As horrific as the birth of a beluga to captivity is, the Atlanta Journal & Constitution manages to add insult to injury by making a baby bib crack in its opening line. You know, the line that is supposed to capture the essential facts of the story. But the insensitivity of the AJC is no real surprise here. The AJC has been relentless in its support of the aquarium. Although before the aquarium opened, it did have one pro-con piece, since then, it’s just been one long promotional campaign.
The Georgia Aquarium began months ago preparing us for the death of the unborn beluga that Maris was carrying, by pointing out the factual statistic that about half of the belugas born in captivity die as infants.
So why does the Georgia Aquarium continue this larcenous breeding program? Why not rehabilitate the belugas and dolphins for a life in the wild and release them?
Why? Because they want to keep charging you money to have parties with Maris, Beethoven et al. in the window on the other side of your wedding reception, your corporate Christmas party, as well as the tours through the
exhibit, and the new “encounters” with the belugas. And since they are not allowed to intentionally capture them just to let your rather shallow-if-romantic son propose to his soon-to-be affianced in front of the beluga tank, they have to breed them in captivity.
Hold on, young one. Hopefully we can in the not-too-distant future secure your release with your mother and father.
In the meantime, we’ll tell the AJC that humor about the possible death of a newborn baby beluga whale is in bad taste, even for them.
For more information, there’s the enemy to dolphin and whale freedom’s blog. They may be the enemy, but they are also the horse’s mouth.