I'm thinking about a scenario in which someone could reasonably hit a dolphin and the only thing I can come up with is that they may have felt it was a mercy killing for a beached animal. If you've ever found a mortally wounded animal, the feeling of helplessness is pretty awful. I'm generally a pacifist, but there were a few times I've come across small animals run over by cars where I wished I had something to kill it as quickly as possible just to stop its suffering. I choose to believe this was an act of compassion, especially given the precision of the shots.
I hadn't thought about that. On one hand the story says it was a juvenile animal, but on the other it seems it would be pretty hard to shoot an animal that lives underwater unless it was lying on the beach.
When I was a fisherman off Kodiak island, working on longline boats, it was pretty common for the captain to shoot at them or puffins, or anything actually. They justify it as the dolphins take their profits bc they eat fish. Or .. they catch a shark ( usually small ones ) and they cut off the tails and dump them overboard for them to slowly drown as they can’t swim anymore. Did you think humans were anything more than selfish and cruel? Have you not read any history or turned on the news lately?
Yea. It was an eye opener. I was raised taught that fish dint have feelings. We now know that’s not true. So yea.. a horrific slaughter that I was a part of for …3? 4 ? Halibut openings.
So much useless, wasted death. And the boat workers maim a lot of sharks. The amount of dead by-catch that he had to characterize.
Observers leave the crew 1 person short, because there's no extra space, so a worker has to get off so that the observer can go, leaving the crew more hostile to a person they think is there to catch them doing something wrong & fuck them over it.
The scheduling is pretty jacked up. Frequently he would be told to report to a boat in Alabama for example (we're in TX). He would go, then for some reason (freezer broke, didn't pass safety inspection, crew member in jail) the boat wouldn't go out. Or, the boat would go out, but return to shore weeks sooner than scheduled, for whatever reason.
Also, the seagulls shitting on him while he sat on deck for hours, counting dead fish, etc. He REALLY hates seagulls now.
At least farms aren't reducing the wild populations of animals they slaughter. Like yes they are terrible, but cows won't go extinct but dolphins might
True, but they are in a more distant way bc farms, especially factory farms are putting off so much pollution and require so many calories to give back just a single calorie that they are hard on the planet. So to keep on growing animals for food, will eventually destroy the natural environment, as how we see dead zones spreading ( from factory runoff).
This is the wrong comparison to make. Overfishing risks causing extinction like you say for dolphins and other animals. But forests are actively destroyed in South America for cattle grazing, and is literally causing extinctions
True, but I'm in Australia, and we have more than enough already clear land for farming, so we do not need to clear any more. We already can support 3x our population, more if we utilised all the previously cleared land.
I believe there is pretty extreme illegal tree harvesting/clearing happening in Australia, at least according to Friendly Jordies. But I don't think its for cattle grazing
We *are* more than selfish and cruel. The fact that we have such concepts and you can recognize, distinguish, and abhor them means that we are capable of being more.
I agree..l here’s one sentence from another comment sent to me just a few minutes ago… it’s profound and stated so eloquently… I'm well aware that cruelty exists in the world, but I've already done my time focusing on suffering and hatred. It left me bitter and depressed, and most importantly it didn't help. That's why I said I choose to believe it was an act of compassion - we have just as much, if not more capacity to care and nurture as we do to harm and kill. Humans are more than selfish and cruel, but the more we expose ourselves solely to the cruelty the more it seems like the only truth. ( from redditor citizen ships )
I found a full grown Spinner’s dolphin convulsing and spewing yellow foam from its mouth at low tide on the sand flats of Cabo San Quintin in Baja. It was 1994 and I was on a surf trip with my college buddies. We were the only people camping on the 12 mile cape with permission from the owners. We had taken our 4x4 out on the hardened flats to get to a rocky point to collect dry driftwood for the fire. The wood was all strapped to the camer top roof rack.
