False Pretences

"You know how you're upset about the baby dolphin those egomaniac humans killed for a selfie?  Go look in the mirror because you're one of them.  2.5 TRILLION Sea Creatures are dredged from our Earth's oceans per year to satisfy your tongue... This includes plenty of dolphins.  At this rate the oceans will be dead by 2050.  Why are you pretending that you care about that one dolphin?" - Elijah Valk

This baby dolphin is the new Cecil the Lion.  Although it's incredibly sad that an animal had to die because of people's selfishness and ignorance, approximately 3,000 "food" animals are killed by people EVERY SECOND for pretty much exactly the same reasons.  Because it's the individual versus the abstract people can relate to one animal being hurt, but not 300,000, let alone trillions.  It's tragic.  And it’s something that needs to be addressed.

Sadly, this isn’t the first time that selfies and egotistical behaviour have affected the well-being of a species.  When sea turtles in Costa Rica flood the shores of the Ostional Wildlife Refuge to lay their eggs each month, tourists flock to the beach to capture the spectacle on camera.  In 2015, so many people crowded on to the beach to observe the action, that they blocked the turtles from reaching land.  Some even went as far as to place their children on the backs of turtles just to take a photo, an illusory smile despite the harm

These instances illustrate the sad reality of what can happen when we involve wild animals in our selfie sessions and self-absorbed culture.  Yes, we all love to see animals, and getting up close to one may seem like an incredible experience, but certainly not at the expense of their lives. 

But it is important to remember that a dead animal at for “food” is no different to a dead animal at the expense of a selfie.  It is absurd that so many people are mourning the loss of this dolphin’s life by liking a Facebook post, only moments later to post a picture of their plate piled with a hamburger or steak.  The sadness you feel when you stare at this lifeless dolphin are similar to the pangs of guilt and the hideous regret of the behaviour of humans inflicted on animals felt by those of us who do not eat meat.  In both scenarios, an animal dies for a human’s pleasure, and in both scenarios, it’s completely unnecessary.

Our oceans are under attack.  Because of human interference and human greed.  We take everything from the ocean and give nothing back.  We tend not to think of fish and land animals in the same way, but “aquaculture” — the intensive rearing of sea animals in confinement — is essentially underwater factory farming.

Modern industrial fishing lines can be as long as 75 miles - that’s enough line to cross the English Channel more than three times.  An estimated 27 million hooks are deployed every day. And longlines don’t kill just their “target species,” they sweep up everything in their paths.  Up to 145 other species as well.  Roughly 4.5 million sea animals are killed as bycatch in longline fishing every year, including roughly 3.3 million sharks, 1 million marlins, 60,000 sea turtles, 75,000 albatross, and over 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises.  If you eat fish, you are killing dolphins too.

There is something ominous about this scorched-earth method of “harvesting” sea animals.  The average trawling operation throws 80 to 90 percent of the sea animals it captures as bycatch overboard.  The least efficient operations throw more than 98 percent of captured sea animals, dead, back into the ocean.  We are literally reducing the diversity and vibrancy of ocean life as a whole.  All for a palate preference.

If you are upset about this dolphin dying as a result of a culture obsessed with personal appearances and selfies, you should also be upset with your choices which are contributing to further destruction and death.  We are the cause of species depletion.

If you are really concerned about the death of this dolphin, and the countless others, and the biodiversity of our oceans, we must stop fishing and consuming sea animals entirely.