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The Dream Sonata

@okamidragon / okamidragon.tumblr.com

It was like a dream. Beautiful and untainted. Full of wonderful music that flowed through its seams holding it together. The lyrics were unsettling, powerful, and called out for hope. They told of life and death. Joy and Pain. Anger and happiness. Love and hate. Flawlessly and audaciously was the music that flowed through my dreams, telling a story that my words had failed to manage.

So I just saw the new Yu-gi-oh movie in theaters.

It’s pretty good but a few things I have to note

1. I’ve never seen a man so thirsty in all his life. Kaiba’s obsession with Atem has reached comical levels. He admits that the most time he spent making that simulation of him was getting his hair to be absolutely perfect, and for those who haven’t seen it I won’t spoil the ending but holy shit I was laughing in my seat at the lengths Kaiba goes to. Even Vegeta would shake his head at this

2. Is no one going to question the police state Domino City seems to be in with Kaiba having surveillance literally everywhere? Considering that he knows enough to

A. Tell when a specific person leaves the city and arrives in Egypt within seconds and

B. Knows about a private conversation Yugi had in his own damn house

3. Granted I get why Atem’s part in his movie was kept to a minimum, but I do wish he got a little more screentime

4. Did Grandpa get a new voice actor? Maybe I just haven’t watched in awhile

5. Kaiba somehow summons Obelisk the Tormentor even though it should be impossible for him to do so, they make a big deal about him doing so and it never goes anywhere or is explained

I did enjoy the movie a lot though, my only real complaint is that this movie does kind of drag on a bit. We get like three ‘final showdowns’ in a row

I think the voice actor for Yugi's Grandpa died in the U.S. and that is why they changed voice actors.

Pokemon Go Woes

We all love the world of Pokemon, but sometimes our love of this beautifully crafted world gives us some heartache. 

1. Using up precious incense and all you get is rattata. Not that we don’t love you, our furry little purple mouse/rat friend, but it would be nice if other Pokemon got to enjoy our irresistible scent. 

2. The look of the crazies. Yes, our friends of the older generation, we are jumping up and down in the middle of Walmart, because we just caught a Charmander near the grills and now we are heading for the Koffing that is headed hiding behind the automotive parts. We are Pokemon trainers and its our job to catch them all, and squealing like a small potbelly pig when we see a Pikachu is part of the job description. 

3. I’m sorry precious Iphone but I was unaware that I did not have my phone in a waterproof case when I went to jump into that pool, to catch that Squirtle. But I will put you in a bowl of rice and wait for Mrs. Joy to tell me that you are all healed so we can go venturing out into the wild, yet again. 

4. I wasn’t able to catch Ivysaur because the game crashed!!!! andoisfsoifjsaofmsaiofhsaiofjsaoifjsaoifhsaiojfsiajfoiasj I’m okay, I promise....I am just going to go cry now...I will be back in a few. 

I know there are a lot more woes out there but you can go discover them on your own! Good luck, my fellow trainers! 

“Let’s face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren’t invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn’t the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn’t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm goes off by going on. English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which, of course, isn’t a race at all). That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.”

— (via be-killed)

But, but, but!

But, no, because there are reasons for all of those seemingly weird English bits.

Like “eggplant” is called “eggplant” because the white-skinned variety (to which the name originally applied) looks very egg-like.

The “hamburger” is named after the city of Hamburg.

The name “pineapple” originally (in Middle English) applied to pine cones (ie. the fruit of pines - the word “apple” at the time often being used more generically than it is now), and because the tropical pineapple bears a strong resemblance to pine cones, the name transferred.

The “English” muffin was not invented in England, no, but it was invented by an Englishman, Samuel Bath Thomas, in New York in 1894. The name differentiates the “English-style” savoury muffin from “American” muffins which are commonly sweet.

“French fries” are not named for their country of origin (also the United States), but for their preparation. They are French-cut fried potatoes - ie. French fries.

“Sweetmeats” originally referred to candied fruits or nuts, and given that we still use the term “nutmeat” to describe the edible part of a nut and “flesh” to describe the edible part of a fruit, that makes sense.

“Sweetbread” has nothing whatsoever to do with bread, but comes from the Middle English “brede”, meaning “roasted meat”. “Sweet” refers not to being sugary, but to being rich in flavour.

Similarly, “quicksand” means not “fast sand”, but “living sand” (from the Old English “cwicu” - “alive”).

