Author: at0886a

I decided to choose the topic that Should SeaWorld release their sea creatures back into the ocean?

There are two sides to the argument. One side is it is very unethical to keep sea animals captive in a ridiculously small tank and perform tricks for food and money is the only reason for it to be that way. The other side is sea animals help educate people about marine life, it helps save a lot of animal lives by providing research, and SeaWorld helps more animals with its revenue.

The sources I’m using to help me out are: http://www.blackfishmovie.com/

http://www-sciencemag-org.proxyau.wrlc.org/news/2016/03/seaworld-stops-breeding-orcas-what-are-impacts-research

 aeon.co/ideas/stop-boycotting-seaworld-if-you-care-about-marine-conservation.

I side with we should keep SeaWorld because the marine oceans are still not clean and since the orcas are raised in tanks, they would not be comfortable or adapt with the new environment.

I believe that this would raise awareness on why climate change and rising sea levels can massively affect decisions on marine life organisms and could negatively affect many islands and animals.

The site I choose to post on is the USA Today as the audience is mostly in the middle center where they have a balance of opinions. It also reaches out to many people who are interested in the current events and many other topics.

Blackfish
http://www.blackfishmovie.com/

This documentary film discusses about the history of SeaWorld and how killer whales are affected by captivity. The film is rather engaging by using graphic scenes and interviews.

Joe Rogan Experience

This podcast clip has Joe Rogan talk with Kelly Slater about SeaWorld mistreating their killer whales and how a whale should be free from captivity. Using their voices the audience can listen to a discussion. (Note: strong language used)

Aeon Article

https://aeon.co/ideas/stop-boycotting-seaworld-if-you-care-about-marine-conservation

This article takes a deeper look into SeaWorld and how supporting SeaWorld can actually help more animals rather than destroying the environment. Using statistics and logic, there are many reasons to convince why it is important to save SeaWorld.

A little bit of background info on how I got interested in Environmentalism. Environmentalism was not an issue for me when I was growing up. I lived in a suburban area in Maryland (DMV area) and the property was mostly full of grass and a couple of trees. My backyard was a small green field that was surrounded by fences. The animals were mostly consist of small birds, rabbits, and squirrels (even occasionally foxes and deer). My neighborhood was mostly clean and healthy. There was rarely any piece of paper, plastic bottle, or metal cans on the ground. Of course, there are a lot of leaves on the grass, but they come from the trees that change during the season. For the last couple of years, the weather has been strange. It has not been snowing a lot (if it has it would usually be late in the season) and there has been drastically hot and cold temperatures. I knew there was something going on. I did not have any interest in science until high school. I took Marine Biology in high school and watched films such as The Cove and Blackfish. I saw how horrible it was for marine life to live in such polluted waters. Whether the pollution is oil spills, human involvement, and plastic trash. I also took AP Environmental Science (unfortunately did not pass) and learned a lot about renewable energy, invasive species, the ozone layer, and nonrenewable energy. Renewable sources such as solar and wind power. Nonrenewable energy such as coal and petroleum. Invasive species such as kudzu vines and zebra mussels. I also read a lot about worldwide pollution in the news: countries such as USA cities, China, India, Mexico, Russia, Japan and many others. It makes me a little sad to see lots of negative greenhouse gases emitted around the world. Right now, I am taking Asian Studies as my major and I want to somehow incorporate my knowledge of environmentalism and mix it with information about East Asia (China, Korea, Japan). Whether if I have to translate languages, look at foreign policies, think of possible solutions, or travel there myself. I won’t deny that climate change is happening and there is no way to go back. Though, I am very optimistic that if all humans come together as a community, then we can change the world.

sources (movies):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cove_(film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackfish_(film)