When I first heard the news, I was really excited, but I've been thinking about it more and I have completely mixed feelings.
Of course, this bill will never be passed into law. Though the Blackfish Effect is still gaining momentum and recent polls have shown that the majority of the general public is against keeping orcas in captivity, SeaWorld has a lot of financial (and therefore political) power.
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| Image from http://advocacy.britannica.com/ |
However, it is nice just to see this issue pushed through state government. It's a huge step in getting these issues noticed and debated. Another big plus is that Richard Bloom, the assemblyman who is proposing the bill, has outright said that Blackfish was his inspiration. This means that SeaWorld really can't continue to simultaneously say that Blackfish is causing them no problems and run (notable weird) attack ads.
When I first saw the headlines when I woke up this morning, I was positive that the legislation included all dolphins. It seems weird to me that the bill would target only one species of the many dolphins kept in horrible conditions in California (a quick search online found about 50 non-orca dolphins living in captivity in California).
While I am obviously for the liberation of all species, I expected that the writers of this bill and the general population would have at least considered the interests of other dolphins. Did Blackfish really turn the anti-cap movement into one just about orcas? If so, that makes me very sad.
The other issue with the bill that I noticed was that it would ban breeding, capture and performances, but the orcas would still be kept "on display." There is no wording in the bill, to my knowledge, that pushes for sea pens and rehabilitation of the orcas. These are solutions that have been widely researched and it was strange to see them left out of the bill.
Despite the issues, this is a great first step, however we absolutely can't see it as a victory in the least. Be prepared for some serious backlash from SeaWorld.
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| Image from http://obrag.org |
What are your thoughts on the issue? Do you think this bill is good news, bad news, or a mixed bag?
