as of March 21/2024 the BBC reported, Anthropocene unit of geological time is rejected — “A proposal to codify a new geological epoch based on humanity’s influence on Earth has been rejected. It means “the Anthropocene” will not be added to the chronostratigraphic chart featured in textbooks and on classroom posters to record the major changes in Earth history.”

It may include but not be limited to intrusive ‘anthropogenic’ changes to our world and its animal habitats.

See more about this vast and wonderful subject here.

I gently warn you at this point. There is a lot of eclectic stuff on this site. It is presented as a smorgasbord of writing observations which hopefully draws some of your interest.

I am a creative sort, you could say even artsy. I edit, I paint, I make things, I am into arts & crafts. I am all about hobbies, my favourite being gardening (botany) and ethnographic research in anthropology which looks at the relationships between human and animal kingdoms and how we’ve encroached on the four-legged and winged creatures of our ever evolving and fascinating world.

Happy reading!

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Deeper definition for those who want to do further reading but may be new to anthropology. I try to bring sometimes unreachable academic research to every day life, to the masses, to common understanding.

What do I mean by ‘anthropogenic’ changes to our world and its animal habitats?

Speaking generally, it means observing both human and animal habitats and the conflicts for space which have arisen in a more pronounced way in the last two hundred years as a result of massive industrialization.

My latest research looks at how humans have waded into [historically] animal territories and how this may inform on who ultimately has or will have rightful territoriality of Earth itself.

Who’s encroaching on whom?

Of course here the study of ‘Survival of the fittest’, a term associated with British naturalist Charles Darwin and his epic work On the Origin of Species fifth edition (1869) argues that species best adapted to their surroundings are the most successful in surviving and carrying on their DNA and RNA.

Will humans be able to adapt to their changing world or will the viruses destroy us and the infernos burn us up? This is the question of our time.

I wrote this sentence in 2019 before we even knew about COVID-19 pandemic, so that will tell you something about eerie foreshadowing.

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~ Diane Walsh, BA, MA, PGCert. (2016)

Bachelor of Arts (Canada) UBC Political Science

Master of Arts (Canada) UVIC Human Social Development

Post Graduate Certificate (UK) UStAndrews Anthropology

Areas of study:

Diplomatic studies, international relations, interdisciplinary methodologies and approaches in environmental sociology and political anthropology, cosmopolitan studies.

Most recent graduation: 2016 PgCert. in Social Anthropology University of St Andrews, Scotland

To be in touch, email: mediageode AT yahoo.com

SeaWorld polishes its marketing message partnering with HSUS

Posted: April 19, 2016 in animal rights, Environmental articles, Social justice articles, U.S., Washington DC/Vancouver Island
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—  A print version of this interview is available in the Spring 2016 edition of the Lower Island News.  Republished with permission.

 April 19-2016

SeaWorld polishes its marketing message partnering with HSUS

by Diane Walsh

 Washington DC — Lower Island News has had the pleasure of conducting a one-on-one interview with Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of The Humane Society (HSUS) to find out more about their new partnership with SeaWorld announced on national television in April 2016. The announcement came as surprise to many – albeit an excellent surprise. The following Q & A examines the promises that have been made by SeaWorld and the role that HSUS will play in the partnership, in Mr. Pacelle’s own words.

Lower Island News: Can you describe what was the triggering event or culminating set of discussions which led Sea World to adopt this progressive arrangement?

Wayne Pacelle: Former Congressman John Campbell, who was a leader on animal protection issues during his terms in Washington, is a friend of mine. He suggested I talk with SeaWorld’s new CEO Joel Manby and see if we could find common ground. I think Campbell had a sense that as the new person leading SeaWorld, maybe Manby could be the change agent needed there. We decided to pursue discussions with the goal of ending — decisively — the possibility of further breeding of orcas; and addressing a series of other critical animal protection issues. 

We succeeded in this aim and won an agreement to stop breeding orcas and to phase out the undignified and unnatural theatrical performances with the whales. We also reached terms to have SeaWorld redouble its work in rescue and rehabilitation of marine creatures in distress, to invest in advocacy campaigns against whaling, finning, and sealing, and to revamp its food policies. These were terms that far exceeded the expectations of the activists pressing hardest on the SeaWorld front. In short, nobody had any real plan concerning how to stop breeding of the orcas in San Antonio, Orlando, or in Spain, for example, and nobody was really talking about the major step up in rescue and rehabilitation; campaigning against whaling, sealing, and finning; or changing the company’s internal food policies. 

