There are a plethora of ways to abuse animals for human consumption, as showcased by my recent visit to Sea World, San Diego.
- Have animals starve around you while you are eating lunch. Look how hungry this birdie looks.
- Have flamingos scrambling for scraps of food in a pond with customers having to pay 50 cents to feed any single one of them.
- Have dolphins perform fun tricks for some fish-food to terrible music.
- Have animals be subjugated to harsh animal cruelty by being placed on customer’s heads (like the one provided below).
- Have penguins suffer in a not-so-cold environment, melting in non-Antarctic environments.
- Have sea otters perform tricks on a stage like a clown.
In all seriousness though, I’m well aware of the controversy surrounding Sea World, mostly due to the accusations made in the movie “Blackfish”. I’m going to go ahead and make the claim that I don’t have the expertise nor experience to actually pick one side over another. The smart thing from a PR perspective for Sea World to do is to showcase the steps they are actively taking to ensure their animals are treated in a humane way. It was nice for them to give all teachers free tickets though, and if they are truly are “abusing” animals the free-market will do its job of punishing them in the future.
That being said, I enjoyed taking several of my students to see Sea World, and my favorite ride was of course the water one, where we all got soaked.
I was proud of myself for riding the new roller coaster, the electric eel, something I would have never ridden years ago. Luckily with the right amount of peer pressure, I was able to face my demons and encounter Hannah Baker on my deathbed during the course of the ride.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlEtqlXD1mK/?taken-by=mrtranrise
Of course, Sea World was just the appetizer for the main course, me taking my students to my favorite restaurant Phil’s BBQ for my 139th visit! No dolphins for this dinner. They all loved it, I think.
