Blackfish

The short animation, The Orca Awareness Project reminds me of when I lived in Niagara Falls. I can still hear the jingle for Marineland, as the commercial played on the television screen. Though Marineland has been a successful business for years in that vicinity, many of us were well aware that keeping animals such as whales and dolphins in captivity was just plain wrong. We also heard many stories coming out of the park about the mistreatment of the animals. Peta has the park in its radar now as well.

It is important that art focuses on important and relevant issues. It engages the viewer and asks them to question the way things are. I firmly believe that projects like the Orca Awareness Project are relevant and important. We humans are mammals just as the whales. They have the capacity to think and feel just as we do. It is important that message is conveyed to the people who would frequent these types of establishments if they were not made aware of the cruelty of their existence. 

When I look upon the things that we humans do to other beings, it astounds me that we have so little love, empathy and compassion within us. At what point in history did man stand up and say, I matter, what I want matters and it does not matter who or what suffers, so long as I get what I want? When did we collectively decide that we were more important than any other living being on this planet?

We are at a tipping point in history. Not only are we collectively becoming aware of the cruelty of our actions in regards to other beings, but we are also taking notice and action on a level not seen before. The Internet has made us aware of what is happening all over the planet in regards to animal cruelty and the damage to the environment. Almost twenty years of the Internet feeding us this information. When are we going to collectively get off our asses and actually do something about it? 

I see the beginning, people who dedicate their lives to helping others. Souls who are now mindfully taking into consideration the effects of their personal carbon footprint. Animal activists are all over my Facebook newsfeed. We are beginning to stir, but we have to move faster. How much have we already lost, and how much will we lose before we make the significant changes necessary to actually live in harmony with the birds and the bees and our fellow man? 

Here I sit writing about these issues. I'm sitting, doing nothing, but making marks upon the Internet for others too see. I'm not doing anything effective. It is time to start planning a life that lives in harmony and stop planning a life that just follows the destructive path of those before. The most important part is to move from the plan to action. It’s time to get off my ass and start making marks that actually matter.