LIN: News of the joint letter to President Obama regarding still-shocking Japanese whaling was equally moving – have you had a response from the office of the President?

 WP: No, but we know that officials at other levels of government with an interest in the issue were encouraged by the joint appeal and are optimistic about this administration taking some steps to apply additional pressure on Japan.  It’s no secret that our whale campaigners have been arguing that the United States needs to reclaim its leadership on this issue.  The International Whaling Commission will meet later this year and that’ll be the real test of the U.S. government’s resolve to do more.

LIN: SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby appears to be willing or at the very least open to assisting with the messaging for sea-hunt and shark finning eradication efforts which are often high-profile campaigns [noticeably affiliated with movie stars, e.g. Pamela Anderson]. News reporting has tended to impress on the idea that there has been some kind of shift in thinking and that Manby has nearly become an ally of the animal-rights movement — Is this overstated or has something major happened?

 WP: These commercial killing activities result in the death of millions of marine creatures every year.   If SeaWorld can give us a shot in the arm in our efforts to fight these terrible practices, then that’s a great development.  With more than 20 million visitors, SeaWorld can educate a lot of people about these subjects.

LIN: Was your book manuscript The Humane Economy  scheduled to be published or did the new arrangement delay or change the timeline in some way?

WP: The discussions with SeaWorld did not delay the publication of The Humane Economy, which came out on April 19.  The original manuscript was quite critical of SeaWorld, reflecting The HSUS’s long record of opposition to keeping orcas in captivity, starting with the hiring of Dr. Naomi Rose in the mid-1990s to lead a campaign against these practices.   It did forecast that SeaWorld had to change.  When I made the agreement with Joel Manby on the set of animal welfare reforms, I did add a postscript so readers would know that my forecast had come true.  There are close to 5000 words in the book on SeaWorld and the shift away from animals in entertainment and spectacle.   The humane economy is forming right before our eyes.

LIN: Readers have understood that the California Coastal Commission has been instrumental in placing pressure to end orca breeding in the state of California, with a state bill. What happens now? Does SeaWorld’s ‘promise’ just simply extinguish the need to do anything more in California state-wide? Will state-government efforts be channelled to Texas and Florida and elsewhere?

 WP: SeaWorld is fortunately looking to drop its lawsuit against the Coastal Commission, and it’s supporting a bill in the state legislature to ban orca breeding.  I doubt the other states will adopt similar statutes, but the key is that the company has publicly committed to ending breeding of orcas.

 LIN: What hold does HSUS have on Sea World other than an honour system?

 WP: The agreement received as much attention as any major animal welfare story in many years.  SeaWorld has declared its intention to chart a new course and has taken some concrete steps.  With each move, SeaWorld tracks more closely toward the values and approaches we support, and it’s difficult to imagine a scenario in which the company would backtrack or renege.  The public attention and scrutiny is so great, and the will to move forward is also strong on the part of SeaWorld’s management.

LIN: SeaWorld’s commitment/promise to end orca breeding is commendable. But given the animal-rights movement have been vilified thus far, is the shift believable?

WP: SeaWorld’s taken some definitive steps forward, advertising its commitment to end commercial whaling and signing the letter to President Obama, and it’s going to take additional steps in a number of areas in the months ahead – steps that will make plain its change of emphasis and its determination to play a positive role in producing reforms that benefit marine and terrestrial animals and their habitats.

LIN: The exhibition of orcas is to end in due course. Is there a date certain and if so, when? What leverage does HSUS have to ensure this promise occurs in the time-frame?

WP: SeaWorld has declared its intention to replace theatrical based performances and instead move toward demonstrations based on showing the natural behaviors of orcas by 2017.  We are looking forward to working with the company as it takes additional steps to associate its business and its brand with animal protection.

LIN: Please permit a few queries rolled together into one here, to enable further reflection. The idea of a research-medical facility where the public could learn science and nature is an outstanding one. A philosophical shift to rescue and provide veterinary aid to injured and distressed marine animals is promising on the face of it.

