Aug 26 Vancouver BC
After a long summer cruising the west coast of Canada supporting the elimination of open pen salmon farming, I was uplifted to find even those earning a living from the industry understand the situation. Where salmon farms are, wild salmon are not.
If we humans want wild oceans we need to not only understand, we need to act.
Ask yourself what is more important: do you want a future for your children and grandchildren, or do you want a bigger house or new truck. As a person immersed in western culture myself, I’ve decided to change my focus and forget about the bling and go all in for a future. I find many young people today are agreeing with me.
We all need to make a living to live, but there are choices…
In a world that continues to be divided by extreme views, I suggest we step back and realize that even our enemies think they are doing what is right. Instead of condemning the other side, open your mind and make differences in yourself that will convince the other side; not through threats and lawsuits, but through conversation and respect.
To deal with the salmon issue by blaming others is ignorant: we must blame ourselves and try to do better.
Recently the story about the death of a baby orca, and the mourning of a mother has dominated the news and has brought the distress of orcas front and center. Who do we blame? Sea lions, fishermen, native tribes and anyone else but ourselves. The city of Victoria, B.C. dumps raw untreated sewage directly into their habitat. Whale watching tours with as many as 75 boats follow a pod to get a view of these magnificent animals… are we loving these animals to death? Think of trying to live in an environment with numerous rock bands playing in your vicinity. How can the whales, talk, feed or raise their young? I couldn’t live that way. I doubt you could, and either can they.
I certainly understand the educational purpose of people seeing whales. They are special. You can feel their presence and they deserve to live in harmony without with their environment without human intervention. Let’s face it we humans have had a larger effect on the earth then any other species. We have over populated to an extent that we deplete the finite resources of our planet. We have eaten our way through numerous other species, and have caused more species to go extinct then anytime in history. Volcanoes, an asterroid or other worldly disasters drove the dinosaurs to extinction… we humans are doing the same to the planet today. Interdependence is a law of nature. By destroying one species we affect all others… and who is to blame? Corporations, governments, or maybe just look in the mirror, we have met the enemy, and it is us.
GAIANetwork.net 