Negative-G - Marineland of Canada - 2014

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Marineland of Canada, Niagara Falls, Ontario

The magical thing that most people forget about shows like the King Waldorf's Stadium Show is how much these creatures and those of us in the audience; especially children, connect during the show.

You see that these are not just animals. These are thinking and feeling fellow creatures here on this planet. The most important way that we connect to to animals we would never see in our normal lives through shows like this one is that what we do as people, the way we live as the stewards of this planet has an impact on these amazing creatures that live hundreds or thousands of miles away in habitats that most of us will never get the chance to go.

When the show is all over and everyone files out of King Waldorf's Stadium and after a day of fun eventually go home the thought about caring for your fellow creatures near or far percolates in your mind and down the road will influence you to take better care of this Earth for all of the seals, dolphins, sea lions or belugas way out there roaming the far away seas. It is one thing to hear about the plight of creatures far away on the television but it becomes real when you can really see into a dolphins eyes and see a beluga and her pup play right before you. Real life connections are what change the world for the better.

Like other marine animal theme parks, Marineland has seen its share of protests decrying everything they do. All sorts of unsubstantiated claims have been made and all sorts of rhetoric has been thrown out against Marineland.

I had a tough time taking in the accusations of animal mistreatment that Marineland's critics level because animal after animal that we saw there was visibly excited to be with their trainer or or to be around humans. Abused animals don't go running towards their trainer or people in excitement. All of the animals we saw at Marineland were excited to see their trainers and were excited to see us. It was almost as if Mareineland is a park for them and it is us who were the entertainment.