 However in this scenario, the so-described ‘un-releasable animal’ supposedly becomes the only permissible ‘contained’ animal able to-be-viewed by the public where education, about ongoing threats to orcas in general, can occur. Do you see any issue with this set-up? For instance in terms of the specific plans to revamp SeaWorld’s general setting; which is [performance-oriented at this time].

 Could you foresee any economic and capital forces that might come into play when determining whether an Orca ‘should be freed’? And moreover – what concrete steps could be taken right away, e.g. sea sanctuaries?

 WP: We’ve always viewed tanks and swimming pools as compromised habitats for wide-ranging, enormous animals like orcas, in spite of active veterinary care and proper feeding.  We were involved in the effort about 15 years ago to fund the release of the orca whale Keiko into a sea pen.  Keiko was, however, a wild-caught whale, and his circumstances are somewhat different than the SeaWorld whales. SeaWorld has nearly 30 orcas, with the vast majority captive-born. SeaWorld stopped live-capture of orcas 40 years ago. The sea pen discussion will play out over time, and this agreement did not end that discourse. We are committed to looking at all options to provide the best living environment for wild-caught or captive-bred orcas, and were going to support further investigation and research on whether the orcas can be safely and economically moved from their holding facilities to other settings in the future.

LIN: Can you expand on how HSUS will be involved in getting only sustainably-sourced food (e.g. seafood, free-range chicken/eggs) and additionally vegetarian food-choice sources made available on-site at SeaWorld?

 WP: There are supply chain specialists both within and outside of The HSUS who work on this kind of thing.  We’ll make all of our resources available to SeaWorld to move in this direction and have the company be a model one in terms of the food offerings at its parks.

LIN: News of the promise to protect coral reefs and reduce capture and exhibit of exotic and rare fish is engaging as well. How do you see this develop?

 WP: Most urgently, it would involve support for a campaign to educate consumers in the United States and abroad about the harmful and inhumane collection and trade of coral reef wildlife (in Hawaii and the Indo-Pacific) for the aquarium trade.

LIN: There is no doubt that these promises are impressive, the concern appears to be when and how, and HS becoming a sort of gatekeeper of other animal-rights groups. Quell the resistance – sort of idea. Please assure readers this is not the case.

 WP: There’s nothing that would prevent other groups and parties from reaching out to SeaWorld to discuss issues of concern, or pressing such matters through public campaigns of one kind or another.  But we are social reformers at HSUS, and this is what we do.  We’ve negotiated agreements to advance animal welfare in every sector of the economy, and we’re going to step up this work in the years ahead.

 LIN: The #Blackfish film-effect has been remarkable. It’s likely to have helped embolden the development on no-further Orca-breeding as well as centre the discussion on the plight of those life-long captive Orcas that SeaWorld maintains can’t be released.

 WP: Blackfish was a breakthrough phenomenon in shifting the landscape around orca captivity,  and it’s the primary reason we are where we are now.  We’ve encouraged SeaWorld to keep moving on its agenda of engaging the other issues on which we did agree, and to do more to educate the public about those concerns.

LIN: Thank you for sitting down with us, Wayne!

Readers can visit humanesociety.org/news – @HSUSNews and @humanesociety on twitter.

You can reach Diane Walsh, MA  @dwalshmedia  indydianewalsh.com

 

A disturbing use of the honey bee

Posted: January 28, 2016 in animal rights, Environmental articles, Social justice articles, U.S., UK
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Unknown artist illustration in Blackie’s Encyclopedia, 1880
An academic essay on a more general topic, blogged here because of what it has to say about the human uses and abuses of the honey bee – including Jake Kosek’s excellent work in the area.

Essay on the subject of the abuse of bees_ copyright_mediageode_2015

 

My Favourite Anthropologists

Posted: January 6, 2016 in Amazonian literature, animal rights, Environmental articles, U.S./UK/Europe/Canada
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Standing up for Perspectivism! DRAFT ESSAY Ontological_Turn_essay_Perspectivism_

Dolphin Reflections – Perspectivism

Posted: January 3, 2016 in animal rights, Environmental articles, U.S.
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https://tiddletaddle.wordpress.com/2016/01/03/dolphin-reflections-perspectvism/

photo

Inspired writing thanks to my favourite anthropologists 

Posted: December 11, 2015 in Amazonian literature, animal rights, Environmental articles, Europe/NorthAmerica, Social justice articles, U.S./UK/Europe/Canada, Washington, DC

https://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com/2015/12/whitewhale-shock-to-system.html

Google Eduardo Kohn, PhD, Anthropologist to learn more about trans-species and multi-species  anthropology.