The term boxing “ring” is a holdover from the time when the “ring” would have been just that - a circle marked on the ground. The first square boxing ring did not appear until 1838. In the rules of the sport itself, there is also a ring - real or imagined - drawn within the now square arena in which the boxers meet at the beginning of each round.

The etymology of “guinea pig” is disputed, but one suggestion has been that the sounds the animals makes are similar to the grunting of a pig. Also, as with the “apple” that caused confusion in “pineapple”, “Guinea” used to be the catch-all name for any unspecified far away place. Another suggestion is that the animal was named after the sailors - the “Guinea-men” - who first brought it to England from its native South America.

As for the discrepancies between verb and noun forms, between plurals, and conjugations, these are always the result of differing word derivation.

Writers write because the meaning of the word “writer” is “one who writes”, but fingers never fing because “finger” is not a noun derived from a verb. Hammers don’t ham because the noun “hammer”, derived from the Old Norse “hamarr”, meaning “stone” and/or “tool with a stone head”, is how we derive the verb “to hammer” - ie. to use such a tool. But grocers, in a certain sense, DO “groce”, given that the word “grocer” means “one who buys and sells in gross” (from the Latin “grossarius”, meaning “wholesaler”).

“Tooth” and “teeth” is the legacy of the Old English “toð” and “teð”, whereas “booth” comes from the Old Danish “boþ”. “Goose” and “geese”, from the Old English “gōs” and “gēs”, follow the same pattern, but “moose” is an Algonquian word (Abenaki: “moz”, Ojibwe: “mooz”, Delaware: “mo:s”). “Index” is a Latin loanword, and forms its plural quite predictably by the Latin model (ex: matrix -> matrices, vertex -> vertices, helix -> helices).

One can “make amends” - which is to say, to amend what needs amending - and, case by case, can “amend” or “make an amendment”. No conflict there.

“Odds and ends” is not word, but a phrase. It is, necessarily, by its very meaning, plural, given that it refers to a collection of miscellany. A single object can’t be described in the same terms as a group.

“Teach” and “taught” go back to Old English “tæcan” and “tæhte”, but “preach” comes from Latin “predician” (“præ” + “dicare” - “to proclaim”).

“Vegetarian” comes of “vegetable” and “agrarian” - put into common use in 1847 by the Vegetarian Society in Britain.

“Humanitarian”, on the other hand, is a portmanteau of “humanity” and “Unitarian”, coined in 1794 to described a Christian philosophical position - “One who affirms the humanity of Christ but denies his pre-existence and divinity”. It didn’t take on its current meaning of “ethical benevolence” until 1838. The meaning of “philanthropist” or “one who advocates or practices human action to solve social problems” didn’t come into use until 1842.

We recite a play because the word comes from the Latin “recitare” - “to read aloud, to repeat from memory”. “Recital” is “the act of reciting”. Even this usage makes sense if you consider that the Latin “cite” comes from the Greek “cieo” - “to move, to stir, to rouse , to excite, to call upon, to summon”. Music “rouses” an emotional response. One plays at a recital for an audience one has “called upon” to listen.

The verb “to ship” is obviously a holdover from when the primary means of moving goods was by ship, but “cargo” comes from the Spanish “cargar”, meaning “to load, to burden, to impose taxes”, via the Latin “carricare” - “to load on a cart”.

“Run” (moving fast) and “run” (flowing) are homonyms with different roots in Old English: “ærnan” - “to ride, to reach, to run to, to gain by running”, and “rinnan” - “to flow, to run together”. Noses flow in the second sense, while feet run in the first. Simillarly, “to smell” has both the meaning “to emit” or “to perceive” odor. Feet, naturally, may do the former, but not the latter.

“Fat chance” is an intentionally sarcastic expression of the sentiment “slim chance” in the same way that “Yeah, right” expresses doubt - by saying the opposite.

“Wise guy” vs. “wise man” is a result of two different uses of the word “wise”. Originally, from Old English “wis”, it meant “to know, to see”. It is closely related to Old English “wit” - “knowledge, understanding, intelligence, mind”. From German, we get “Witz”, meaning “joke, witticism”. So, a wise man knows, sees, and understands. A wise guy cracks jokes.

The seemingly contradictory “burn up” and “burn down” aren’t really contradictory at all, but relative. A thing which burns up is consumed by fire. A house burns down because, as it burns, it collapses.

