Does the end ever justify the means?
So I have exchanged my free labor at VBS.TV for free labor at the New York Aquarium. I will no longer bring Santogold her dry cleaning, but instead will bring smelly pinnipeds their frozen fish. I can't wait for the subway rides home when I'm covered in fish guts. I'm going to be working in the animal husbandry department with sea lions and fur seals. They're really cute, but I can't help but feel unsettled working with such intelligent animals that are held captive in these teeny tiny pools. You may remember my earlier post about my disdain for zoos and aquariums, and my opinion has not changed a bit, but apparently I have sold out in order to fluff my resume with the Wildlife Conservation Society. Although WCS does do a lot of wildlife conservation work (which is why I need to get tangled in their network), there is no research being done at the aquarium- and I noticed during my short tour two poor walruses displaying their repertoire of stereotypies. I have a bad feeling this is going to end up with me doing my thesis on captive enrichment for marine mammals- which may prove useful, and yet I don't see it fit to waste time fixing problems that really don't need to exist in the first place. And can you do much anything about an explicit lack of space? I think there are some animals that should never be in zoos and aquariums. I want to be positive about this, and yet I know that I'm going to have to get used to biting my tongue for the next six months...
Edit:I already quit. 2 weeks is a new record. Sigh. The sea lions are covered in sores from performing their stereotypies and the sex ratio is all fucked up. Sea lions lives in harems- one hot shot w/ many ladies. While "Sea World" even recognizes that this is their normal social climate and keeps all females, all of the sea lions at the NY Aquarium are males because they're "larger and more impressive to the public". Great, so no one cares that this causes them to get into dominance fights and may be causing them a good deal of constant stress. Nice. I just can't be a part of that.
Edit:I already quit. 2 weeks is a new record. Sigh. The sea lions are covered in sores from performing their stereotypies and the sex ratio is all fucked up. Sea lions lives in harems- one hot shot w/ many ladies. While "Sea World" even recognizes that this is their normal social climate and keeps all females, all of the sea lions at the NY Aquarium are males because they're "larger and more impressive to the public". Great, so no one cares that this causes them to get into dominance fights and may be causing them a good deal of constant stress. Nice. I just can't be a part of that.