As I write this article, I am in shock… I am sad… And most of all, I am ashamed.
I just read an article about how a baby dolphin died on a beach in Argentina, because a bunch of tourists thought it would be fun to take a selfie with it… At first it made me sit here in disbelief for a while, and than it made me angry. Really, really angry…
How is it we think we have the right to get a dolphin out of the water, pass it around to the rest of the group, keep it in the sun for god knows how long and let the animal slowly dry out until it eventually dies, FOR THE SAKE OF A SELFIE?!?!
I’m not even going to talk about what I think of all this selfie hype. Like when is it we started needing a selfie to have proof the moment really happened? Since when do we need to put it on Instagram, Twitter and Snapshat to be sure it was real? When did we stop being able to just LIVE the moment instead of taking 734 selfies of it? But again, that’s not what I want to talk about today, so let me continue.
Are we out of our minds?!? Have we lost every sense of humanity and compassion? Aren’t we able to transfer ourselves into the mind of another living being anymore and imagine its suffering? How is it that every time people get out of their house to go and have fun, they seem to think everything and anything is suddenly allowed, in the name of entertainment? When did we become some kind of slaves to group pressure and when are we going to say STOP?!?
A SELFIE PEOPLE, A SELFIE!!!!
Last summer I visited the States and did a swamp tour near New Orleans. Our boat went through narrow canals filled with cypress trees rising mysteriously out of the water. Alligators were luring at a distance. And than suddenly we arrived at a place where there were several pigs. They came up to the boat for the marshmallows our guide gave them (not really sure if that fits into a balanced diet for a pig but ok…) and they were just so cute! Look at them!
Exactly 5 days after I did this tour, I read an article about how in that same swamp, only a few days later, tourists used marshmallows to lure one of those same pigs way too far into the water, towards an alligator, to see it get eaten… They thought it would be fun…
Now I have been a vegetarian and animal right defender for over 18 years so my level of concern with animal wellness might be above average, but please hear me out.
OK I admit, I have some difficulties with people pretending eating animals is ok because it’s in the name of survival – because well, that is just plain bullshit. It’s 2016 people! Nobody NEEDS to eat meat in order to survive anymore. We don’t NEED to lock up innocent animals in a tiny cage, stuff them until they get all fat and than slaughter them just so that we can eat them. I respect your choice to eat meat, but please just be honest about why you do it and don’t start defending it by talking about survival. You don’t NEED to eat meat, you WANT to eat meat. It’s your CHOICE. I have no problem with that, but please be honest…
Another thing I’ve heard people say about the swamp story – and that I DO have a problem with – is “why are you so shocked, that’s just the way it goes in nature”…
Nature…
Sure, let’s blame it all on nature! Of course I know that in nature, animals kill other animals for their survival. Yes, in this case we are actually talking about SURVIVAL! Now I haven’t looked it up but I’m pretty sure that if I did, NOWHERE on the list of synonyms for survival I’d find the words ENTERTAINMENT or TOURISM. And please correct me if I’m wrong, but I do not think that when animals kill each other in nature, there’s a boat full of tourists or a stick with a marshmallow on it involved…
If we’re all so concerned about living according to nature, why don’t we all stop shaving our legs and start running around naked? Why don’t you go kill that animal with your bare hands instead of buying it at the butcher’s and eating it baked with some pepper sauce and french fries? If we all care so much about doing things as nature wanted them, then why the hell are we taking selfies in the first place?!?
So I have been ranting about this for almost 2 hours now, since I found the article, and although it might not be 100% travel related, I just HAD to write it down. Because in many cases, it IS actually travel related. The situations I just described hardly ever happen in somebody’s backyard, do they? They happen when people get out of the house, go on a holiday, relax and start doing things they wouldn’t do at home.
And there’s so much more to say about animal cruelty. Elephant riding, tiger cuddling, visiting crocodile farms, … For many people their trip isn’t complete without it. They seem to think you HAVE to do it because it’s part of the culture, the tradition, and you haven’t seen the country without it. When I hear this I’m like ‘say what?!?’. How about you walk or take a bike to go ‘see the country’ instead of riding that elephant for the whole 300 meters (because that’s as far as you go on a lot of these tours)?!?
How about we go back to a bit of humanity and compassion? How about we say no to making other living beings suffer on the account of our yearly holiday?
HOW ABOUT WE START CARING MORE ABOUT A LIFE
THAN ABOUT A FUCKING SELFIE?!?
If you also are concerned about animal wellness and want to read more from travel bloggers who give a shit, I highly recommend you read this beautiful article about “Animals vs. tourists” from Dan Flying Solo. And please share your ideas in the comments!
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It’s so insane, sad and horrendous! I read the dolphin article too, and it makes me so disgusted! I hope there will be legal repercussions for those tourists!
I’m pretty sure there won’t be… It’s sad but I’m happy to see many people are shocked by this story!