“Fill in” and “fill out” are phrasal verbs with a difference of meaning so slight as to be largely interchangeable, but there is a difference of meaning. To use the example in the post, you fill OUT a form by filling it IN, not the other way around. That is because “fill in” means “to supply what is missing” - in the example, that would be information, but by the same token, one can “fill in” an outline to make a solid shape, and one can “fill in” for a missing person by taking his/her place. “Fill out”, on the other hand, means “to complete by supplying what is missing”, so that form we mentioned will not be filled OUT until we fill IN all the missing information.

An alarm may “go off” and it may be turned on (ie. armed), but it does not “go on”. That is because the verb “to go off” means “to become active suddenly, to trigger” (which is why bombs and guns also go off, but do not go on).

I have never been so turned on in my entire life.

Are you Susie Dent from Dictionary Corner?

Ok, I love the poetry of the first part, and I love the explanations in the second because I learned things.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

I’m really surprised that this is considered an unpopular opinion. I’ve seen people who like the Pyramid of Light movie and I kind of liked too, but I don’t think I’ve seen anyone like Capsule Monsters. Not even among the dub only fans. It really adds nothing even to the dub version of the story and it just feels like they were desperate to keep the DM characters for a bit longer. It was so unnecessary and a waste of money on 4Kids’ part.

THis is not an unpopular opinion at all - I don’t know anyone who actually likes capsule monsters tbh lol

I like it. :) It’s not as good as the actual show but I thought it was fun to watch and I liked the whole armor forms and stuff. Plus it has one of my favorite scenes ever in it so I can’t see it as being all that bad. ^^;

I agree with theabcsofjustice. I liked the capsule monsters story arc as well. I thought the whole concept behind it was really cool, it's awesome that Yami got to talk to Alexander the Great and help turn around Alexander's heart. Even if the delivery was kind of sub-par there was a lot of great scenes that made those moments not as noticeable.

Also, I liked how Tristan had a bigger role than he usually does. I feel like some of his finer moments are in this sub-season. For example, how he was the one to figure out how to destroy the stone by getting the chandelier monster (I can't remember it's name) to attack it. Or how he blinded the sea monster before attacking it with ThunderKid.

Yami Yugi from Season 2. This anime still holds a special place in my heart, especially since it is the first one that I ever watched. 

Something I just drew on a Buddha Board to celebrate everything that is orca!!!

Giveaway

We are sending a message to Kotobukiya wishing for more Yu-Gi-Oh! figures, especially of the egypt characters. Please help us by signing the petition

To make sure this message reaches as many fans as possible, I’ll do a little giveaway for everyone participating.

What you have to do to win:

1. Reblog this and one (or all) of the following posts: tumblr twitter facebook

2. Consider signing the petition: Change.org

Giveaway End: 5th January 2016 23:59 CET

Out of all shared postings there will be 3 winners who get a merchandise pack. Thanks for your help! ♥

Sign this petition!! Yu-gi-oh for the win!!!!!

My friends neighbors have a confederate flag hanging over their garage and when I spoke up about how unnecessary that was I got “it’s history leave it alone. It’s not racist!” But my reasoning that it’s unnecessary to fly the confederate flag is because I hardly ever see the historical “don’t tread on me” flag used in the American Revolution. That historic excuse to fly the confederate flag is crap.

I don’t know why people are still so hung up over the Civil War and I grew up in the state where the majority of its battles were fought. I think seeing relics from it, like the old earthworks that are still around, is interesting but I don’t get the pride in the Confederate flag. I mean, we lost the war. There’s really nothing to be proud of there and no one should ever be proud of fighting for slavery.

But that's the issue....the Civil War was not fought over slavery. It was fought over states rights. I think the real issue is that people are so worried about being politically correct and not treading over everyone else's feet that we forgot about what freedom of expression means. If your neighbor wants to fly a confederate flag let them, that flag is just an inanimate object, and if someone takes offense to that, the only thing I can ask is why? It's not doing you any harm? It's your mind set that is making it offensive, take it from a historical standpoint, it is just a flag that represents a group of people fighting to protect their beliefs, not trying to defend slavery. It is a just a way for that person to express their own heritage not something to make other people feel self conscious about themselves.

‘A Californian congressmen has just introduced a law to make it illegal to keep orcas in captivity. This could change everything — but SeaWorld is already mounting a vicious campaign to defeat this congressman’s brave move. We need to tell the State of California that the public won’t accept SeaWorld’s imprisonment of orcas any longer.’

