EDITORIAL
Save the Humans As Well
Monday, April 19, 2004
The late Bob Hope once made a very astute observation about the Bikini
Atoll and its surrounding islands in the Pacific Ocean, which were used for
nuclear weapons testing by the United States from 1946 through 1958. He said
of the testing that began shortly after the conclusion of World War II, "As
soon as the war ended, we located the one spot on earth that hadn't been
touched by the war and blew it to hell."
It is precisely this type of philosophy that makes the whole dolphin
controversy in the Cayman Islands confusing. As much as people are fighting
for dolphins’ rights to live free in their natural habitat, the fact that our
own habitat is under attack is seemingly ignored.
Take Cayman’s continuing traffic problem for example, and the amount of
exhaust the ever-increasing number of vehicles belch into our once clean air.
Sitting in heavy traffic along many of our roads, it is quite common to see
vans, trucks, buses and heavy equipment spewing their black smoke into the air
that we breath. Study after study has shown that emissions kill the beings
that breathe it – period. Yet here in Cayman, it goes unchecked.
What then is our rallying cry: Save the dolphins and forget about the
humans? It just doesn’t make sense.
Some would argue that in fighting for dolphins, people are protecting
species that cannot protect themselves, however mankind has habitually shown
that, we definitely need protecting from ourselves, as we continue to abuse,
plunder and pillage the environment with ignorant abandonment.
This is not to say we should forget about the dolphins, the whales, the
elephants, the birds or any of the other creatures with which we share our
existence on this planet. However, since humans are the most advanced species
on Earth, it seems reasonable to think we would be smart enough to take care
of ourselves first.
If concerned residents in Cayman can host symposiums, write letters, hold
meetings and conduct similar activities banning dolphin programmes, why don’t
we put pressure on our Government to amend the budget to institute tough
environmental legislation such as a mandatory vehicle emissions control plan
in the Islands?
Many other countries insist that only unleaded fuel can be used, have
passed clean-air laws dictating that cars cannot be licensed without first
passing an emissions test, and limit vehicles to a size that suits their
roads. Why shouldn’t a society as advanced as Cayman not do similarly?
The Cayman Islands Government should not only be encouraged to adopt more
stringent environmental laws, but to also to get tougher on enforcing the laws
currently in place.
Our track record thus far on certain environmental issues frankly stinks as
much as our air.
One step in the right direction would be to make an effort to properly and
fully staff our Department of Environment (DoE) which could then effectively
communicate eco-sensitivity, environmental awareness and education to our
Islands.
Furthermore, if adequately staffed, the DoE could spend more time actually
helping to repair the damage we have done to our marine environment, our
landscape and our air – even though they should not be the only ones cleaning
up our mess.
Keeping dolphins in captivity is merely a symptom of all that is wrong with
this country’s myopic environmental attitude. We must treat the disease and
not the symptom.
Whether or not we have dolphins in captivity does not change the fact the
Cayman Islands is quickly becoming more and more toxic to every plant and
animal that lives in these Islands.
Captivity might kill dolphins with a slow death, but at the rate we are
going, the Cayman air will kill them much more quickly, taking us with them.
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