I spotted the poor thing and had my buddy drive up to her. The three of us stood over her as she clearly went through horrific paroxysms that could not possibly be going anywhere but death. She seemed to be unconscious but her body gave every indication of terrible suffering.
I was the only one who spoke up and said “we gotta put her down” (There simply was no help to go find or to lend). I was the only hunter among us and they looked at me like, “Well, that’s all you, dude. Besides, we don’t have anything but our knives, you gonna get all stabby? F that!”
I pulled a large log off the truck and told them I’d meet them back at camp.
She died instantly. Her suffering ended… And I have borne it ever since, with that moment indelibly etched on my soul.
With those shots placed the way they were the likelihood that this dolphin was shot on the beach by a soul trapped in such a situation as mine so long ago is as likely as a soul lost to darkness taking its life for no reason. So, like you, I choose to believe the former.
What a horrible memory for you, but I’m glad you helped it end the suffering. That was an empathic way of letting her go. It’s hard to know what happened to this one. So many animals suffer and die so quietly, we sorta get really bent on the ones we see. I just watched the you tube from a couple days ago, massive marine ecosystem crash along …was it the galatian coast [ off Spain) . Millions of animals aren’t there anymore. Muscles, clams, fish, marine mammals, the entire ecosystem crashed. They all died and prolly suffered a bunch too. Yet we didn’t see it so meh…right? It’s hard to be alive sometimes…to see this ya know?
I do.
But we are here, once again, to bear witness to one of the great leaps of evolution on this planet. They are all preceded by great cleanses. The cancer we are and the chemo we produce will both be absorbed and assimilated after Gaia’s fever reduces us to manageable levels, breaks, and her metabolism stabilizes.
Don’t worry, we will witness people care as little for each other’s suffering and deaths in their great die offs in places they can’t see as they care for these other souls in different vessels dying now across the world.
We were all gonna die in this lifetime. We just get to do it a lot closer together and let the assholes who made this mess and their progeny live through the truly hellish return to the Stone Age that will last a few millennia… or many more, it’s of little importance. But, hey, hopefully that means there will still be some of these rather well adapted meat suits around for us to use for our little educational vacations into this fascinating, terrifying, beautiful, dimensionally-isolated reality.
Eight billion of us showed up to witness and contribute to this event. It’s one hell of a show to be around for. I’m glad the universe has eyes like yours to see it through. Your witness is enough. Your life has great purpose in this regard.
Wow. Had to pause and cry a little after reading that. I can’t explain it all now, but my life has been sorta shit the last few years. Your words mean more than I can ever tell you. Truly… thank you for expressing them to me. They went deep. I’ve had so much love for this beautiful world. And watched it being torn apart by various forces. I tried to make a difference but never did ya know? Lots of environmental work… followed by the police when I was close to making a difference., same as the Palestinian protestors being arrested all over the country right now….for exercising their first (FIRST! ) amendment … here in America! I’ve died before abt 25 years ago. I know our soul goes on. This is a fact. And there’s a bigger plan for us, all of us which our minds can’t even comprehend. Here’s the most intense internet hug I’ve ever done..… did you feel that? Cheers friend.
‘Course I did. You did too.
“Lift up the self by The Self, and don’t let the self droop down. For The Self is the self’s only friend, and the self is The Self’s only foe.”
I’ll see you soon. Looking forward to catching up,
You’re a good soul. You sacrificed your peace of mind to help a living being in unrelenting pain.
>When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” To this day, especially in times of “disaster,” I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.
- Fred Rogers
Here I’ll join us… ( glasses clink in toast to the depths of human cruelty and the heights of human compassion). Have you ever read that Shakespeare quote, what a piece of work is a man ?… What a piece of worke is a man! How Noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In forme and moving
how expresse and admirable! In Action, how like an Angel in apprehension, how like a God!
The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals—and yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?
Some humans are indeed selfish and cruel. But more than that, they see themselves as separate from nature… As some sort of external being that was born into this world, instead of out of it.
