Category Archives: Activism

Day 24: 7/19/2013: See BLACKFISH

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English: Tilikum during a ' performance at .

Tilikum during a ‘ performance at . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I loved chatting with Sharksavers about the upcoming JAWS benefit, but what really defined my day was seeing  “Blackfish” the documentary about orcas in captivity.  When I left the Arclight theatre I remembered something an activist once said about elephants in the circus. He’d been detailing the tedium experienced by these intelligent creatures that are chained for 20-some odd hours a day: “I still can’t figure out how they conceive of time.”

What of  Tilikum, the killer whale featured prominently in “Blackfish”, an emotionally damaged animal who has killed three people, but who still performs for the delighted crowds in SeaWorld Orlando?  While my days unfold with routine, but also stimulation, freedom, possibility, Tilikum with his defeated, collapsed dorsal fin performs humiliating tricks, swims in circles in a swimming pool, and listens to the  delighted shrieks of school children through the glass.  I imagine the only pleasurable moment in this whale’s life is when SeaWorld employees collect his sperm  to produce more calves that will also be wrenched from their mothers if the price is right.

Torn from his mother at age three, does Tilikum ever dream of the brief time he knew limitless seas? Beyond frustration and despair, could these murders he committed be a subconscious wish for the ultimate punishment/freedom– his own death?

I feel haunted. And I should. Susan Sontag once said “Let the images of atrocity haunt us.”  Sontag argued that we shouldn’t turn away from pictures of war or death–all the images that remind us of what men do to other men. Nor should we ignore the evidence of what human beings do to non-human creatures. See “Blackfish.”

Day 22: 7/17/2013: Save California’s Great White Sharks

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Last August, I walked around Malibu Beach on a brilliant summer day collecting signatures to win protection for  California’s dwindling population of great whites under the California Endangered Species Act. Even though a triathlon was underway and many folks nervously laughed about their upcoming ocean swim, I found near unanimous support for sharks.

However, the California Fish and Game Commission opted to provide only temporary protection for white sharks as a “candidate” species.  That protection is due to expire in early 2014. We need to urge the CFWD (California Fish and Wildlife Department) to give the great white permanent protection as an endangered species.

The CFWD is currently accepting comments on this issue.

If you need more information about why California’s great whites need protection, read this.

If you have time, call, e-mail and write. It honestly takes less time than you think! But at least shoot them a quick e-mail.

Contact info for the CFWD is here. (scroll down a bit to get the addresses, etc.)

Day 21: 7/16/2013: Ocean Trash and a Murder Mystery

by in Activism, Marine Conservation, Memory and tagged , , | 1 Comment

While disentangling the umpteenth Disney princess-style Band-Aid from a tangle of seaweed on Venice Beach today, I remembered a dark, weird story that my mother told me. My mother only seems to know dark, weird stories, but this was a favorite. One 1940s summer day, my mother and her adolescent pals were playing on the beach at the Salem Willows after Sunday school when they discovered a suitcase jammed in the rocks. The suitcase was neatly packed with women’s clothes. One of the girls, Marjory (I think her name was), snagged a slip from the case  and put it on under her skirt.

Later, the police showed up at Marjory’s house. The suitcase belonged to a murdered woman whose body had been found at the Willows. I always imagined Marjory’s horror as the cop recited the grim facts and she felt the dead woman’s silky slip against her legs.

Today I collected a 13-gallon trash bag of miscellaneous crap from the beach, plus a smaller bag of recyclables. The weirdest thing I found was a pair of “falsies.” I hope there is a more lighthearted story behind these abandoned breast enhancers than Marjory’s slip, which by the way, I don’t think she ever relinquished as evidence.

Day 20: 7/15/2013: FINished with Fins

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I want to give the proceeds of the “Jaws” Anniversary reading to SharkSavers because I really dig their Finished with FINS campaign. I like that they strike right at the heart of the market for shark fins by expanding their outreach and activism to Hong Kong and Singapore.

This morning I contacted SharkSavers about partnering up for my February “Jaws” benefit and threw in a $25 donation toward funding shark sanctuaries.

