The True Cost of Ignoring Nonhumans
AfSD™(ADVOCATE FOR SAVING DOGS™and all living creatures)
Wildlife
Aquavibe (http://www.myspace.com/496351391)
Aquaman ~ Ocean Defender (http://www.myspace.com/108399880)
Posted by Dr. Denise L Herzing and Dr. Lori Marino, Human-Nonhuman Relationship Board
Over
the millennia humans and the rest of nature have coexisted in various
relationships. However the intimate and interdependent nature of our
relationship with other beings on the planet has been recently brought
to light by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This ongoing
environmental disaster is a prime example of “profit over principle”
regarding non-human life. This spill threatens not only the reproductive
viability of all flora and fauna in the affected ecosystems but also
complex and sensitive non-human cultures like those we now recognize in
dolphins and whales.
Although science has, for decades,
documented the links and interdependence of ecosystems and species, the
ethical dilemma now facing humans is at a critical level. For too long
have we not recognized the true cost of our life styles and priorities
of profit over the health of the planet and the nonhuman beings we share
it with. If ever the time, this is a wake up call for humanity and a
call to action. If humanity is to survive we need to make an urgent and
long-term commitment to the health of the planet. The oceans, our food
sources and the very oxygen we breathe may be dependent on our choices
in the next 10 years.
And humanity’s survival is inextricably linked to that of the other beings we share this planet with. We need a new ethic.
Many
oceanographers and marine biologist have, for a decade, sent out the
message that the oceans are in trouble. Human impacts of over-fishing,
pollution, and habitat destruction are threatening the very cycles of
our existence. In the recent catastrophe in the Gulf, one corporation’s
neglectful oversight and push for profit has set the stage for a century
of clean up and impact, the implications of which we can only begin to
imagine.
Current and reported estimates of stranded dolphins are
at fifty-five. However, these are dolphins visibly stranded on beaches.
Recent aerial footage, on YouTube, by John Wathen shows a much greater
and serious threat. Offshore, in the “no fly zone” hundreds of dolphins
and whales have been observed in the oil slick. Some floating belly up
and dead, others struggling to breathe in the toxic fumes. Others
exhibit “drunken dolphin syndrome” characterized by floating in an
almost stupefied state on the surface of the water. These highly visible
effects are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the spill’s impact
on the long term health and viability of the Gulf’s dolphin and whale
populations, not to mention the suffering incurred by each individual
dolphin as he or she tries to cope with this crisis.
Known direct
and indirect effects of oil spills on dolphins and whales depend on the
species but include, toxicity that can cause organ dysfunction and
neurological impairment, damaged airways and lungs, gastrointestinal
ulceration and hemorrhaging, eye and skin lesions, decreased body mass
due to limited prey, and, the pervasive long term behavioral,
immunological, and metabolic impacts of stress. Recent reports
substantiate that many dolphins and whales in the Gulf are undergoing
tremendous stress, shock and suffering from many of the above effects.
The impact to newborns and young calves is clearly devastating.
After
the Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound in 1989 two pods of
orcas (killer whales) were tracked. It was found that one third of the
whales in one pod and 40 percent of the whales in the other pod had
disappeared, with one pod never recovering its numbers. There is still
some debate about the number of missing whales directly impacted by the
oil though it is fair to say that losses of this magnitude are uncommon
and do serious damage to orca societies.
Yes, orca societies.
Years of field research has led to the conclusion by a growing number of
scientists that many dolphin and whale species, including sperm whales,
humpback whales, orcas, and bottlenose dolphins possess sophisticated
cultures, that is, learned behavioral traditions passed on from one
generation to the next. These cultures are not only unique to each group
but are critically important for survival. Therefore, not only do
environmental catastrophes such as the Gulf oil spill result in
individual suffering and loss of life but they contribute to the
permanent destruction of entire oceanic cultures. These complex learned
traditions cannot be replicated after they are gone and this makes them
invaluable.
On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the
United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, which acknowledges basic rights to life, liberty, and freedom
of cultural expression. We recognize these foundational rights for
humans as we are sentient, complex beings. It is abundantly clear that
our actions have violated these same rights for other sentient, complex
and cultural beings in the oceans – the dolphins and whales. We should
use this tragedy as an opportunity to formally recognize societal and
legal rights for them so that their lives and their unique cultures are
better protected in the future.
Recently, there was a meeting of
scientists, philosophers, legal experts and dolphin and whale advocates
in Helsinki, Finland, who drafted a Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans a
global call for basic rights for dolphins and whales. You can read more
about this effort and become a signatory here: http://cetaceanconservation.com.au/cetaceanrights/.
Given the destruction of dolphin and whale lives and cultures caused by
the ongoing environmental disaster in the Gulf, we think this is one of
the ways we can commit ourselves to working towards a future that will
be a lifeboat for humans, dolphins and whales, and the rest of nature.
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