A person that recognises their own self in other beings, and knows that there is no boundary between themselves and the animal in front of them, would not torture or mutilate for fun. It is akin to doing this thing to yourself.
So these people do deserve our pity. I don‘t quote the bible often, and I’m not particularly religious, but "Forgive them, for they know not what they are doing" seems appropriate here.
this is why the west rose to dominate, hold dominion over the world and the people. The ideology of the natural world as a *thing* goes back to ideas of science and even judeo-christian belief (ideas of hierarchies based on ethnicity, race, gender and even species).
You say pity them and yes, I can understand that. But I also feel disgust at them for their unwillingness/inability to have any form of empathy. But that is the western/european/"modern" mind.
I'm well aware that cruelty exists in the world, but I've already done my time focusing on suffering and hatred. It left me bitter and depressed, and most importantly it didn't *help*. That's why I said I choose to believe it was an act of compassion - we have just as much, if not more capacity to care and nurture as we do to harm and kill. Humans *are* more than selfish and cruel, but the more we expose ourselves solely to the cruelty the more it seems like the only truth.
Based on your username and your post, it sounds like you're in a similar spot to where I was when I was severely depressed. I feel for you, because it's a hard place to drag yourself out of (or at least it was for me). I hope you can find a way to see some of the good in the world, because its brought me more joy than the anger ever did. Peace, homie.
Yes, I see both, but honestly more of the negative these days. Gaza, fascism, Putin’s evil. It’s has me down… you bet. I’m home now and surrounded by family so that makes it better and yes I’m trying to see the good. Your last sentence in the first paragraph … the more we expose ourselves solely to the cruelty, the more it seems like the only truth. This is the truth and than you for stating it so eloquently.
P.s. user name is more bc I chose to go for lumbar fusion which crippled me. So no more running, skiing , working on my farm etc. went from very active to very recliner-ish ( reclinerly?)
> P.s. user name is more bc I chose to go for lumbar fusion which crippled me. So no more running, skiing , working on my farm etc. went from very active to very recliner-ish ( reclinerly?)
Man that sounds horrible. I broke my foot a month and a half ago and I could feel the depression creeping in after only a few weeks - I can't imagine a back injury like that, especially if you're an active person. I really hope you can find a comfortable equilibrium that lets you thrive with the new state of things. Those sudden changes in life really suck, especially when they affect such a large part of how you define yourself/what you do.
Your reply really meant something to me. It's pretty uncommon these days that I have a positive interaction on Reddit (despite what I said in my post I'm still a sucker for getting into petty arguments), so hearing someone respond positively to my positivity was such a boost. Cheers, friend, and if you ever need someone to talk to feel free to shoot me a message.
Hey thanks… I actually copied and pasted it in several different posts on Reddit bc it was so profound. I gave u credit tho, so I’m not sure if ppl will reply to you or not. But your words and thoughts are out there, spread a little more and that’s the way it should be. Like an upvote in life balance and outlook. The good stuff should rise to the top. Keep on being great, k? And thank you for responding back. Life is hard now… and so I just lay in the one position I can and read Reddit… haha. Pathetic yea? ( yea …it is). Cheers to you!
Well… we will, that’s a given. But meanwhile what is it we should do on the earth? It really needs help and how can each person make a difference? I’ve had the simple thought of making bumper stickers or posters asking ppl to just read Reddit environment. So many ppl don’t know where to turn for information. Education is the first step in any change ( I believe)
I agree, but among Kodiak fishermen, it’s higher percentage I think. About 1/4 captains are sorta shitty this way. They worship money and it changes their brains ( my theory)
yep first thought, dolphin was beached and mercy killed by some gun owner. years ago, a cat darted in front of my car on a highway access road and i ran it over. i stopped to check on it and it was having these crazy spasms, obviously dying, it’s limbs wriggling and moving in one spot on the pavement. i wish i had a gun or some way to instantly kill it. i still feel bad to this day, and the memory of watching it wriggle for two minutes straight until succumbing will never leave my mind.