Enact the Orca Welfare and Safety Act to make it illegal to hold orcas in captivity for performance or entertainment purposes

THIS IS SERIOUSLY SO CLOSE, SIGNAL BOOST SO HARD

Why would you want to close Seaworld? They are not hurting the animals as some people claim they are, and closing Seaworld or making it illegal for them to have these animals in their care will only hurt the animals. You can't release them into the ocean, most of them have never even experienced it or they don't remember how to survive on their own, and they will die. Sea pens will cause them unnecessary stress by taking away their environment that is suited to their needs. (Perfect water temperature, controlled from harmful bacteria and other sea animals.)

If we really want to help these animals, we will help Seaworld create the best conditions they can for them in their parks.

I really like your blog and all of your insight on Yugioh, but I can't support this bill, it's just not right :/

Trinidad the manatee was found keeping warm in a power plant outflow near Houston. Having traveled all the way from Florida, the manatee was suffering from cold stress and in need of a rescue. After several months of rehabilitation at SeaWorld San Antonio, the big guy was healthy enough to return to Orlando, where SeaWorld successfully returned him to his native Florida waters. 

Because I’m genuinely curious and cannot understand your point of view. I would like to get some honest answers, if anyone is brave enough. And possibly by the end of it, we can understand one another better.

1. Do you believe SeaWorld should be held accountable for the deaths of many whales…

Hi, I may have some answers for you and I am glad to find someone who is open to other points of view. It’s like a breath of fresh air. Most people I come across on both sides of this debate are so closed minded that open discussion becomes impossible and end up causing more harm than good. 

1. I believe that Seaworld should be held accountable for some of the deaths at their park, but we also need to take into account when the animals died and how advance care was at that time. When Seaworld first opened its orca program they honestly did not know much about the animals and that explains the early deaths, such as with the first Shamu. Though we see a lengthening in life expectancy for Seaworld’s orcas as they began to gain more knowledge from observing and working with their animals. Today, Seaworld’s orcas are doing extremely well health wise and they provide these animals with the best care and go to great lengths to make sure that their animals are safe and healthy. For some of the animals that have passed away recently, such as one of their polar bears, they passed away from natural causes that are common in those animals. 

No one can predict how long an individual animal will live, because there are too many differing variables that arise throughout their life time. For example, this isn’t Seaworld, but if you take some household pets, such as a cat. Their normal life span is 12-20 years old. My cat died at the age of 9 but there was nothing I could do about it, because she died from a common problem in cats that cause liver failure. I took her to the vet but what they told me is that, individual animals don’t always live up to the life expectancy of the species because, like humans they are individuals and their health needs vary. Therefore getting back to my point, it doesn’t matter how much care Seaworld provides death is going to happen, its just a natural process of life. 

2. I am not sure exactly what you are trying to ask in this one, because research shows that Seaworld’s orcas are thriving. They are healthy and their interactions with the trainers and the other members of their pod point to a content animals. The NOAA did an investigation on Seaworld and reported that they found no signs of abuse or distress from their animals. 

If you are asking about whether Seaworld should have changed its policies and tried to rehabilitate its animals to release them, then there are some major problems with that idea. Most of the animals under Seaworld’s care have either been bred in captivity or have either been deemed to dependent or not able to rehabilitation and release. If they were to put those animals back in their natural habitat it would lead to disaster. 

3. There are no signs of mental/physical problems of captivity. If you are referring to the collapsed dorsal fin then the answer to that question is; Orcas in the wild are use to staying underwater for longer periods than Seaworld’s orcas and the water pressure helps keep their dorsal fins up. Seaworld’s Orcas, because of the constant interaction with their trainers and the park guests spend more of their time at the surface. Since Orca’s dorsal fin is made of up cartilage they begin to flop, because of the lack of water pressure, but it actually has no sign of the overall health of the animal. There are actually Orcas in the wild that have collapsed dorsal fins. It just depends on how much time they spend at the surface. 

Also, I know rake marks have been used as evidence for abuse, but this is actually a common behavior among orcas and other dolphins. It is their way of communicating and showing dominance and is actually a healthy response not a negative one. (Though, when there is too much aggression than Seaworld will separate the animals in order to make sure that they are safe.) 

Keeping the animals on ‘display’ is a way not only for the park guests to see the animals and learn more about them but it is also an enrichment exercise for the animals. They are performing behaviors that would be seen in the wild and it also helps in exercise. Close the shows and they take away this enrichment exercise and it takes away the learning aspect from the Seaworld experience. (Also, I am not sure why, but some people often point out that the animals probably hate the music that is played, but in reality they can’t hear it. Orcas and dolphins hear at such a high frequency that the music doesn’t register to them, its like when someone blows into a dog whistle, we can’t hear it, but a dog can. 

