Please watch the video first
I made sure to get in touch with phil before i decided to share this particular story. In essence not only is smooshi his baby but in effect it was HIS story and no one else's. His imprint experience with this walrus is special to say the very least!!
From what limited footage is available it seems clear to me that smooshi basically said your my father, and the rest ensues like a love story between trainer and walrus. Yet what seems obvious is that no one was prepared for the depth of the connection between human and family member. For when i look at phil and smooshi on footage, i am blown away by the connection between them that is so clear. Whatever form it assimilates, Its not how you identify the relationship, its how you acknowledge it for what it clearly is. Love, pure and simple!
Imprinting for wild birds is crucial to their immediate and long-term survival. For example, precocial baby birds (such as ducks, geese, and turkeys) begin the process of imprinting shortly after hatching so that they follow the appropriate adult, providing them with safety.
https://www.wildlifecenter.org/news_events/news/human-imprinting-birds-and-importance-surrogacy
As far as i can tell the same thing happened between Phil Demers and smooshi. An amazing connection was somehow fabricated between human and mammal, to the point that it transcended what we fathom or misunderstand about creatures of the water. I once read a book about how elephants on the coast of Zimbabwe seemed to be communicating with whales on a sonar level off-shore. Who the hell are we to judge who can talk to whom, what an amazing world we as humans fail to comprehend if elephants can in fact talk to whales in the ocean??
Some hard facts for you of the soft heart!
As a wise friend once told me - marine life in captivity is atrocious
http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/captive_marine/facts/marine_captivity.html
Marine Mammals in Captivity
Dolphins, sea lions and other marine mammals are taken from the wild for public displays
The Humane Society of the United States
The public display industry captures many species of marine mammals from the wild, especially whales and dolphins. The Humane Society of the United States believes that these animals should not be taken from the wild simply to entertain and amuse people, for a number of reasons.
Life in the wild
The very nature of these animals makes them uniquely unsuited to confinement. In the wild, whales and dolphins live in large groups (called pods), often in tight family units. Family bonds often last many years. In some species, they last for a lifetime.
Whales and dolphins travel long distances each day, sometimes swimming in a straight line for a hundred miles, other times remaining in a certain area for hours or days, moving several miles along a coastline and then turning to retrace their path. These marine mammals can dive up to several hundred meters and stay underwater for up to half an hour. They spend only 10 to 20% of their time at the surface.
The sea is to whales and dolphins much as the air is to birds—a three-dimensional environment, where they can move up and down and side to side. But whales and dolphins don't stop to perch. They never come to shore, as do seals and sea lions. Whales and dolphins are always swimming, even when they "sleep." They are "voluntary breathers," conscious of every breath they take. They are always aware, and always moving. Understanding this, it is difficult to imagine the tragedy of life in no more than a tiny swimming pool.
Life in captivity
Life for captive whales and dolphins is nothing like a life in the sea. It is almost impossible to maintain a family group in captivity. Tanks only allow a few strokes in any direction before coming to a wall. Because tanks are shallow, the natural tendencies of whales and dolphins are reversed—they spend more than half their time at the tank's surface.
This unnatural situation can cause skin problems. In addition, in captive killer whales (orcas), it is the probable cause of dorsal fin collapse, as without the support of water, gravity pulls these tall appendages over as the whale matures. Collapsed fins are experienced by all captive male orcas and many captive female orcas, who were either captured as juveniles or who were born in captivity. However, they are observed in only about 1% of orcas in the wild.
In a tank, the environment is monotonous and limited in scope. Sonar clicks, the method by which individuals define their surroundings, have limited utility in such an environment. These animals, who are perpetually aware, have nothing like the varied stimulation of their natural environment. In perpetual motion, they are forced into literally endless circles. Life for these animals is a mere shadow of what it was in the wild.
In conclusion its really simple, Phil had the guts to identify what clearly was a bad situation and stand up and fight against the powers that be. This is a massive understatement of how the wildlife at "ahem" were being abused. The government, the crappy lawyers filling their pockets, the people in power that were more than happy to look the other way whilst innocent creatures of the sea were abused, murdered and taken advantage of.
https://www.thespec.com/news-story/7495864-all-animal-cruelty-charges-dropped-against-marineland/
These times are long gone im telling you now, you are now dealing with a very aware and pissed off society! Too long has evil flourished while good PEOPLE do nothing. Be careful how you tread big brother - we are watching YOU more than ever.
A personal message to Phil Demers, you are never alone! This disgraceful action will not go unpunished. You have fought a valiant fight for over 5 years now. I never thought of myself as a social justice warrior, but i always knew when a cause was there to fight i would fight no matter the consequences. Army +1 KJ - and those i bring with me.
Peace, love and the equality of everything!
You have my utmost respect sir!
Question 1: Would you risk everything to stand up for your beliefs?
