This column includes a clarification.
When two worlds collide is a phrase often used to describe a moment when two seemingly opposite or unrelated events come together at one time.
And its the only phrase I can think of to properly describe what happened Wednesday, which by pure coincidence saw me at two events that couldnt have been more opposite.
Wednesday morning began at the Vancouver Aquarium for the launch of a new exhibit called Rescue StoriesEvery Animal Counts, which you can read about on page 14 and 15. Less than two hours later that same day, I attended an event at Kitsilano secondary called The Cove and the Connection to Canada, which included a screening of the documentary The Cove. The 2009 Academy Award winning film is famous for documenting the horror of the Japanese dolphin hunt and ensuing slaughter. Presenting the film was Toronto-based environmentalist Leah Lemieux, author of Rekindling the Waters: The Truth About Swimming With Dolphins.
If you havent seen The Cove, be warned. Cameras and microphones hidden by the crew in fake rocks placed around a hidden cove in Taiji, Japan capture the horrific images and sounds of the massacre of dozens of dolphins.
Those images were in stark contrast to the idyllic scene Id witnessed hours earlier on the shores off Deep Cove, where staff from the Vancouver Aquariums Marine Mammal Rescue Centre released 10 fat and happy seals to the wild after weeks of nursing them back to health. The rescue centre does good work and I was delighted to have the opportunity to witness a seal release first hand.
The connection between The Cove and the aquarium are three Pacific white-sided dolphins, which are living out their days at the facility. They are survivors of a Japanese dolphin hunt, a fact pointed out to the Kits students during the presentation. Those three dolphins, Helen, Hanna and Spinnaker, are included in the Rescue Stories exhibit.
Environmentalists argue the aquarium used a loophole to buy Hanna and Helen from the Enoshima Aquarium in Japan. According to a park board bylaw, the aquarium is not allowed to purchase dolphins captured specifically for the purpose of sale. But environmentalists like Lemieux point out live dolphins captured for sale are an ongoing byproduct of the Japanese dolphin hunt, so these mammals were in fact captured with that purpose in mind. The aquarium argues the dolphins were injured while being fished and would have died if they werent rescued.
I spoke with three students following the screening to get their impressions of The Cove.Jamie Clarke and Max Stromberg-Mair, both 14, and Kraig Hyghnan, 13, each said they were shaken by the images they had seen. Each also said they were even more shocked to learn of the connection between the Japanese dolphin hunt and the Vancouver Aquarium.
I dont think many people know the dolphins at the aquarium come from Japan, Max told me. And I think the public needs to know.
I asked the trio, Is it ethically better to save an injured whale or dolphin in order that they live their life out in an aquarium, or should they be left to die? I thought that might be a tough question for such young teens, but Jamie didnt hesitate. They should be left to the natural life cycle and if that means they die in nature, thats better than living in an aquarium.
Max suggested an injured dolphin or whale should be treated at a rehabilitation centre so long as the end result is the animals release. Meanwhile, Kraig said his plan was to find a link to the movie trailer for The Cove and send it to everyone he knows.
I think aquariums should be places where people can be educated about these animals, but they shouldnt be kept just for show. Thats really wrong, Jamie added.
Out of the mouth of babes.
Twitter: @sthomas10
Clarification:
The Vancouver Aquarium denies all claims that its three Pacific white-sided dolphins were obtained as the result of the dolphin hunt in Japan. The aquarium states that Helen, Hanna and Spinnaker were caught as the result of becoming tangled in fishing nets off the east coast of Japan and would not have survived in the wild. The aquarium does not support, fund, or acquire animals from drive fisheries, said aquarium vice president Clint Wright.
Unfortunately, there has been and continues to be a great deal of misinformation being circulated about where the animals from the drive fishery end up. It is completely false that any of these animals are being exported to North America, Wright said.