4. I honestly have not seen or heard any lies from Seaworld, so I am not sure what you are talking about. A friend of mine lives in Orlando and she is a Marine Biologist and she studies wild orcas and bottle-nose dolphins and then goes often to Seaworld and studies their animals and compares the results, and so far she has reported that she cannot find any signs of distress among the animals at the park. She did say however that it is true that these animals behave a bit differently but she says this can be explained from the different environments they live in. Wild orcas and bottle-nose dolphins have to fight for survival and their behaviors reflect this instinct to survive. Seaworld’s animals don’t have to worry to much about survival since they are constantly given the care that they need, so they don’t have to go to great lengths to find food or dive to great lengths. Different behaviors to suit different environments. 

5. Again, going off of number four, I haven’t seen or heard these lies. I am not exactly sure what you are talking about and I really don’t want to be ignorant and act like I do, because I don’t. If you could give me some examples I will more than gladly do some more research and get back to you with a more sufficient answer. 

6. Again, I never saw or heard this statement. Though, I can say this, if Seaworld did say this then there words may have been taken out of context. If the orcas were banned from the parks then what would society do with them? It will take money and a vast amount of resources to move them to a seapen and get them adjusted, even more to try and rehabilitate them(though, I highly advise against this approach, many of these orcas have not been in an actual ocean, so there chances of survival are really really slim,)  or some other marine park would have to step up and begin to provide for their care. 

To your question does it bother me, yes it would, if I actually heard the words or read what they said in full context and it came across in some kind of harsh sarcastic way, but I don’t think they would make this kind of statement. it doesn’t seem like something they would do. But again, provide me the context and I will gladly re-evaluate and get back to you with another answer. 

7. Again, the orcas at Seaworld are not suffering, if anything they are healthier than most people are. If you are pointing out that their quality of life is different than the wild orcas than you are right they are, but they do live in two different worlds. It would make more sense for them to have different qualities of life, they don’t need to behave like the orcas in the wild, they are not struggling to survive. 

8. As I mentioned earlier, I think it would be detrimental to these animals health if we were to try and rehabilitate them and put them out into the wild. Sea-pens will provide unnecessary distress on these animals who are used to controlled temperatures and water quality. Also, the presence of other sea creatures might cause them to become nervous because most of them haven’t experienced this type of habitat. Allowing these animals to die out in captivity is a long process and then you are taking away these animals natural instinct to reproduce. That would actually hurt these animals quality of life because we would be taking a natural instinct that would cause them to become distressed and agitated. 

9. Seaworld’s breeding program has gotten significantly better, I mean the health of their two newest calves, Makani and Amaya are proof of that. These animals are healthy and are doing extremely well. 

10. Seaworld’s research on their orcas and their other animals as well help with taking care of the wild animals because we understand how they interact with each other better. It is extremely difficult to keep tabs on a wild orca pod so our knowledge of them and how they interact, (for example with their young) is extremely limited. Seaworld offers a unique insight to how orcas and their other animals raise their young, communicate, and just how we can help increase the overall health of the animals in their parks and in the wild. 

A prime example would be on how Seaworld researchers discovered that Orcas can learn new dialects of their own language and can adapt so they can communicate with other orcas. This information would be hard or nearly impossible to discover by following one pod in the ocean but it is possible by working up close with these animals. 

I hope I helped clear up some of your questions if you have any more or just want to point out something that I missed feel free. Again, I really appreciate your openness and I hope that we can get a clearer understanding of each other’s views. 

