If you just skim through my posts, if you never listen to anything I have to say, heck, if you just accidently stumbled onto here, listen to what I have to say now.

Let me get one thing off the bat right now: I am not one of those crazy "OMG CAPTIVTY BAD BAD BAD UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES" people. If my word isn't enough, I want nothing more in life than to work at Sea World for the rest of my life. I just wrote a paper for Senior Project about why captivity can be good under the right circumstances.

This has pissed me off like nothing has pissed me off before though. Through all the anti-gay marriage jerks, blind followers of Bush, and rednecks in my town, I have never found myself more angry than I am now.

And it begins and ends with a little place called Miami Seaquarium.

No, I will not be sued for what I'm about to say here. Slander is claims that are not true. I really wish this were slander... With all my heart.

Let's start with a killer whale named Lolita. She has been deemed the "worst-kept killer whale" in the world. Her conditions are so bad, she has her own documentary: Lolita: Slave to Entertainment. She's about 40 years old. Guess what? She's 22 feet long and her tank is 18 feet deep. Whenever her head comes out of the water, her tail touched the ground. Her tank is so small it's ILLEGAL. She has no toys, no shade, and dirty water. She hasn't seen another killer whale in 20 years since her mate Hugo died by ramming his head into the wall repeatedly. (When he died, they dumped his body in a landfill, and now it's as if he never existed.) MSQ has promised to build her a bigger tank for over 20 YEARS NOW!!!!!!

The manatees live in a small tank. A former worker said he had to leave the room when the food was being prepared, because he couldn't stand the smell of the mold growing on the lettuce.

Over 55 sea lions have died in the park. From odd circumstances like "electrocution". ELECTROCUTION!!!!!!! They have bug bites on their skin and look generally unhealthy all the time.

You don't know filthy until you've seen this place. The top floor of the aquarium was closed because of poor construction. Lolita's stadium was closed due to unsafe railings. The back of the stadium is totally dripping sea water. The fish tanks are leaking. All the tanks are so caked with gunk, you can barely see inside. The park has several potential fire and electrical hazards.

And for the love of god, I have no idea why animal control or ANYONE isn't on top of this. I'm definitely writing a letter to the governor abour this, as mom suggested, and several of the contacts for Miami business regulations. And if it doesn't work, I will MAKE MY VOICE HEARD. A teacher at my school hosts several acitvists clubs, so maybe he'll sponor me for one too.

Don't sit back and assume someone else will do the work. A silent majortiy achieves nothing. Go onto youtube and google Lolita or MSQ to see these things happening if you don't want to take my word for it. Go to MiamiSeaPrison.com and write to the people on their contact list. Find a copy of Lolita: Slave to Entertainment on youtube or at the video store or something. Support organizations like Sea World who are aiming to stop crap like this from happening.

But don't sit around and wish. Stand up and do. I know I'm going to.

And now I'm off to cuddle with my Kasatka plushie, eat ice cream, and think happy thoughts until the time comes to write those letters.

Thanks for listening.

-Chi <3