Once again, it's yet another tv programme which inspired this entry.
Name of programme: Beyond the Blue (Discovery Channel)
This program is, as you would have figured out by now, about dolphins. Actually it's more of saving them. Not like the usual what you would see, ie saving them from being killed, conserving the species etc. It's about saving the dolphins which are in captivity. So far, I have only managed to catch 2 episodes of this programme. First one being, the dolphin in a marine park somewhere in the states was diagnosed as very ill and probably dying, she had sorta "dolphin cataract", if I understood the disease correctly. Plus other aging illnesses. She (dolphin), was very disillusioned and thus, decided to starve herself and await her impending doom. To her, there is no hope in life, and she does not want to receive help of any kind.
You see, what pretty much surprised me was that there are actually animal psychiatrists ard. The doctor used care and concern to slowly allow the dolphin to open up to her, and thus, receive treatment. As you would have guessed, she recovered in the end.
Now, yesterday's epi was about this other dolphin called Fuji. Fuji is a performer in a marine park in Japan. She has lost her tail due to some disease. Without her tail, she is unable to streamline herself through the water and move around as she wishes. In other words, she is handicapped, both physically and emotionally.
Then came a team of samaritans, including, vets, trainers, dolphin experts, and rubber manufacturer. HAHA.. you will be thinking.. wat the beep.. rubber manufacturer... haha .. ya .. Cos, the team had decided to come up with an artificial
tail for her. She was initially despondent, but after the first successful tail was attached to her, she danced freely in the water, performing tricks like before, and no one can tell the difference btw her and her compatriots. But one fine day, while she was performing a jump outta water, her artificial
tail broke and she fell.
Here begins the long process of finding the correct material to produce the
"tail" so that when Fuji uses her full force to manuveure herself in the water, the
tail would remain intact. The interesting point to note is that, while she was
"tail-less", and waiting for the new
tail to arrive, she has regained her confidence and was trying her very best to do all the tricks she can , and swim as fast as she could. And of cos, there came the perfect
"tail". And all's well ends well.
Yes... it may seem like a boring story to some of ya.. But it amazes me to see such optimism in animals. And I can assure you that it is indeed very heartening. To be frank, I have always held this tiny hope that I could go overseas and study marine biology, and dolphins have always been my favourite animal. For their intellect, their beauty, and last but not least, their humane nature.
The world is larger than we all might think it is. Only when we can understand and realise the fact that mankind is not the only species who can make the world a better place, the world will regain its beauty and splendour.
"There is only one earth, we should learn to cherish all around us, whether they look or behave the same. Its not like we can go shopping elsewhere."