I have a couple things to address here, I just want to stress that you please keep an open mind to what I’m about to say and understand that I have spent a LOT of time looking at both sides of this issue and I’m not one of those people who watched Blackfish once and now wants to set all the whales free. I’m also more than willing to provide you with sources and links if you ask for  them, but I haven’t included them here just because of the amount of times I’ve spent an hour writing a post with sources, only for the person to totally ignore it. also If you want to check out my ‘Info’ tag, you’ll be able to see a bunch of sourced posts that elaborate on my point of view. Okay…here we go You state a couple different times that SeaWorld’s orcas are healthy and thriving. To be blunt, this is simply not true, it’s just indisputable. The orcas are sick. It’s pretty common knowledge that the whales are heavily medicated every day. And this isn’t just extra vitamins - it’s medicines used to combat the list of problems they are suffering as a result of their environment. In some cases it’s sedatives to keep the whales complacent, obedient, and calm. If the orcas weren’t given these medications, they would die. Either they would suffer serious infections brought on by the drilled holes in their teeth (many of SeaWorld’s orcas have died this way), stress-related sicknesses and ulcers (again, ulcers are the norm in captive whales and dolphins), increased aggression among the “pod members”…it simply isn’t logical to say that animals who must be heavily medicated every day of their lives in order to survive are healthy and thriving. On top of that, you have animals who are so stressed out and bored that they chew on metal and concrete and shatter their own teeth. Can you imagine how painful that is? Yet they continue to do it as a result of the horrible environment they are forced to live in. You have animals who display other stereotypic behaviours like languishing on concrete slide-outs, throwing up their food, bobbing up and down, swimming the same pattern for hours, and laying on the bottom of the pool in a completely unresponsive, catatonic state. Unfortunately your marine biologist friend must not know about this kind of stuff. Respected scientists and experts in the marine biology field all agree that SeaWorld’s orcas do not have a good quality of life. This is not just a difference in behaviour between captive and wild; these are serious indicators that the animals needs are not being met, and in some cases this stuff can be fatal. About the lies from SeaWorld….I’m afraid you are being misled if you believe they tell you the truth. Here are just a couple examples of their lies, misleadings, and manipulating scientific data to suit their needs: -SeaWorld claims they do not separate mother and calf. Even now, their website says this. LIE. Many, many young orcas have been taken from their mothers, some as young as 2 and 3 years old! This is unacceptable on all levels. -SeaWorld has taken the hard work of scientists who’ve spent their careers studying wild orcas and manipulated it to make themselves look better. Here is just ONE example. -Trainers are documented telling guests that dorsal fin collapse happens to most wild whales and that a whale who hasn’t moved in hours is just “sleeping”. -SeaWorld has been cited for polluting Mission Bay and for racially discriminating. they have been complicit in the hunting of wild beluga whales by obtaining sperm from any that were killed, and they pay for the sperm of other captive orcas living in bad conditions. They breed their whales unnaturally young and dangerously often, some whales were treated like puppy mill dogs until they died of birthing complications. SeaWorld is run by men with business degrees, not scientists or orca experts. None of those things are the trademarks of a respectable company. You also mentioned that not allowing the whales to breed would be detrimental to their health because it takes away their natural instincts. Then I have to ask you this: if allowing the whales to behave naturally is so important, then why do SeaWorld and their fans believe it’s okay to keep them in conditions that deny them EVERYTHING that is natural to them? They live in completely barren pools with almost no form of visual or mental stimulation. These are some of the most intelligent animals on Earth, they are the ocean’s top predator, highly evolved and adapted, and people think it’s okay to stick them in an empty box and call it a day? UNACCEPTABLE! Most of the whales don’t get to live with their real families, they are not able to hunt or forage for their food, they can’t dive deep down underwater, they can’t use their echolocation…you could almost say there is some level of sensory deprivation going on here. Would you put an elephant or a tiger in an empty cage for its whole life and expect it to be fine? Captive born or wild born, ALL orcas in captivity are still wild animals. They MUST be able to behave as naturally as possible in order to have a good quality of life and be healthy. This goes for all captive animals, not just cetaceans. "Mostly I think I learned that this was a very unsuitable place to keep a remarkable being." -Quote from Dr. Paul Spong, a respected neuroscientist and cetologist on what he learned from studying a captive whale named Skana. I could go on and on for hours, but I’ve spent too much time on this already. Like I said, check out my info tag if you want more information and if you want a specific source on something I’ve said, let me know!

Again, I am happy we can actually have an intellectual discussion about this, it is really nice to find someone else who is open on the topic. 

I have read over what you said and went over and read the information on your blog. I have also sent an email to my friend in Orlando about the whole medication and chewing of the fence/concrete debate, since I don’t know much about the topic, and I don’t want to claim to have information that I don’t, if that makes sense. (Also, I tried to look up more information on my own but I wasn’t able to come up with any third party sources that are not trying to take part of this debate. When I do research I try to steer clear from biased sources and most of the information I got was either from Seaworld of Hurt and other internet sources like that. I just don’t trust their credibility since they have a blatant agenda.) Also, since my friend regularly studies wild orcas, she may have more information about why the bobbing might be taking place or laying on the floor of the pools. There may be some similarities between wild orcas behaviors and the captive orcas behaviors that can explain these behaviors, or you may be right about them being bored. If that is the case then there has to be some kind of change because abnormal behaviors often point to their being a problem. But again, since I am not an expert, I am going to wait to hear back from her and continue to do my own research, before I jump any conclusions.  