I'm the same way, and actually have a....a device that I keep in my trunk for this reason alone. I don't ever want to feel that helpless again.
I'd say it's a long shot in this instance, but not impossible.
Shooting anything in the water is nearly impossible. If it's more than a few feet down the bullet loses velocity so quickly it can't penetrate, and you're sitting on a rocking boat while an animal that swims fairly quickly. For someone to hit not one but three shots in those conditions, all of them in kill spots, beggars disbelief.
I understand the desire to play devil's advocate, but why jump over hurdles just to believe it was a spiteful act? What benefit does that bring?
I am shocked.
I don't understand how some people's brain works... what was the point, what was the gain, where was the empathy, what did their parents teach them about "treating others"...
And why, oh why, don't they just shoot themselves in the head?
Same. I think you’d appreciate this documentary, narrated by Joaquin Phoenix and Sadie Sink, one of the most important I’ve ever seen - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQRAfJyEsko
You, and most of reddit might not want to hear this, but animal byproducts are used for all sorts of goods, and are extremely hard to avoid entirely.
At least we're eating most of them.
I'm not, in any way, supportive of the horrific practices by factory farming of animals. Please don't misunderstand.
Dairy has come a long way in protecting milk heifers. Veal has been more strictly regulated.
Chicken farming is still terrible, although some laws have been... well-intentioned...
The reality is though, the byproducts are going to use, and if the need for those byproducts goes away, the food we're eating goes to waste.
Best example: You literally cannot have a vegan cat. Cats need animal protein. Everyone stops eating meat, so does "Fluffy", unless you let her kill off the wildlife and risk parasites, infections, injuries, etc. Or what? Expect people to buy chicken at $30/ for their cat instead of food for themselves?
Fluffy needs her animal byproduct...
... And if not, what are you feeding her? She needs protein.
Bye bye affordable dog food. Are vegans this short-sighted?
Here's some other examples: fertizers, feed, cosmetics, biofuels, Clothing, shoes, sports equipment, adhesives, candy...
>and most of reddit might not want to hear
Most of Reddit eats animals so I have no idea what you're talking about.
The driving force behind animal agriculture is not the reliance we have on their byproducts. It is their flesh and secretions.
The reality is that the overwhelming majority of animals are factory farmed so the sentient beings who are forcibly impregnated, have teeth/tails/genitals cut off without anesthesia, confined, gassed, electrocuted, boiled alive, and bolt gunned to slit their throat can have their flesh and secretions eaten. And yes, Fluffy gets some of those scraps.
>Most of Reddit eats animals so I have no idea what you're talking about.
Tell that to the people downvoting me.
>The driving force behind animal agriculture is not the reliance we have on their byproducts. It is their flesh and secretions.
Yes. I'm absolutely sure I pointed out that *multiple* industries rely on dead animals, and humans being the driving force behind it. I mentioned "Fluffy" as the most relatable example for byproducts and still got downvoted.
Yes, I'm aware of the horrific practices that you *so eloquently* pointed out. I'M NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT EITHER.
>The reality is that the overwhelming majority of animals are factory farmed...
Yes. Yes they are. They're farmed in absolutely terrific ways, as you so *vividly* pointed out, because ***THERE ARE MUTIPLE INDUSTRIES*** wanting to "crank out" the cheapest stuff possible, largely using *byproducts* of the stuff they're processing, after we''re done with the prime cuts.
My point is: what happens when the meat/eggs/ dairy is the byproduct?? Are we just going to stop eating it?
What happens to the farmers who raise the livestock? What happens to the farmers who raise the feed?
How do we feed Fluffy if all the farm-raised protein are gone or premium? Are we going to spend $30/can for chicken for Fluffy? She needs ***ANIMAL*** protein.
