Sometimes I wonder what my cats think of me. I don’t think any cat my family has owned ever really liked me with all the tail pulling that kids love to do. Pets and animals in general can be very therapeutic to humans, it’s the same with almost any wildlife or natural environment. From sounds of rainforests, waves, wind through trees, humans instinctively find relaxation amongst mother nature. So, what pushes us that step further where we feel the need to cross the boundary between enjoying our wildlife, to destroying it due to selfishness, pure greed and self satisfaction?
When you’re older and reminiscing and you show your grandchild a photo of yourself with a precious part of nature, will your grandchild have to ask if the animal in the photo was dead? That’s what may happen to the many who ended a dolphin’s life in Argentina earlier this month, by plucking it from the water to take photos. A rare species, the La Plata dolphin, was placed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species after hundreds of them were caught annually in fisherman gillnets in the 1960s. Now, a video has surfaced of one of these dolphins being passed around like an exhibit. Some say the dolphin was already dead when it was found, but this seems questionable: why you would want to pose with a smile holding a dead animal? Vida Silvestre, a wildlife foundation in Argentina, released a statement urging people to return the dolphins to sea if they come across them.
The incident has sparked controversy- wildlife communities and the general public around the globe are appalled with the actions of the beach goers. Where is the common sense in taking an animal, which is recognised for its beauty and character, and then mishandling and killing it because someone just had to have the whole world know they saw and shared a moment with it? The moment is lost, and heavily depreciated the minute we interfere with nature for our selfish needs. What the beach goers have done here, is gain their media attention for all the wrong reasons…
The beauty of something can often be admired simply by leaving it alone. In circumstances more than people like to admit, this statement is ignored. We need to restore our true love and endearment for nature properly. We can no longer see beauty and touch it with our bare hands, and yet somewhere in someone’s camera roll, holds a selfie with a living human, smiling away. And with what? A cold. Dead. Dolphin.
