Take no more prisoners.
Teach them the skills
Of their ancestors
Who thrived for centuries
In icy blue waters
Living in freedom
With dignity.
Watch them live wild
Leaping for joy,
For their own reasons,
Not for our entertainment.
Ask their forgiveness
For the depravity
of their captivity.
Listen to their songs
Rising from the depths
Of the wide ocean
Not from concrete misery.
Learn from their truth,
Untarnished
by human manipulation.
Those who prosper by keeping orcas (aka, killer whales) as prisoners may tell you they live 25 to 30 years in the wild, and that living in captivity is better for them.
Granny, a 103 year old orca recently spotted near British Columbia, would disagree, if you could understand her language, that is.
The following article states, “According to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation project, whales born in captivity only live to 4.5 years old on average. Perhaps it is because the whales are forced to breed continuously and at perilously young ages that they experience such reduced lifespans.
Photo Source: NOAA/Robert Pittman, via Wikimedia
Anything is Possible! 
October 14, 2015 at 3:45 am
I loved what I learned from this. Thank you, Harlon
October 14, 2015 at 3:52 am
I love that you love what you learned. Me too. I will always remember the message of “Granny” the orca matriarch.
October 14, 2015 at 5:39 am
What a great way to send out an important message. Just some days back how tourists have scared off the turtles from laying their eggs this year – it is so sick how we have gotten into the way of nature 😦
October 14, 2015 at 11:58 am
Thank you for caring so much, Prajakta. It’s not an easy thing to care like that, but we must. I wonder what can be done about the tourists scaring the turtles off. Here, volunteers put simple fences around the nests they know of, opening to the ocean, but that wouldn’t help the adults who are trying to lay their eggs. Maybe a protected area or “don’t crowd the turtles” signs. Just writing it in the sand is a start.
October 14, 2015 at 6:52 am
Reblogged this on oshriradhekrishnabole.
October 14, 2015 at 11:59 am
Thank you, Osh!
October 14, 2015 at 10:52 am
Uniquely amongst animals, the human animal regards themselves as non-animals, and from that ubiquitously arrogant delusion, all sorts of ignorance and harm flow.
October 14, 2015 at 11:04 am
It was quite an accurate description of the human race general. I hope that specific points of light are capable of radiating through the dark wilderness of mind.
October 14, 2015 at 11:22 am
Absolutely, and I am not at all a misanthrope. In order to see those ‘points of light’, we first must rid ourselves of such arrogant delusions as to the superiority of the human self-construct. Much of this process involves engaging more as what some call ‘animal awareness’ – or what others term ‘pure perception’. The mind is only a ‘dark wilderness’ when it fails to see what it is, and instead mistakes itself for what it is not; it has to transcend its own lower-level constructs to fully realise itself. What do you think, have I gone too abstract with this Sabiscuit?
October 14, 2015 at 12:26 pm
Thank you for your response. I think the concept of pure perception is going to be tough for the ideal target audience to grasp. Those of us who are seeking answers are willing to let go of some constructs and examine new ones. It’s interesting, however, that we call people animals when they don’t behave with dignity.
October 14, 2015 at 12:11 pm
Thank you for your hope, Sabiscuit. I love the image of light radiating through the darkness.
October 14, 2015 at 12:20 pm
I pray for that every chance I get. Thank you and have a blessed day.
October 14, 2015 at 12:03 pm
Thank you both for caring.
October 14, 2015 at 12:05 pm
I meant for this comment to go higher up. It’s sad that there are too many human animals who think of themselves as separate. But there is hope. Writing about this, whether abstract or practical, is one way to send light to the problem.
October 14, 2015 at 1:20 pm
I am reading you JoAnna – and thank you too.
October 14, 2015 at 2:42 pm
😉
October 15, 2015 at 12:31 am
I wish I could remember the book. I found it while in the university library one afternoon, just browsing for something to read. I don’t know why one would do such a thing without an objective, but I found a very out-of-place book about the intelligence of whales and all they have to teach us. It was utterly fascinating. I think it’s quite possible we could have much better relationships with whales if we tried– not assuming we are superior as Hariod says, but pursuing understanding. I think a great many things are like that on this planet. We have hardly pulled back the covers to see what lies underneath the surface… But of course relationship is the long and hard road… You have to be willing to set aside preconception, and see what it takes…
I wish I could have found more about how they knew that particular whale was 103? Did she have a distinctive marking? Was she tagged?
Peace
Michael
October 15, 2015 at 2:01 am
Thank you so much for asking this, Michael! It spurred me to dig deeper. Wikipedia tells us that her age is estimated by the estimated ages of her offspring and that she was captured with the rest of her pod in 1967 but was released because she was too old for a “marine mammal park.” There is also a reference to a book I must get called, Granny’s Clan, a Tale of Wild Orcas, by Sally Hodson. Here’s the article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granny_%28orca%29
I hope they know that many of us would love to get to know them with respect and humility. Perhaps the whale watchers help with this.