I can’t believe that some tourists lured a pig to its death. So disgusting! Tourism is a great thing but it is also brings so many problems 🙁
Yep… people somehow seem to think everything suddenly becomes OK because well they’re on a holiday and they have the right to ‘have fun’ and do things they normally wouldn’t do…
Wow, hadn’t heard about the dolphin story, that’s so sad and completely unnecessary.
Unnecessary and totaly unexcusable….
Not going to lie, we eat meat. Not for survival necessarily but because we like it. The older I get and the more informed, I completely understand the vegetarian lifestyle. However, I have yet to jump to that side. Either way, the dolphin and pig situation is absolutely appalling and I cannot believe people would be so heartless.
As I wrote, I respect everybody’s choice but there’s no need to look for fake excuses. You eat meat and you just admit that it is because you like eating meat, that’s fine!! If however you do decide to ‘jump to that side’ and need tips, I’m right here!! 🙂
I was fuming when I saw the dolphin article too. Your pig story is just as sad. I really think responsible travel should be taught in schools and at home from early on, compassion and common sense are so hard to come by these days 🙁
I totally agree, these are things you’d expect everybody to know, right?!? But unfortunately that’s far from the truth…
I saw the story as well and the most crazy part to me is that not one person in that crowd stopped it. It would have only taken one decent person to take that dolphin out into the water back to its Mom. How is it possible not one person had the courage or brains to step in and put an end to this? The pig story is equally as appalling. Some days I am ashamed to be part of the human race.
Ugh, people are the worst. I don’t know why they think it’s ok to do these things. If the roles were reversed, surely they wouldn’t want those same actions repeated!
Unfortunately many people seem to be unable to put themselves in somebody elses shoes… Even if that somebody is an animal, it can’t be that hard to imagine it suffers just like we do, right??
What the hell is wrong with some people?! “Oh, a photo of me with a dying dolphin, what a treasured memory, let’s put it on the fridge”??
Or on facebook or something like that… I seriously don’t get it either!!
The dolphin’s story scared me..I really can’t see the end of this tunnel. Tigers druged for tourists, Ara’s with cutted wings to make photos…humans apre the worst and the most stupid animal on Earth!
I couldn’t agree with you more!!
I love the passion and anger in this. The world needs more people like you.
Aaauuuwh George, that’s a huge compliment, thanks!! 🙂
Okay I can agree the selfie thing is appalling. I saw this the other day and was disgusted. However, when it comes to meat I totally disagree with you! I’m not going to get in to the debate, but I think the argument can be made on both sides. I would slow down before being one-sided.
Hi Cameron, I totally respect you not agreeing with what I wrote and as I said in the article, I respect everybody’s personal choice. However I do feel that no matter what we write on our blogs, it will always be seen as ‘one-sided’ by somebody – unless we just write lists of tourist attractions with prices and opening hours or things like that. I particularly focus on the emotions I get during my travels, and I feel it’s important to express them as I feel them, without softening them down just so that ‘everybody’ would be able to relate. Obviously, everybody has the right to disagree with what I write and tell me about it. I love knowing about other people’s feelings about the subjects I write about, especially when it’s a subject that’s so important to me. So thanks for you comment!
I appreciate and respect the passion coming from your gut girl. Blogging is a great platform for freedom of speech and getting what’s going on in the world out there. Selfies with dolphins? I’m totally not digging that 🙁 Luring pigs towards crocodiles with marshmallows? Not cool. All I have to say is that tourists should be mindful of the environment they’re in and respect mother nature.
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I am with you on animal cruelty. I just get soo bad to my stomach when I am reading of starved and abused dogs or cats or horses, or cows a.s.o. There is also the scandal of those super-rich folks from all over the globe who think they have to go to Africa and kill an elephant or a lion or ANYTHING ALIVE for just that fucking selfie showing them proud as hell with a dead animal. It makes me so mad that I could grab a gun and go find that a**hole.
I never read the dolphin article, and I am so glad I didn’t. So sad.
I felt bad enough after watching “The Cove”, knowing that we had swam with the dolphins on a past vacation.
As someone who he lived in Louisiana feral pigs are a nuisance to the ecosystem and they don’t naturally exist there so the less of them it’s better for the survival of the swamps. Not anti animals just they have been really hurting the swamp ecosystem
Should teach more and more responsible tourism in school so people when they are grown up they will understand more. In Asia there should be more and more lessons about that. i am not sure in the European countries.
So sad about dolphin article. Hope that there will be more nice things in this world.
That’s really horrible Lily but I m glad that you took a stand against it!!!1
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That looks like a fab trip! I’d not have thought of the this place at all, but it’s a great suggestion for getting some good budget-friendly tour
I’ve read a different blogger’s experience on one of these swamp tours in New Orleans. It wasn’t as extreme but along the same lines. Both point to the bigger picture of overtourism like you mention. I hope that more and more travel bloggers speak out about the not so ‘picturesque’ side of travel that they have undoubtedly seen so more people can learn. My own blog is about traveling slowly and being a responsible traveler to help limit the growth of overtourism! Check out my latest post about what you can do to be a responsible tourist here https://maptrekking.com/responsible-tourist/
Poor dolphin… Nice trip!