Wild
animals are magnificent, aren’t they? When you see them in the wild, don’t you
want to get close? Wouldn’t you love to feel the softness of a rabbit’s fur? Or
run your hand along a moose’s antler? Or hold a delicate little chickadee in
your hands? From the time we’re little babies, it’s our first instinct to
touch. And when it comes to animals, you can hardly be blamed. They’re
beautiful and powerful all by themselves, but the thought that Mother Nature is
capable of creating something so amazing and that we share the earth with these
creatures just makes it all the more exciting. Of course you want to hold and
to touch.
Photo by Aude Steiner
But
you mustn’t.
Believe
it or not, I once saw a guy pull over by the side of a mountain road, hop out
of his car with his camera and follow a big, black bear into the forest! I
don’t know that he was intending to touch the bear, but he was certainly
planning to get way too close! The thing was that camera he was toting had a
nice, big zoom lens attached. Why follow the animal into the forest when you’ve
got enough zoom power to look up his nose from 25 feet away? I got a few good
shots from the safety of a bus seat.
We’re
warned about this all the time. At the national park we’re encouraged to enjoy
the wetlands but are warned against ever trying to touch or catch the pond
life. At the zoo, staff are on hand to make sure no one is throwing anything
into the enclosures. Entire web sites are based on these kinds of warnings.
But
there are still some who just aren’t listening.
This
past week, some of the most tragic effects of this problem were felt.
It
occurred on a hot, sunny, golden beach in Argentina where myriads of tourists
were enjoying a lovely getaway.
Then
a little bottle-nosed dolphin washed up on the shore. They say this wasn’t the
first one to show up near the beaches like that.
This
particular little fellow was scooped up and brought into the middle of the
milling beach crowds. People came around in droves and, according to some
reports he was passed around like a show and tell toy. At very least, people
touch, petted and stroked to their heart’s content.
Now,
there are two things to realize here.
One,
dolphins are water mammals. Although they breathe air like us, they are
designed to live in and depend upon the ocean. They can only survive out of the
water for a short time. Their skin is not designed to get dry.
Two,
many of those hands that were stroking and petting would have been covered in
sunscreen, lotions, insect repellents, soaps, cigarette residue and who knows
what else. All of this was being repeatedly rubbed into that little dolphin’s
skin.
Well,
I’m sorry to report the little fellow did not survive to return to his ocean
home. It was more than he could take. And to make matters worse, this
particular species of dolphin is listed as “threatened” due to fishing nets!
What a bitter way to learn the importance of keeping a respectful distance.
It’s
hard to believe people could be that careless and silly. It would have been
hard to beat your way through the throng, but I wonder if even one person
suggested putting the animal back in the water while it still had a chance, or
did they all keep pulling out their phones for those lovely souvenir snapshots?
On
a side note, something else strikes me as well. As I was reading this online, I
took a peek at the comments some people added to the article. Although most
commenters were rightfully outraged at this event, I noticed a few made
comments to the effect of “Don’t people understand? Of course the dolphin died!
Fish need water!”
You
mean to tell me that there are still people out there who think that dolphins
are fish? Maybe we need wildlife education on more than just the one level.
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