Ode to Orcas: young people speak out for the release of captive orcas
Sixth-formers at Lycée Le Rebours wrote a collection of poems on captive orcas after a talk by John Hargrove organized by One Voice.
During the lockdown one class of scientific sixth-formers worked with their teacher on captivity, and on orcas in particular. After an on-line meeting that we organised with former orca trainer at SeaWorld and Marineland Antibes, John Hargrove, here is their collection of poems, Ode to Orcas.
Having been strongly affected by the sad fate of Inouk and of the orcas held in Marineland in Antibes at the time of our action with John Hargrove in the dolphinarium and outside the prefecture, Mrs Wilson, an English teacher at Lycée Le Rebours, a private school in Paris, had contacted us a few months ago to ask us to organise a video meeting with her class.
This meeting between the young people, confined at home during the pandemic, and John Hargrove, also confined to his home in New York, was supervised and organised by our team and took place in somewhat unusual conditions. But during this strange period everyone found out for themselves how difficult it was to be deprived of freedom of movement and contact with loved ones. The sharpness of their perception was shown by the questions that the young people asked, in English, about the mistreatment that captivity means for cetaceans.
As well as doing a lot of research on the subject and taking part in the private meeting, the class produced a collection of poems in English, an Ode to Orcas, which they presented to us and to John.
Well done to them, and to their teacher, for the part they played in this project!
There are several things you can do to help us to get dolphinariums shut down, including signing our petition!
Translated from the French by Patricia Fairey