From: rhinoceros (rhinoceros@freemail.gr)
Date: Tue Sep 03 2002 - 16:09:43 MDT
[Mermaid]
Any thoughts on this?
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml?articleID=392737
<snip>
While Keiko the killer whale frolicked in a western Norwegian fjord Tuesday,
a local whale expert warned that Keiko may not survive the winter. If he
doesn't detach himself from humans soon, it may be best to destroy him, he
said.
While researchers discussed Keiko's fate, the affectionate whale snuggled up
to their boat.
Niels Oeien of the Institute for Marine Research in Bergen, who specializes
in sea mammals, says Keiko also may represent a threat to Norway's major
salmon breeding industry.
"Reports are coming in now that the killer whale (spekkhuggeren, in
Norwegian) is disturbing fish farms within the Skaalvik Fjord," Oeien told
Aftenposten Multimedia. "If there are more such episodes, he should be
destroyed."
<snip>
[rhinoceros]
That's the reason I never take up pets. It is disturbing when people have to abandon them after they have made them unable to live on their own.
In this particular case, I think someone owes him money. Wasn't Keiko the super star in the "Free Willy" movie. I guess having your creditors "destroyed" (what about "cancelled") is cost-efficient.
An interesting question is whether Keiko is being social with people or just behaviourally conditioned. Or is it a false dichotomy?
Another question: His behaviour makes Keiko very different than, say, a salmon. But what makes him so different from a cat or a dog. Is it his fame? His uniqueness? Is it the feeling that he acts as an ambassador of a newly contacted species, something like an alien?
---- This message was posted by rhinoceros to the Virus 2002 board on Church of Virus BBS. <http://virus.lucifer.com/bbs/index.php?board=51;action=display;threadid=26355>
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