And, if you have time, read, for example, this Anthropology Essay_(c)Mediageode2015

 

 

 

The Beluga’s Culture Shock 

Posted: December 10, 2015 in animal rights, Environmental articles, Scotland, U.S.
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The Beluga’s Culture Shock

By Diane Walsh

Seeing the world through the ‘Bubble’— Musings from East Scotland.

Culture shock is something usually associated with a person feeling a sense of alienation or confusion when arriving in a new place that is strange or unfamiliar.

It would not be surprising if having difficulty adapting (to such a new environment) translated into a kind of after-effect. In this example, culture shock could be loosely defined as an experience disorder, a severe reaction to unusual surrounding. The human in turn feels that well-being is negatively affected.

But what if the concept of culture shock was applied to say placing the Beluga whitewhale, in a ‘Bubble’ such as an Aquarium setting — whose ancestors had lived in the Ocean Wide for thousands of years? 

Without falling into a debate about anthropomorphism, I would like to us to ‘problematize’ the idea of the ‘strangeness’ of having a huge Whitewhale in, arguably, a fishbowl.

An Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean, this Whitefish is also occasionally referred to, as the melonhead or sea canary.

I do not wish to be delving too deep into a discussion of Anthropology. If you would like to read more on the topic, ‘Beyond the Human’, Samantha Hurn (2012) researches the idea of animal exploitation, animal-rights theory and the anthropological implications of the evolving cultural ideas and concepts about animal personhood. She asks us to think about our own attitudes towards ‘other’ animals on earth (i.e. other-than-human) and relate this to what it might mean to be human. Perspectivism (e.g. Kohn; Descola; De Castro) asks us to take up seeing the world from the point of view of the ‘other’ in the natural world, while at the same acknowledging our thoughts as being, from a human standpoint (Key words; post-humanist, human exceptionalism).

With this all in mind, try and understand the example I have suggested, of ‘the foreignness’ of the fishbowl (Aquarium) from the perspective of the Beluga.

Granted we can never get into a cetacean’s mind, per se, but we can entertain the idea of ‘seeing the world from the perspective of the ‘Beluga’.

Here is an analogy. We’ve all likely observed the poverty and resignation of people who are on the wrong side of the ‘economic divide’. At times I have been there myself. What if this conceptualization of reality was applied to thinking about the Beluga? ‘Seeing’ the Beluga as being on the wrong side of the ‘divide’— whose fate is unlucky enough to have been captured — whose awesome and glorious natural-habitat nature/subjectivity modified into a mere object of money-making and gawk? Might I be able to force an argument that the Beluga is ‘ecologically impoverished’ i.e. trapped in a container?

Is this the Beluga’s ‘Bubble’ reality? It would be no surprise to see the ‘resignation’ of the Beluga in this scenario. I argue that there doesn’t seem to be a concerted effort to connect the ‘poverty’of the Beluga in the Aquarium setting. I mean the poverty of the identity of the Beluga in the Aquarium setting. Is the Beluga not powerless over its fate, resigned to its working conditions?

Applying social theory to an understanding of the captive Beluga might actually prove useful. I could even push for a focus on the idea of ‘discrimination’ against Belugas. Why not? The fate of Beluga has been shown to be ‘poor’. We need to consider Maris’ recent death in Atlanta.

Keeping Belugas in captivity is really more about controlling the population in order to allow money to be made. It is about the circuits of capitalism reaching the Beluga as an object of profit. We don’t hear much of this phenomena at the moment but it underlies much of what is happening. If a Beluga dies, it is always ‘a complete mystery’. Whether it’s Vancouver or Atlanta.

On October 24, 2015, I read, while in Scotland, that “Maris the beluga whale dies suddenly at Georgia Aquarium [emphasis mine] (Source: Faith Karimi, CNN).

We are told that Maris, who was born in the New York Aquarium, in 1994 lived for 10 years at the site in Atlanta and died on October 22, 2015.

