Great to see your community of nature lovers growing so fast @adalger :) Awesome news. Also, congrats on having a new moderator for the community content. I remember I had some convos with @juanbg about nature and also about Mexico and Riviera Maya where Juan lives and works and I did too for some time. I am sure he will be a great moderator but to be honest, those pictures of him working in Dolphinaris (facility where captive dolphins perform shows for audience) is something I can never associate with love for nature. Quite the opposite actually... Is he still doing this? Just asking...
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Hello @phortun thank you very much for your comments, I always value them very much.
Regarding animals in human care (captivity) I have been doing research for more than two years now and I am no longer part of the Dolphinaris team at the moment, I am finishing studying a master of science.
I understand your point of view on this, but it is important to mention that if these dolphinariums did not exist, we would not understand many of the behavioral issues of marine mammals, now I am dedicated to scientific research, but perhaps it would not have been possible without the support of the people of this place.
I am not against or in favor of this, but we have to see and understand everything before giving a point of view about it, greetings friend!
Hey Juan, thanks for your reply and explanation. A lot has already been explained by @adalger above. I didn´t know you were doing a research while working at Dolphinaris, I thought you were just one of the trainers / performers. It´s really a shame your government doesn´t care about natural studies and you have to do things like this to be able to do what you need to do for your research. I am sorry about that. I admit I am a bit touchy when it comes to the existence of facilities like Dolphinaris, Sea World, Loro Parque etc. I have seen and read way too many articles, documentaries and videos about these companies to buy their propaganda about how they care for their animals etc. while the only thing they really care about is their profit. Also, I think one doesn´t have to be a marine biologist like you to know that these amazing, highly intelligent and sensitive marine mammals that roam around hundreds and thousands of square kilometers of vast oceans in their natural environment simply cannot be happy in unshaded confined concrete tanks (not to mention the crazy tricks they are forced to perform to entertain the visitors). You know I lived in Playa del Carmen and I was so happy when the Mexican government announced that these facilities with marine mammal shows would be banned but in fact, it never happened. Quite the opposite actually, new facilities of this kind are being built in Mexico. I hope they will be banned around the world one day and I also hope that governements will pay more attention to natural studies and researches. I think we already owe a lot to this planet and its wildlife...
Good luck with your master studies and with your new moderator role in this awesome community ;)
Thanks for your wishes @phortun! I understand, there are a few points of view about this, take care bro!
Hey there @phortun ! Thank you very much for your response. This was something that he actually did once, working in a dolphinarium. where he did some important scientific research on dolphins and marine mammals. But he quit his job there already and now studies Natural Resource Management .. Actually he once quoted it like this: "if this place did not exist, this study would not have been possible." .. I am a scientist myself and know of this big problems and that it is really hard in many cases to distinguish between black and white sometimes. Especially if the governments do not care about nature-related studies at all and decline to fund important research, then people need to improvise .. But this is actually a topic that can be discussed until infinity and these ethical question are there as long as there are scientists already. If we never ever opened a human bodies in our history to take a look inside, we would also never gained books and books of valuable medicinal knowledge. And I do not dare to start an in-depth ethical science discussion ^^ .. But, it is a valid question that should be taken into account every time we reflect at out work. If just the governments would just finance proper scientific complexes we could change a lot, but I am afraid that this will never happen. They probably care more for income, then what is beneficial for the environment and mother nature in generell
Thanks for your reply, I really appreciate it. I am currently traveling so I will get back to you with a more elaborate comment later ;)
That's right bro! Thanks!
I just replied to Juan himself, thanks for the explanation guys ;)
Btw, I have been hosting a weekly photo challenge where competitors can submit fresh (no more than one week old) photos of nature and I posted the last two rounds of it in this community. Without asking you actually. Sorry about that. So I am asking you know - are you ok with that? :)
Hey there @phortun ^^ I actually have no problem with it ;) Everything that brings nature-lovers from all the world together is a highly welcome addition, hehe .. This only shows that you are eager to see this big family here grow together even closer !!
Awesome, thanks :) So I will be posting the contest in this group. I have quite a lot of nature lovers among my followers so I am sure some of them will join your community ;)