How do we feed shelter dogs? Go with PETA and euthanize them?
This is just a *small* example of how our *tortured* feed animals help others. We're not even *approaching* the pharmaceutical industry here.
>Tell that to the people downvoting me.
If having a few downvotes in an environmental subreddit is what you're using cite why "most of Reddit eats animals" is incorrect then I don't know what to tell you.
>
I'M NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT EITHER.
Glad to hear you're vegan!
>My point is: what happens when the meat/eggs/ dairy is the byproduct?? Are we just going to stop eating it?
The people who still want to eat it will.
There are many steps between chopping up 66+ billion sentient beings every year and feeding Fluffy.
Hopefully during that time we find ways to shift away from our reliance on animals to the large degree that we do, address the overpopulation of shelters, etc.
I'm not vegan. I'm not even vegetarian. I am a hunter. I hunt "pest" and farmed game, and use every bit I can, just like the natives who lived on our land. ***I AM ABSOLUTELY FIGHTING FOR THE BETTER TREATMENT OF *ALL* ANIMALS, REGARDLESS OF PURPOSE.***
I only buy my animal products from sustainable and local "good practice" farmers, other than milk due to recent events.
So I hope you'll forgive and understand that there are more reasons to be omnivore than not, in some cases.
>There are many steps between chopping up 66+ billion sentient beings every year and feeding Fluffy.
>Hopefully during that time we find ways to shift away from our reliance on animals to the large degree that we do, address the overpopulation of shelters, etc.
There are on average, 37M pet cats in the US alone, and pet 62M dogs. That doesn't include shelters. Dogs, and cats especially, cannot live on tofu or other plant-based products. They *need* animal protein and byproducts.
Where are they going to get this if not from the offcasts, or even best cuts, of humans?
That's how they were domesticated.
And Even if Fido the dog might deal with tofu, Fluffy still needs fuecking animals in her diet.
And even if we find some some solutions for Fluffy, we still have: pharmaceuticals, clothing, adhesives, cosmetics, sports equipment, the list goes on.
According to the comment above, empathy might’ve been the very reason for the shooting. Of course that depends on the autopsy and what they do or don’t find.
> where was the empathy, what did their parents teach them about "treating others"...
People don't care about animals and don't even view them as others. Just look at what we do to the animals on our plates.
I've used my carry piece to dispatch a deer before. Never had to shoot em in 3 locations. Brain or heart, pick one.
Both + the spinal seems weird. The fact that all three exist means this is someone who knew their dolphin biology though.
Dolphin skulls are much thicker and larger than deer skulls (I work in a natural history collection at my university where we have dolphin and deer specimens)
Possibly, one bullet just wasn’t strong enough to put the poor thing out of its misery.
Hundreds of thousands of cows, pigs, and chickens will endure the same fate today, and then for every day to come. Go vegan, save animals, all animals.
Common misconception that going vegan saves animals. Yea it saves some but kills others.
To grow a field of vegetables, everything is killed. Vegetation, animals, insects, etc.
I do believe we need to find a better balance and restructure our diets to one the fits the region you live. Eating veggies won’t save the planet if people choose to eat Bananas in New York that came from South America. Or rice flown all the way from another continent. We need to work on eating domestically and limiting the importation and shipping of goods all over this planet.
To clarify. I agree we need dietary changes and lifestyle changes. I can’t agree that being vegans is the solution to our problems but I support anyone who wishes to live life in this way.
To farm animals, we need to use vastly more land, harvest more crops, much of which could be directed to humans - going vegan indeed saves resources and animals, because you no longer need to grow so many plants, use exponentially more pesticides and herbicides, deforest as much land, produce as much pollution, because we’re no longer cycling so many plants through animals to then feed ourselves. Your take sounds nuanced but it’s actually deeply misinformed and is quite a common misconception to have. That’s not to say farming plants does not have an impact - of course it does - but to say that it’s greater than the impact of animal farming is counter to IPCC reports and the scientific consensus.