Quesiton 2: Have you ever witnessed cruelty and done nothing about it?
What a great post. I think many people are so busy trying to live their own lives they don't see the atrocities that are going on around them. Many people aren't aware they are supporting cruelty to animals by clapping and cheering when they see an animal perform. They need to be made aware of the torture and cruelty many animals go through to entertain people. The dancing bears and elephants just to name a few. Its appalling. Needs to stop and a good way is to start with awareness. Thank you for sharing your great post. I hope it will open a few eyes to some of the many terrible things happening in this world . Resteeming your post.
Hi my dear,
only found out recently that your my friends sister - what i respect most is that i know you don't advocate posts that would you would not support. If anything it gives us momentum to try and build animalmomentium. So from the bottom of my heart i love the support and comments you provide nige and i, i can only speak for myself but i LOVE hearing your feedback on what we are trying to do in this medium. Your voice is as great as ours -so please contribute when you feel the call of the wild! Gratefully yours, KJ
I'm more than happy to respond and give support. You are covering issues that are very important to me. Great to have people trying to make our world a better place. Keep up the great work.
thanks again truth-seeker, so many eyes to open and so little time!
Hi! I am a robot. I just upvoted you! I found similar content that readers might be interested in:
http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/captive_marine/facts/marine_captivity.html
Q1. ...Maybe.
With implied stakes so high, I would challenge my own belief system first..
For example:
To stand up for those who can't standup for themselves is a most noble cause, but can also be dangerous/wrong.
An animal has no voice , it can't be heard by those who mainly listen with words (humans). If an animal is threatened or hurt by humans, it makes sense to standup for the creature (if it was clearly a victim) as clearly it is an in justice to standby..I mean it can't possibly standup for itself?
However, in nature (natural system) things must learn to stick up for themselves to survive. Should I interfere with such a process, I maybe messing with nature. Take humans if someone is being picked on by someone else, say someone stronger and I smack the stronger person down..what did the weaker person learn?...it depends allot on the situation and how i interpret it.
To me once I am sure as I can be, what i am standing up for is true, I will stand up for it. It maybe possible that if I risk my life in the attempt, I have made the situation worse...I mean there are allot of big problems on this planet, if I threw myself in-front of a car to protect a confused animal, that put itself in harms way, I would no longer be around to influence the people who are trapped by the systems, that likely caused the animal being killed in the first place. I would try and try again to do what is right, if I was unable to make it happen, I would settle with influence it or others as much as I can to make a difference, it may take years!
..Great thought provoking question mate!
Q2. Yes and I did it!. the question for me now is what can I do about it. I mean I can't turn back time. The best I can do is regret my actions and honour the victim. I can't ever forget and will always regret, even if I made up for it 1000 times over I don't want to forget as it is a precious gift (even though I took it without asking and never should have done it), at the cost of another I learned an important lesson. To make mistakes is to be human. To learn from our mistakes and move on is part of nature. We must forgive ourselves for transgressions and not try to convince ourselves its ok to continue, instead we need to be strong and trust our inner voice and stop making excuses like... well everyone else does it...or I won't be cool if I don't participate! or people will judge me if I try to stop in justice...
A difficult question to answer - I will ponder some more.
Its interesting, back only a few centuries or so humans had to be extremely careful in the world during earlier stages in civilization. Particularly the wild west frontiers and the like whether the lack of human population was a fragile thing at best.
Ever since the manifestation and evolution of towns, cities and really anything that provides strength in numbers has rendered that animal threat irrelevant, expect for the odd occasion where hikers or hunters fall prey to the original predators in isolated situations away from the communities of mankind and the protection that provides.
Nevertheless whether you approve of hunting animals in the wild for sport or commerce, humans have become the dominant species on this planet. This was not always so, but i fear the ecological balance is tipping in such a dangerous fashion that we could do irreparable damage to the world we have the privilege to inhabit, be you man, beast, insect etc.
An invisible web connects us all, which does nothing for my arachnophobia ;)
Couldn't agree more mate! well said.
I often think that the over population of humans on this planet is a key issue for us all to be aware and a global strategy is definitely needed ASAP. Until such time, we must as individuals not be selfish and instead act responsibly, thinking carefully about the number of children we need to be having.
Apparently some animals seem to demonstrate more intelligence then humans in this space and naturally stop breeding, i.e. if conditions are not good or their isn't enough resource to sustain they stop breeding until conditions approve and nature is able to repair. I can think of situations where this isn't true though with animals, for example mice (mammals like humans), they will breed to plague proportions, but eventually die out due to disease, stress or starvation. (funny all around the planet humans are experiencing these things now). Fortunately while the damage is massive, nature restores again as the devastation is short lived...Sadly, for humans it's sustained and shows no sign of ending soon...lets explore more in future posts why and what can be done :)