As for the throwing up of food I may have an answer for that. In my own personal studies I have found that the orcas in general throw up when bacteria or food gets lodged in their throat or if they just want to clear their digestive system of things they can’t break down. It is actually pretty common among all see mammals and land mammals. (In fact, in a really disgusting study, whale and dolphin vomit have been found to be a really good material that can be used in cosmetics and colognes. Which is disgusting but I guess as the saying goes, ones trash is another man’s treasure.) 

As for other abuses, I have only seen those kinds of claims, again, on sights that are wanting to close down Seaworld and since I don’t exactly know how credible they are, I try to find research from sources that are just researching or from National Associations that are investigating Seaworld or other zoological/aquariums. According to AZA, (Assocaition of Zoos and Aquariums), SeaWorld is a leader in animal care and has been given accreditation. I find it hard to see why this association would mention that if they believed there was any foul play with the animals or if there parks were mistreating them in anyway.  

In any case, I am going to continue to try and find other sources and wait back for my friends response. (If you want me to let you know what her response is just let me know.) 

I want what is best for these animals, if there is foul play involved than it definitely needs to stop. Though, I still believe that closing down the park and trying to rehabilitate the animals for release is still a really bad idea. I believe the best plan of action is to work with SeaWorld in order to help provide a better life for these amazing animals, not work against them. 

Thank you again for your response and openness on this topic. 

Because I’m genuinely curious and cannot understand your point of view. I would like to get some honest answers, if anyone is brave enough. And possibly by the end of it, we can understand one another better.

1. Do you believe SeaWorld should be held accountable for the deaths of many whales...

Hi, I may have some answers for you and I am glad to find someone who is open to other points of view. It’s like a breath of fresh air. Most people I come across on both sides of this debate are so closed minded that open discussion becomes impossible and end up causing more harm than good. 

1. I believe that Seaworld should be held accountable for some of the deaths at their park, but we also need to take into account when the animals died and how advance care was at that time. When Seaworld first opened its orca program they honestly did not know much about the animals and that explains the early deaths, such as with the first Shamu. Though we see a lengthening in life expectancy for Seaworld’s orcas as they began to gain more knowledge from observing and working with their animals. Today, Seaworld’s orcas are doing extremely well health wise and they provide these animals with the best care and go to great lengths to make sure that their animals are safe and healthy. For some of the animals that have passed away recently, such as one of their polar bears, they passed away from natural causes that are common in those animals. 

No one can predict how long an individual animal will live, because there are too many differing variables that arise throughout their life time. For example, this isn’t Seaworld, but if you take some household pets, such as a cat. Their normal life span is 12-20 years old. My cat died at the age of 9 but there was nothing I could do about it, because she died from a common problem in cats that cause liver failure. I took her to the vet but what they told me is that, individual animals don’t always live up to the life expectancy of the species because, like humans they are individuals and their health needs vary. Therefore getting back to my point, it doesn’t matter how much care Seaworld provides death is going to happen, its just a natural process of life. 

2. I am not sure exactly what you are trying to ask in this one, because research shows that Seaworld’s orcas are thriving. They are healthy and their interactions with the trainers and the other members of their pod point to a content animals. The NOAA did an investigation on Seaworld and reported that they found no signs of abuse or distress from their animals. 

If you are asking about whether Seaworld should have changed its policies and tried to rehabilitate its animals to release them, then there are some major problems with that idea. Most of the animals under Seaworld’s care have either been bred in captivity or have either been deemed to dependent or not able to rehabilitation and release. If they were to put those animals back in their natural habitat it would lead to disaster. 

3. There are no signs of mental/physical problems of captivity. If you are referring to the collapsed dorsal fin then the answer to that question is; Orcas in the wild are use to staying underwater for longer periods than Seaworld’s orcas and the water pressure helps keep their dorsal fins up. Seaworld’s Orcas, because of the constant interaction with their trainers and the park guests spend more of their time at the surface. Since Orca’s dorsal fin is made of up cartilage they begin to flop, because of the lack of water pressure, but it actually has no sign of the overall health of the animal. There are actually Orcas in the wild that have collapsed dorsal fins. It just depends on how much time they spend at the surface. 