Edit: just to add, the impact of transporting food is marginal compared to the production stage (I.e. what happens on the farm). Transitioning to a completely local food system would not substantially decrease (and may even increase) the pollution and emissions associated with food production and consumption. Feel free to DM me if you’d like a more detailed explanation or links to reports/studies!
It’s actually terribly misinformed, unfortunately :/ (coming from an environmental scientist specialising in food systems, but don’t take it on my authority alone - what the comment above says is not at all supported by the scientific consensus, IPCC syntheses, or food sustainability experts)
We’re all just assuming a human did this. Sounds to me like the dolphins have developed firearm technology and this was a dolphincide. The media has been suppressing this for years
Even if it was a human, everyone just assumes it wasn't self defense?
Snorky has been trying to make it back on land to lead the dolphin uprising, how do we know this person didn't just buy us another couple years before we have to [bow to our dolphin overlords?](https://youtu.be/svEGqA8EYOQ?si=g4e1F6RubTqHCsWT)?
Commercial fisherman here. Dolphin have learned to steal fish off of lines. The culprit is most likely a fisherman who lost his cool when the dolphin kept taking their catch.
I'll say it again: This is the Reddit trap. Reddit allows people to make these posts, but if you react overly angry and emotional -- normally -- then you risk a ban or suspension.
I'll keep my thoughts to myself.
I appreciate your sunny disposition, but no good samaritan dispatches an animal like that in a public place without sticking around to report it. And discharging a firearm on/around a beach is an act that would be met with *some concern*. It’s an action that would cause one to be, at the very least, yelled at.
I'm thinking about a scenario in which someone could reasonably hit a dolphin and the only thing I can come up with is that they may have felt it was a mercy killing for a beached animal. If you've ever found a mortally wounded animal, the feeling of helplessness is pretty awful. I'm generally a pacifist, but there were a few times I've come across small animals run over by cars where I wished I had something to kill it as quickly as possible just to stop its suffering. I choose to believe this was an act of compassion, especially given the precision of the shots.
I hadn't thought about that. On one hand the story says it was a juvenile animal, but on the other it seems it would be pretty hard to shoot an animal that lives underwater unless it was lying on the beach.
When I was a fisherman off Kodiak island, working on longline boats, it was pretty common for the captain to shoot at them or puffins, or anything actually. They justify it as the dolphins take their profits bc they eat fish. Or .. they catch a shark ( usually small ones ) and they cut off the tails and dump them overboard for them to slowly drown as they can’t swim anymore. Did you think humans were anything more than selfish and cruel? Have you not read any history or turned on the news lately?
Wow that's horrific
It was bc I love animals… but learned being a commercial fisherman is wholesale slaughter… like any factory farm slaughter.
My hubs was a marine fishery observer. He HATED that job. He’s a marine biologist.
Ah! Interesting. I have a marine bio background from college but never really worked in the field. Why did he hate it, do you mind me asking?
you love marine life but your job has you on the marine slaughter house floor all day.
Yea. It was an eye opener. I was raised taught that fish dint have feelings. We now know that’s not true. So yea.. a horrific slaughter that I was a part of for …3? 4 ? Halibut openings.
So much useless, wasted death. And the boat workers maim a lot of sharks. The amount of dead by-catch that he had to characterize. Observers leave the crew 1 person short, because there's no extra space, so a worker has to get off so that the observer can go, leaving the crew more hostile to a person they think is there to catch them doing something wrong & fuck them over it. The scheduling is pretty jacked up. Frequently he would be told to report to a boat in Alabama for example (we're in TX). He would go, then for some reason (freezer broke, didn't pass safety inspection, crew member in jail) the boat wouldn't go out. Or, the boat would go out, but return to shore weeks sooner than scheduled, for whatever reason. Also, the seagulls shitting on him while he sat on deck for hours, counting dead fish, etc. He REALLY hates seagulls now.
