Shamu
As most of you know, I love animals--not in the Camp-Out-In-a-Tree-to-Save-the-Spotted-Owl manner, but in a less analytical "whoa, s/he could eat me" or a "i wish i had a tail too" kind of way. Generally, people are annoying so, I also like to think it's possible to have meaningful relationships with other living beings. And just to clarify, this isn't in the Alice Walker--I can have a relationship with a sea sponge way, but it's more a "wouldn't it be great if Tamu could cook rice" sort of thing.
ANYWAY, this is all to say I don't really like zoos. That whole imprisoning animals for our entertainment thing doesn't sit well. I admit I like the Monterey Aquarium and make semi-regular pilgrimages to visit the sea otters. However, I usually draw the line draw the line at places that combine live animals with roller costers.
This weekend I was visiting the OC with Road Trip Monkey and we were invited to accompany the quite adorable niece and nephew on a trip to Sea World. For a whole host of reasons I won't get into, it was a really generous invitation so we accepted. I spent the week crafting my subversive, yet accessible to a 9 month old and 3 year old message about caged animals. I soon realized the kids were mostly asleep or more interested in playing with the stroller.
We did go see several sea shows. One was an absurd, but unobjectionable Cirque de la Mer. Yes, the cast was the farm team for the Cirque de Soleil. Since no animals were contorted for this performance, it was all good by me.
But who goes to Sea World to see human amphibious acrobats? It's all about Shamu. After a "salute to our military sponsored by Annheiser-Busch", we watched a number of orcas zip around a tiny tank and slither onto various platforms. Aside from the cramped quarters and the empirical madness of trapping a pod of orcas in southern California, the most outrageous thing was that they were all called Shamu. Although there are clearly 5 different orcas visible from the stands, each one was referred to as Shamu--including the baby orca. Kind of like how any tissue is a kleenex or all adhesive bandages are band aids. All Asians looks alike. All orcas morph into Shamus as soon as they are enslaved at Sea World.
Orcas are magnificent animals. They really shouldn't have to live in republican infested San Diego. They most definitely should not have to perform tricks for a living. Free Willy! (In real life it was a female orca named Keiko--go figure.)
