Riddle of the Three Monkeys and the Killer Whale

One day, three monkeys went to an oceanarium. They sat down on a bench in front of a tank in which a Killer Whale was swimming in mindless circles and being made to perform stupid and demeaning tricks.

The first monkey whose name was, See No Evil, believed that it was cruel to keep such a magnificent creature imprisoned in a tiny tank where it would die long before its time. So he kept his eyes covered so that he would not have to witness the Killer Whale's mental anguish and humiliation.

The second monkey, whose name was Hear No Evil, liked looking at the Killer Whale: he had fun when he came to the sea park and didn't want to listen to what the first monkey was saying so he kept his ears covered.

The third monkey whose name was Speak No Evil knew a human who worked as a trainer at the oceanarium; his friend told him that everything the first monkey said was true: but he was afraid that the evil men who owned the sea park would fire his friend if he said anything so he kept his mouth covered.

The next day these three monkeys were riding in a bus that was hit by a truck and all three were all killed. Which monkey do you think got into heaven?

For the answer you'll have to wait until the next posting...

A Tragedy For Us All

The tragic death of a trainer at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida, yesterday is a brutal reminder of what can happen when a wild creature that is free to swim through all the oceans of the world is captured and placed in the narrow confines of a concrete tank, where it is doomed to spend the rest of its life performing stupid tricks for human amusement. May God be with that woman’s family and friends. Below is a posting from last November that bears repeating on this sad occasion:

Spectacular Cruelty

The next time you and your family go to a marine park to gaze and gawk at the Orcas as they are made to perform demeaning tricks, I want you to remember this. The average life span of Orcas in the wild is forty years, and females can live well into their seventies and eighties. Now contrast this with the following fact: the average life expectancy in captivity of an Orca captured in the wild is less than six years. Yes, you read that correctly—six years! And for Orcas born in captivity, it is not much longer. The only blessing for the latter group is that they at least have never known the joy of freedom. Add to this disturbing statistic the fact that of the nearly two hundred Orcas held captive in man’s liquid prisons since 1964, less than one third lived longer than ten years, and only forty-one are alive today. If there is any shred of decency in you, how can you interpret these facts as anything but spectacular cruelty?