It’s well known that Maris had given birth to two babies, both of whom died. The first baby died in 2012 only days after birth, and the second, after less than a month. There are two Belugas left at the Georgia Aquarium – Grayson and Qinu.

Karimi, the reporter from CNN, obtained this quote from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). “Maris was denied her freedom her entire life. She was transferred from one facility to another, and her babies died, one after the other. Whether or not she had a physical ailment that went unnoticed, she was killed by captivity, plain and simple.”— PETA senior vice president Lisa Lange.

Okay, we know the drill. Aquariums argue that belugas in captivity (modified, with the phrase ‘belugas in human care’) enable scientists to better comprehend them in the wild. Latest ‘ethical’ research, needless to say, focuses on how ‘underwater sounds’ affect belugas — including the human-created noise-pollution created by industrial or military activity? The Aquarium is a lab, effectively. Biologists from respected universities are involved in this project and do not have to wrestle with any sort of conundrum relating to ethics. It is taken as a given that this is, ‘good’ research – no questions asked.

Karimi continues to explain that “The data can be combined and applied to help conserve and protect wild belugas from threats in their natural habitats”, according to the Georgia Aquarium website.

It’s clear that the Georgia Aquarium has been very careful to maintain the position that Maris, 21, “showed no signs of illness before her death. She ate and interacted normally with Grayson and Qinu, the other two beluga whales at the aquarium.This is a case of sudden, acute animal death. Our animals receive exceptional care, and our dedicated team of experts responded to her within minutes to render aid.”— Dr. Gregory Bossart, Chief Veterinarian at the Georgia Aquarium.

All the public is told is: “An autopsy is underway”.

End of discussion.

What is curious is that only recently we heard of one Beluga death and then another at Vancouver Aquarium in Canada. It would not have been difficult to put a sentence about that. The second one was said to have been due to pneumonia.

Care2care.com reports “In 2012, the aquarium filed a controversial petition to bring 18 wild-caught belugas here from Russia who would be split up at different facilities under breeding and loan agreements. Unfortunately for those supporting the effort, in September a federal judge shut down the effort”. We’re told there’s pressure on “The National Marine Fisheries Service to declare the population of belugas, suffering from captures in Russia, as depleted, under the Marine Mammal Protection Act”.

In the context of another published CNN news article, “SeaWorld can expand its tank but not breed whales, board rules” all eyes are likely now focused on the Georgia Aquarium’s desire to ‘grow’ belugas.

I have reflected briefly on ‘animal/human’ interaction and the assumptions humans make when beginning to use models of observation. I have asked that readers reconsider the idea of Belugas in labs. I suggest here, that there may be a benefit in actually applying human social theory to the fate of the captive Beluga.

I will leave you with this final thought.The light/colour/frequency spectrum experienced by humans, that, compared with the receptors that cetaceans/animals/birds experience, confines us to a uniquely human world. We can never enter the complete experiential world that enables the ‘others’ in the animal kingdoms and the seas, to exist on the same planet. Technology will never enable us to ‘see’ the colours/frequencies that non-humans experience – not even with Hubble style magnification. To that extent we should understand an inherent disability — so is this the anthropological blind leading the blind?

If we see that our ways of seeing are blind to the ways that the Beluga sees — just one ‘animal’ example — we might be able to better understand their deaths in the aquarium setting. To understand if the Beluga and the baby beluga experiences culture-shock in the Aquarium fishbowl, the ‘Bubble’must first be burst.

News update: Jan. 20, 2018

“Vancouver aquarium won’t keep whales or dolphins captive after public outcry” by Ashifa Kassam

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/20/vancouver-aquarium-wont-keep-whales-or-dolphins-captive-after-public-outcry

Additional reading:

https://www.academia.edu/16408468/Are_some_animals_more_equal_than_others_Animal_Rights_and_Deep_Ecology_in_environmental_education

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/2022/may/living-sustainability-higher-education-connecting-people-places-and-learning

2023 https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/11/07/opinion/whale-jails-are-banned-canada-theyre-thriving-elsewhere

Postscript: To put this blog post in context. (Below Oct 2015 – in jpeg) are some of the ideas germinating at the time of writing. Gives the academic community context and some leads to super interesting reading leads.

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