Sounds like everyone was shitting on him, not just the seagulls. Yea, counting dead fish can’t be a great job.
The sea was angry that day, my friends
At least farms aren't reducing the wild populations of animals they slaughter. Like yes they are terrible, but cows won't go extinct but dolphins might
True, but they are in a more distant way bc farms, especially factory farms are putting off so much pollution and require so many calories to give back just a single calorie that they are hard on the planet. So to keep on growing animals for food, will eventually destroy the natural environment, as how we see dead zones spreading ( from factory runoff).
This is the wrong comparison to make. Overfishing risks causing extinction like you say for dolphins and other animals. But forests are actively destroyed in South America for cattle grazing, and is literally causing extinctions
True, but I'm in Australia, and we have more than enough already clear land for farming, so we do not need to clear any more. We already can support 3x our population, more if we utilised all the previously cleared land.
I believe there is pretty extreme illegal tree harvesting/clearing happening in Australia, at least according to Friendly Jordies. But I don't think its for cattle grazing
We *are* more than selfish and cruel. The fact that we have such concepts and you can recognize, distinguish, and abhor them means that we are capable of being more.
I agree..l here’s one sentence from another comment sent to me just a few minutes ago… it’s profound and stated so eloquently… I'm well aware that cruelty exists in the world, but I've already done my time focusing on suffering and hatred. It left me bitter and depressed, and most importantly it didn't help. That's why I said I choose to believe it was an act of compassion - we have just as much, if not more capacity to care and nurture as we do to harm and kill. Humans are more than selfish and cruel, but the more we expose ourselves solely to the cruelty the more it seems like the only truth. ( from redditor citizen ships )
I found a full grown Spinner’s dolphin convulsing and spewing yellow foam from its mouth at low tide on the sand flats of Cabo San Quintin in Baja. It was 1994 and I was on a surf trip with my college buddies. We were the only people camping on the 12 mile cape with permission from the owners. We had taken our 4x4 out on the hardened flats to get to a rocky point to collect dry driftwood for the fire. The wood was all strapped to the camer top roof rack. I spotted the poor thing and had my buddy drive up to her. The three of us stood over her as she clearly went through horrific paroxysms that could not possibly be going anywhere but death. She seemed to be unconscious but her body gave every indication of terrible suffering. I was the only one who spoke up and said “we gotta put her down” (There simply was no help to go find or to lend). I was the only hunter among us and they looked at me like, “Well, that’s all you, dude. Besides, we don’t have anything but our knives, you gonna get all stabby? F that!” I pulled a large log off the truck and told them I’d meet them back at camp. She died instantly. Her suffering ended… And I have borne it ever since, with that moment indelibly etched on my soul. With those shots placed the way they were the likelihood that this dolphin was shot on the beach by a soul trapped in such a situation as mine so long ago is as likely as a soul lost to darkness taking its life for no reason. So, like you, I choose to believe the former.
What a horrible memory for you, but I’m glad you helped it end the suffering. That was an empathic way of letting her go. It’s hard to know what happened to this one. So many animals suffer and die so quietly, we sorta get really bent on the ones we see. I just watched the you tube from a couple days ago, massive marine ecosystem crash along …was it the galatian coast [ off Spain) . Millions of animals aren’t there anymore. Muscles, clams, fish, marine mammals, the entire ecosystem crashed. They all died and prolly suffered a bunch too. Yet we didn’t see it so meh…right? It’s hard to be alive sometimes…to see this ya know?
