I am a student at UC Santa Cruz contacting you because my eyes have been opened after watching Lolita: slave to entertainment, a film demonstrating the dark side to what seems like a family friendly pastime. As a person who has lived blocked from entertainment sites like SeaWorld and The Miami Seaquarium, I found it unbelievable that I had not realized there was something wrong going on. In a way, you are also being blocked from the reality and I have decided to help you with the eye opening process I experienced. I have decided to reach out to you and ask: What is it that drives you to attend the Miami Seaquarium? If your answer is the shows, I would like to comment and change the way you see the marine mammals used for entertainment. There is a problem with the marine park industries; they use the marine mammals for what they see important, your money. I …show more content…
When you look around you, the image of dolphins and orcas is friendly and cheerful. They are all over, on tuna cans like Starkist tuna, as toys, and on commercials. In reality, that is not the way it is. The media works along with places like the Miami Seaquarium to keep the false image alive. They hide scenes that would not be considered family appropriate. In Reel Nature America’s Romance with Wildlife on Film, Gregg Mitman, affiliate of the Department of the History of Science, mentions how dolphins have a brutal sexual life, but that “the celebrity status of marine mammals is not likely to wane, despite stories revealing a seamier side to the dolphin’s private life” (158). By seamier side, he is mentioning the brutal practices of male dolphins that could result in the deaths of other specimens. It is important for me to highlight this because it opposes the image you are all used to seeing in these mammals. All the behind the scenes happening at these entertainment sites are far more harmful than in the