Day 17: 7/12/2013: SHRK LUVR

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Basking+shark+with+mouth+wide+open+feeding+on+plankton+concentrated+in+surface+waters+close+to+the+island+of+Coll,+Inner+Hebrides,+Scotland

Today’s action is small. Humble. Barely anything.

But it gave me such a weird sense of satisfaction.

I attached a SAVE THE SHARKS license plate holder to my car. The end.

Since I live in Los Angeles, I drive A LOT. Out of all of the many cars stuck behind me in some interminable traffic jam, I wonder if one or two or maybe even three people might see my license plate frame and meditate on it. Although we all get compassion fatigue, SAVE THE SHARKS is certainly better than staring at some inane vanity plate that reads CAST ME or PMS 247.

Maybe one of these random motorists will go home and read up on sharks and see how dire things are and sign a petition or send a check to a shark charity or have a complete life-altering epiphany, and ditch their suffocating job and join the crew of Sea Shepherd and defend the seas from a-holes.

I know it’s probably unlikely, but it’s not completely impossible either.

I guess that’s the whole point of taking little actions every day.

Day 15: 7/10/2013: Stickin’ it to the Man…Sort of….

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Last year I read Will Potter’s excellent book “Green is the New Red.”  As Potter reveals, in post 9/11 America even the most casual supporter of animal or green issues can be labeled a domestic terrorist. So it’s neither paranoid or self-aggrandizing to say that even though I intend to break no laws and do no physical harm to persons or property, I also don’t feel entirely comfortable writing about every single shark-related thing I do, even if it seems only mildly subversive, such as organizing shark unions, etc.

Day 12 7/7/2013: 994 Names

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Today my friend Jennifer and I discussed effective ways to get people to sign a petition.

We ruled out gimmicks like coconut shell or other “theme” bras, free hugs, offering liquor, money, etc.

How then to overcome the dread evoked in by a well-meaning person with a clipboard?

I know that my liberal guilt goes through the roof every time I am greeted with a question like, “Do you have time to help feral, blind children who live at the bottom of abandoned wells?”

“Not today,” I often demur, my tight-lipped resentment seasoned with a dash of remorse.

Since I only have 994 signatures left to gather on my Shark Defenders petition, Jen offered to help me. We’re going to find some cool shark t-shirts to wear and then celebrate our signature gathering with a few well-deserved cocktails. (Shark Defenders in no way endorses these methods).

If this sounds too frivolous for a day of shark action, I also put in one hour of work designing my shark book proposal.

P.S. In a complete non-sequitur, I’d like to wish Ringo Starr a happy 73rd birthday.

Day 11 7/6/2013: Diary of a Slacktivist

by in Activism, Humor, Jaws, Marine Conservation, Pop Culture and tagged , , | Leave a comment

Last night I saw “Jaws” at the Egyptian theatre in Hollywood. This movie feels like part of my DNA. The print was old and beautiful with a color true to 1974. Other than a woman behind me who emitted a series of  ”Ahhs!” “Ooohs” and “Aww” for every potential shark sighting or lost child on the beach and who actually asked her friend the meaning of Quint’s famous quip, “Here’s to swimmin’ with bowlegged women,” I had a great time. Part of the benefit of Los Angeles is to be able to watch movies with people who stay to see the name of the key grip and explode in cultish appreciative applause at key moments, and I have zero tolerance for people who can’t keep their mouths shut. ANYWAY,  Since l’ll actually be going on a great white dive in South Africa next year, the shark’s destruction of the cage really scared the hell out of me, no matter how rubbery and awkward the whole thing looked. My friend Dan and I took public transportation to the theatre, which was nice since global warming hurts the ocean…! Seeing Peter Benchley’s cameo as the TV reporter made me excited for the 40th Anniversary JAWS benefit I’ll be hosting in February.

I  want to do as much creative stuff like that this year as possible. I don’t want all my work for sharks to be signing petitions. But sometimes so-called “slacktivism” is the best I can manage with the demands of my glamorous lifestyle.

Anyhow, here’s what I did today:

1. Signed a petition to ban the sale of shark fins in Canada

2. Sent a letter to the Secretary General of the U.N. asking for a worldwide ban on shark finning and the selling of shark products.

3. Volunteered at savingsharks.com offering my services as a writer, teacher, etc. to organize a benefit, coordinate volunteers or whatever else they might need.