They'll be taking part in the Empty the Tanks campaign's day of action against the practice of keeping and breeding large marine mammals at theme parks like Orlando's Sea World. The event's aim is to raise awareness of the inhumane practice of keeping them confined to small, non-seawater habitats where they're forced to do tricks and interact with humans.
Why hold such a demonstration so far away from the protesters' primary target over an hour away?
Well, Denise Anderson of Florida Voices for Animals told CL, there are lots of local people who want to participate in such a protest, but who can't make the drive to Orlando for whatever reason — so they thought they'd give people who care about animal welfare a chance to raise awareness locally.
“It's a worthwhile cause,” she said.
Plus, tourists, whether inbound from or outbound to Orlando, are likely to pass by the busy intersection midday on a Saturday — and they can spread awareness among the general population about the issue. After all, despite the popularity of the film Blackfish and SeaWorld's well-publicized halting of its orca-breeding captivity, a lot of people apparently don't know much about it.
“Actually, not as many people in the population are aware of it as I would hoped there would be,” Anderson said.
Empty the Tanks aims to totally end the practice of keeping cetaceans captive because it's completely counter to how they live in the wild, and taking animals from the wild rips apart the families and social orders of porpoises, dolphins and whales.
“They live in families. They're very social and they have the whole entire ocean to swim in, to be with their family members and to be the wild beings they were born to be,” she said. “They're not getting their food the way that they do in the wild, they're stolen from their families.”
Performing animals, she said, even the ones you can swim with, are starved and abused into following commands.
“They're not made to scoot around on their tails and jump out of tanks," Anderson continued. "There's so many instances where they're abused.”
Even so, Anderson said, public awareness of the issue is far from where it needs to be. When they protest outside Sea World, people in cars lined up to get into the park will shout profanities at protesters. But the possibility of "planting a seed" in the mind of at least one passerby makes it worthwhile.
“It's a very ugly business model and it really needs to end,” she said. “Not everything and every being is here on this planet to meet whatever needs [humans] may have in the given moment.”
Anderson sought to differentiate Empty the Tank's sentiments on SeaWorld from those of a facility closer to home, Clearwater Marine Aquarium, which she said is a quality facility that aims to rehabilitate the animals it rescues.
“We absolutely are not targeting [Clearwater Marine Aquarium]," she said. "They're a great rehab facility and this has nothing to do with [SeaWorld]. [CMA is] wonderful.”
This article appears in May 11-18, 2017.