The Wellfleet Whale By Stanley Kunitz Essay

The origin of modern day whales, a mystery that has puzzled paleontologists for years, may have just been solved with the discovery of an ankle bone. This discovery might sound simple and unimportant, but the bones of these ancient animals hold many unanswered questions and provide solid proof of origin and behavior. The relationship between whales and other animals has proven to be difficult because whales are warm-blooded, like humans, yet they live in the sea. The fact that they are warm-blooded suggests that they are related to some type of land animal. However, the questions of exactly which animal, and how whales evolved from land to water, have remained unanswered until now.

“ The story of the whale is so remarkable, that were there not so many witnesses, I would not venture to tell it, lest I be accused of exaggeration.”

Even though Singer uses speciesism to explain the lack of empathy towards animals, a counterargument to his theory exists in Marina Keegan’s essay “Why We Care About Whales.” Keegan points out that a tremendous amount of money goes towards the rescue of beached whales when it could go towards helping humanity and other more dire issues. The question becomes whether or not our inability to stop the mass consumption of meat is actually because speciesism makes it so we don’t care about the rights or lives of other animals, or is there another piece to the puzzle? Keegan argues that we care tremendously, “In theory [Keegan] can say that our resources should be concentrated on saving human lives, that our ‘Save the Whales’ T-Shirts should read

David Kirby’s book describes the complex issues of whales in captivity. The death of a SeaWorld trainer brought up many objective reasons of the training practices of this business were not effective at keeping trainers safe in the water. Currently this debate is still being tested in a court of law. OSHA claims that even with the precautions that SeaWorld tries to use, it still cannot guarantee the safety of trainers in the water. This cultural topic has been gaining ground, and recently prompted a movie based off this book titled, Blackfish. The audience of this book includes animal activists, followers of David Kirby, and people that are interested in the topic of killer whales in captivity. Rob Grom was contracted to create a book

This paper will begin with an exposition of the article, “Radical Environmentalism and Wilderness Preservation: A Third World Critique” written by Ramachendra Guha, a sociologist and historian involved in ecological conflict in the East and the West. In this article, he refers to American environmentalism as “deep ecology”, a modern theory founded by Arne Naess. Guha’s argues that based on a comparison of the concepts of deep ecology and other cultural environmentalisms, deep ecology is strictly rooted in American culture and thus, leads to negative social consequences when it is applied to the Third World. This argument will be achieved by first defining deep ecology and its principles.

Killer whales are one of the most fascinating displays of ocean life. The killer whale has characteristics that are important to its survival in the ocean. It is interesting to know that killer whales have a plentiful diet. It is astounding to see how killer whales behave in the ocean. I plan to tell you about the killer whale, its characteristics, its diet, and its behavior in the ocean as well as the predation of the orca.

Orcas are complex social creatures deserving freedom and respect, not captivity in theme parks under the guise of public education and entertainment. Aquarium staffs say captive whales are priceless educational tools. However, people can educate their children by bringing them to the wild instead of bringing the wild to them at the expense of the Orcas health and well-being. "The price of a family admission ticket is what continues to drive this cruel spectacle," according to Michael O' Sullivan, the Executive Director of The Humane Society of Canada (Whales in Captivity, 2010, Para. 3). Orcas suffer in many ways in

For years the killer whale, also known as Orcinus orca, has been drawing the attention of the public through the entertainment industry. These marine mammals have been bringing in billions of dollars to amusement parks such as Sea World, but at what cost? An idea that these killer whales can live happily and content while in captivity may be going through the minds of the public, but this cannot be further away from the truth. To have such complex creatures in captivity is not morally correct and there are many points against it, such as their level of emotional competence, violence between the killer whales, violence of killer of whales towards trainers, shorter lifespans, physical harm, and their level of intelligence. After taking a look at how these creatures function and the conditions they are put in while in captivity, there is no question about whether or not these mammals should be kept in captivity; an experience such as this affects these marine mammals just about the same as it would affect a human because of their high highly developed emotions and complexity. Since these industries do not have a natural authority over these creatures no matter the cause, the best thing they could do for these killer whales is to stop capturing them and return those who are capable back to the wild.

Killer Whales look so happy when visited at places like sea world, but the question is, are they really happy? Killer whales have been kept in captivity since 1961, and 55% of those whales have been kept in United States captivity (Pg. 3). So is it truly possible for something so large to be kept in a small environment, restricted in their movements, and limited in their ability to do what nature intends, while still being happy? My answer to this question is no. I do not believe that Killer Whales are happy living in captivity on the basis that they are not allowed to swim freely.

Similar to Cronon’s Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature, Evernden discusses the concept of nature in today’s society and the impacts of mixing meanings of the term nature. Evernden begins by elaborating on the term nature and using the concept of nature to support contrasting ideas. The author continues by philosophically analyzing two questions about nature: What does the word nature mean? What is nature? Evernden then discusses several definitions and understandings of the term nature. A few of the definitions of nature mentioned are as follows: nature meaning kind; nature as a danger; nature as an assertion of relationships. He relates these concepts to the term phusis, and then goes into detail about the Greek origins

Nature is a beautiful location where animals and plants live in unison, being untouched by humans. The human population, however has the ability to take and abuse nature.

Similar to the ideas of Evernden and Cronon that are discussed above, Hinchliffe attempts to define, or redefine, the term “nature.” The author begins by identifying and defining three possible concepts of the term: nature as an independent state; nature as a dependent colony; and as a co-production. The first idea, nature as an independent state, means nature is something that is separate and in danger. The second, nature as a dependent colony, defines nature as an idea. The final concept, nature as a co-production, describes nature and society as intertwined.

Did you know that when an whale is kept in captivity its lifespan is cut almost in half? (Smolowe, par. 3). Whales in captivity are often abused, underfed, and poorly cared for. They become much more aggressive and develop completely different personalities than if they are left in the wild. They are a danger to the trainers that work with them, one whale at SeaWorld has killed 3 people. The whales are captured and forced to live in swimming pools that are barely bigger than they are and perform shows.

Given the extreme density of the population, especially those in the developing countries, such as China and India, it is absurd to advise that the wilderness indeed should be prioritized over the human life. Specific ecocentric ideas, which propose a rapid decrease in the global population as a way to protect wild nature are deeply troubling on many levels. Ecofeminism calls pleading to be receptive, trusting, holistic in perception, honest, and seeking clarity in intuition might sound promising. However, while on the personal level, followers of non-violent means of nature conservation, such as Arne Naess give a valuable example of attaining simplicity in the lifestyle, on a more general account, ecocentric movements may take a very radical approach. Equating animal rights to the human rights by applying Kant's justice postulates and suggesting that animals should be regarded as ends rather than means illuminates what kind of a disturbing perspective ecocentrics hold. Despite their call for a humankind to unite and achieve a unique harmony with the wilderness and nature, there is a distinct difference between the homo sapiens and the rest of the flora and fauna world. The earth and its non-human inhabitants have a many million years of history of development and evolution. While certain species have an ability to adapt easier to

This book really grabbed me right from the beginning of the story. The story begins with the birth of fraternal twins, with the grandfather patiently awaiting the birth of the son. Right away I felt sadness when the mother and one of the twins die. The boy dies and the girl survives. The grandpa seems to not care about the girl who survived . He was longing for his grandson because he is from the Maori tribe and the tribe is waiting for the sign of a new chief to be born . The chief would lead the village and its community to greatness. Many elders have been born but none with the strength to be the next chief. The little girl was named Pai. The grandma of Pai took her home to raise her along with the grandfather. The grandfather showed