Review Creaturely Poetics: Animality and Vulnerability in Literature and Film Pick Anat Columbia University Press New York, NY (original) (raw)

Slaves to Entertainment: Manufacturing Consent for Orcas in Captivity (2017)

Animal Oppression and Capitalism, 2017

Scientists tell us that orcas have inhabited the planet's oceans for at least 6 million years— probably longer since they belong to the oceanic dolphin family, which first appeared around 11 million years ago. Considering that the genus homo is only about 2.8 million years old and modern humans, homo sapiens, emerged around 200,000 years ago— almost yesterday in geologic time—orcas have had much more time to evolve than humans. In fact, if we assess evolution in intelligence without referring to human-centered criteria (i.e., not only based on human senses and the capacity of abstract thought), then cetaceans in general and orcas in particular would rank as more evolved sentient beings than humans in some important aspects. According to Dr. Lori Marino (2011, 115), a leading researcher in whale and dolphin brain anatomy, the brains of these species have evolved " along a different neuroanatomical trajectory, providing an example of an alternative evolutionary route to complex intelligence on earth. ". This, in short, means that if self-serving views of intelligence (designed to put humans on top) are discarded, cetaceans show how intelligence—and thus the capacity of feelings, emotions and suffering—can be displayed in different, fascinating ways. Nowadays, the Orcinus orca is second only to humans (and possibly the common rat) as the most widely distributed mammal on Earth. They can be found in all oceans from Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas—widely considered evidence of the success of the species, since this expanded habitat means a huge capacity to adapt to very different natural conditions. As in the case of humans, this adaption to the natural environment has additionally produced different orca cultures, which are mostly defined by food and communication. Depending on the area where they live, different groups of orcas have developed different diets, including fish and/or mammal prey (Ford, et al. 2011) and different hunting practices, including very creative group techniques (Neiwert 2015). Furthermore, each distinct population has its own dialect, that is to say, a set of stereotyped calls they use to communicate with one another (Morton 2004). All of these traits are cultural because they are learned, passed down over the generations, and refined over time. This may seem basic compared to the behavior developed by humans in relation to diet and communication, yet this could well be a human delusion. The complexity of orca societies may be something that humans lack the cognitive capacity to truly understand, since it is based on brain capacities that we ourselves are missing. The most important of these, to our knowledge, is their echolocation ability—the kind of sonar orcas use to communicate and see, defined by some as a genuine sixth sense. Dolphin-family echolocation—an ability that bats also share to some extent—puts orcas among the most acoustically sophisticated animals on the planet, since it not only helps them hear sounds or detect the presence of objects, but it also produces clear and detailed visions of objects that go beyond mere vision, allowing them to see inside things (Marino et al 2007;

Dolphin Exploitation and Suffering at SeaWorld Parks: Report for PETA

Dolphin Exploitation and Suffering at SeaWorld Parks: Report, 2019

Dolphins at SeaWorld are confined to artificial, highly unnatural environments that prevent them from performing even the most basic, biologically driven behavior and routinely expose them to damaging psychological trauma, social stress, and physical injury. Their well-being is compromised when they are exposed to excessive anthropogenic noise and harassment from crowds of park visitors and confined to severely crowded, barren enclosures that offer them no means of physical or visual escape and thwart their natural use of sonar. Housing them in such conditions not only is detrimental to their health and well-being but also sends the harmful message to the public that confining them, repeatedly harassing them, and depriving them of everything natural and important to them is acceptable—a message that can stifle compassion in park visitors and confound good conservation efforts.

Swimming with Captive Dolphins: Current Debates and Post-Experience Dissonance.

Dolphins have widespread contemporary appeal and anthropomorphic social representations of dolphins have fuelled a growing desire in tourist populations to seek interaction with them. This paper is concerned with the staged performance of swim-with dolphin interaction programmes in aquaria. Qualitative interviews with tourists who have swum with captive dolphins identified their immediate recollections stressed the grace, size and power of dolphins but a belief the experience was too staged, too short and too expensive. Post-purchase dissonance focussed on concerns with the size of enclosures and about captivity, too many tricks, limited interpretation and unfulfilled expectations of a quality interaction.

Dolphins in Popular Literature and Media

Society & Animals, 2006

This review of how dolphins are portrayed in popular media (including literature, film, television, and music) reveals four themes that may influence public acceptance of current scientific research into dolphin cognition. These themes are: (a) dolphin as peer to humans, of equal intelligence or at least capable of communicating with or helping humans; (b) the dolphin as the representation of a romantic notion of ideal freedom in nature, embodying principles of peace, harmony or love; (c) the dolphin as a naïve, innocent being that is subordinate and in need of human protection; and (d) the dolphin as superior to humans, potentially affiliating with a higher power or intelligence.This review revealed that the use of dolphins in humor reinforced or lampooned the four identified themes, indicating a common acceptance of these themes. The paper concludes with a discussion of the importance of considering popular narratives in the presentation of scientific research results.

In awe of fish? Exploring animal ethics for non-cuddly species

Driessen, C.P.G. 2013. In awe of fish? Exploring animal ethics for non-cuddly species. In: The ethics of consumption: The citizen, the market and the law. Proc. from Eursafe 2013. Eds. Röcklinsberg, H & Sandin, P. Wageningen Academic Publ., 2013

Though rarely counted as individuals, fish are by far the most consumed animals in the world, outnumbering all other food animals combined. These widely eaten animals are generally conceived of as dull and mindless creatures, 'swimming protein to be plucked from rivers and seas'. Over the past several years, however, evidence has been amassed which indicates that fish are more sentient and intelligent than their alleged 'three second memory' would imply. Thus far these findings have had only limited success in arousing public interest in fish welfare. Today still fish are rarely discussed or treated as sentient beings that feel pain and suffer. A series of exploratory workshops with professionals working in a variety of fish-related fields suggested that the reason that people have a hard time appreciating the perspective of fish is not so much a lack of knowledge about fish sentience. Instead it may have more to do with the perceived inability of fish to strike up meaningful relations with humans: they are quintessentially non-cuddly animals, cold, slimy, and with their unblinking and sideways directed eyes they don't have a 'face' to us. Many people however know that some fish species display amazing abilities, such as being able to swim to the Sargasso Sea and back to the river they came from, as the eel does. Such animals seem to generate awe and perhaps respect not for to some extent resembling humans, but by their being different and quintessentially 'other' -precisely for us having trouble to imagine their life form. The type of affect generated by this sense of otherness differs markedly from the common modes of caring about animals based on nearness, empathy and direct interaction, and is more akin to aesthetic experiences evoked around environmental concerns. In discussion with recent work in relational animal ethics, environmental aesthetics, and morethan-human geography, this paper explores the potential of the experience of awe as motivating and guiding an ethics for (farmed) fish. By attending to discourses and material practices concerned with fish, fisheries and fish farming, the challenges of particular understandings of an 'ethics of awe' are considered, including the question of whether and in what ways awe could be expressed as and translated into consumer preferences.