Also, I know rake marks have been used as evidence for abuse, but this is actually a common behavior among orcas and other dolphins. It is their way of communicating and showing dominance and is actually a healthy response not a negative one. (Though, when there is too much aggression than Seaworld will separate the animals in order to make sure that they are safe.) 

Keeping the animals on ‘display’ is a way not only for the park guests to see the animals and learn more about them but it is also an enrichment exercise for the animals. They are performing behaviors that would be seen in the wild and it also helps in exercise. Close the shows and they take away this enrichment exercise and it takes away the learning aspect from the Seaworld experience. (Also, I am not sure why, but some people often point out that the animals probably hate the music that is played, but in reality they can’t hear it. Orcas and dolphins hear at such a high frequency that the music doesn’t register to them, its like when someone blows into a dog whistle, we can’t hear it, but a dog can. 

4. I honestly have not seen or heard any lies from Seaworld, so I am not sure what you are talking about. A friend of mine lives in Orlando and she is a Marine Biologist and she studies wild orcas and bottle-nose dolphins and then goes often to Seaworld and studies their animals and compares the results, and so far she has reported that she cannot find any signs of distress among the animals at the park. She did say however that it is true that these animals behave a bit differently but she says this can be explained from the different environments they live in. Wild orcas and bottle-nose dolphins have to fight for survival and their behaviors reflect this instinct to survive. Seaworld’s animals don’t have to worry to much about survival since they are constantly given the care that they need, so they don’t have to go to great lengths to find food or dive to great lengths. Different behaviors to suit different environments. 

5. Again, going off of number four, I haven’t seen or heard these lies. I am not exactly sure what you are talking about and I really don’t want to be ignorant and act like I do, because I don’t. If you could give me some examples I will more than gladly do some more research and get back to you with a more sufficient answer. 

6. Again, I never saw or heard this statement. Though, I can say this, if Seaworld did say this then there words may have been taken out of context. If the orcas were banned from the parks then what would society do with them? It will take money and a vast amount of resources to move them to a seapen and get them adjusted, even more to try and rehabilitate them(though, I highly advise against this approach, many of these orcas have not been in an actual ocean, so there chances of survival are really really slim,)  or some other marine park would have to step up and begin to provide for their care. 

To your question does it bother me, yes it would, if I actually heard the words or read what they said in full context and it came across in some kind of harsh sarcastic way, but I don’t think they would make this kind of statement. it doesn’t seem like something they would do. But again, provide me the context and I will gladly re-evaluate and get back to you with another answer. 

7. Again, the orcas at Seaworld are not suffering, if anything they are healthier than most people are. If you are pointing out that their quality of life is different than the wild orcas than you are right they are, but they do live in two different worlds. It would make more sense for them to have different qualities of life, they don’t need to behave like the orcas in the wild, they are not struggling to survive. 

8. As I mentioned earlier, I think it would be detrimental to these animals health if we were to try and rehabilitate them and put them out into the wild. Sea-pens will provide unnecessary distress on these animals who are used to controlled temperatures and water quality. Also, the presence of other sea creatures might cause them to become nervous because most of them haven’t experienced this type of habitat. Allowing these animals to die out in captivity is a long process and then you are taking away these animals natural instinct to reproduce. That would actually hurt these animals quality of life because we would be taking a natural instinct that would cause them to become distressed and agitated. 

9. Seaworld’s breeding program has gotten significantly better, I mean the health of their two newest calves, Makani and Amaya are proof of that. These animals are healthy and are doing extremely well. 

10. Seaworld’s research on their orcas and their other animals as well help with taking care of the wild animals because we understand how they interact with each other better. It is extremely difficult to keep tabs on a wild orca pod so our knowledge of them and how they interact, (for example with their young) is extremely limited. Seaworld offers a unique insight to how orcas and their other animals raise their young, communicate, and just how we can help increase the overall health of the animals in their parks and in the wild. 

A prime example would be on how Seaworld researchers discovered that Orcas can learn new dialects of their own language and can adapt so they can communicate with other orcas. This information would be hard or nearly impossible to discover by following one pod in the ocean but it is possible by working up close with these animals. 

I hope I helped clear up some of your questions if you have any more or just want to point out something that I missed feel free. Again, I really appreciate your openness and I hope that we can get a clearer understanding of each other’s views. 

So many anti-caps seem to be under the delusion that the wild is just a happy Disney Land for wild animals, and that they only ever get injuries/rakes/floppy fins/worn teeth/miscarriages/stillborns/dead calves/attack animals (such as ourselves) in captivity, that I felt this was really needed.