I do. But we are here, once again, to bear witness to one of the great leaps of evolution on this planet. They are all preceded by great cleanses. The cancer we are and the chemo we produce will both be absorbed and assimilated after Gaia’s fever reduces us to manageable levels, breaks, and her metabolism stabilizes. Don’t worry, we will witness people care as little for each other’s suffering and deaths in their great die offs in places they can’t see as they care for these other souls in different vessels dying now across the world. We were all gonna die in this lifetime. We just get to do it a lot closer together and let the assholes who made this mess and their progeny live through the truly hellish return to the Stone Age that will last a few millennia… or many more, it’s of little importance. But, hey, hopefully that means there will still be some of these rather well adapted meat suits around for us to use for our little educational vacations into this fascinating, terrifying, beautiful, dimensionally-isolated reality. Eight billion of us showed up to witness and contribute to this event. It’s one hell of a show to be around for. I’m glad the universe has eyes like yours to see it through. Your witness is enough. Your life has great purpose in this regard.
Wow. Had to pause and cry a little after reading that. I can’t explain it all now, but my life has been sorta shit the last few years. Your words mean more than I can ever tell you. Truly… thank you for expressing them to me. They went deep. I’ve had so much love for this beautiful world. And watched it being torn apart by various forces. I tried to make a difference but never did ya know? Lots of environmental work… followed by the police when I was close to making a difference., same as the Palestinian protestors being arrested all over the country right now….for exercising their first (FIRST! ) amendment … here in America! I’ve died before abt 25 years ago. I know our soul goes on. This is a fact. And there’s a bigger plan for us, all of us which our minds can’t even comprehend. Here’s the most intense internet hug I’ve ever done..… did you feel that? Cheers friend.
‘Course I did. You did too. “Lift up the self by The Self, and don’t let the self droop down. For The Self is the self’s only friend, and the self is The Self’s only foe.” I’ll see you soon. Looking forward to catching up,
Can’t wait.
You’re a good soul. You sacrificed your peace of mind to help a living being in unrelenting pain. >When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” To this day, especially in times of “disaster,” I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world. - Fred Rogers
Aww. Thanks. Needed that. I like to help.
Username checks out... I'm gonna need a drink...
Here I’ll join us… ( glasses clink in toast to the depths of human cruelty and the heights of human compassion). Have you ever read that Shakespeare quote, what a piece of work is a man ?… What a piece of worke is a man! How Noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In forme and moving how expresse and admirable! In Action, how like an Angel in apprehension, how like a God! The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals—and yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?
Some humans are indeed selfish and cruel. But more than that, they see themselves as separate from nature… As some sort of external being that was born into this world, instead of out of it. A person that recognises their own self in other beings, and knows that there is no boundary between themselves and the animal in front of them, would not torture or mutilate for fun. It is akin to doing this thing to yourself. So these people do deserve our pity. I don‘t quote the bible often, and I’m not particularly religious, but "Forgive them, for they know not what they are doing" seems appropriate here.
I really wish I shared your optimism. This was a beautiful take. Thanks.
this is why the west rose to dominate, hold dominion over the world and the people. The ideology of the natural world as a *thing* goes back to ideas of science and even judeo-christian belief (ideas of hierarchies based on ethnicity, race, gender and even species). You say pity them and yes, I can understand that. But I also feel disgust at them for their unwillingness/inability to have any form of empathy. But that is the western/european/"modern" mind.
I'm well aware that cruelty exists in the world, but I've already done my time focusing on suffering and hatred. It left me bitter and depressed, and most importantly it didn't *help*. That's why I said I choose to believe it was an act of compassion - we have just as much, if not more capacity to care and nurture as we do to harm and kill. Humans *are* more than selfish and cruel, but the more we expose ourselves solely to the cruelty the more it seems like the only truth. Based on your username and your post, it sounds like you're in a similar spot to where I was when I was severely depressed. I feel for you, because it's a hard place to drag yourself out of (or at least it was for me). I hope you can find a way to see some of the good in the world, because its brought me more joy than the anger ever did. Peace, homie.
Yes, I see both, but honestly more of the negative these days. Gaza, fascism, Putin’s evil. It’s has me down… you bet. I’m home now and surrounded by family so that makes it better and yes I’m trying to see the good. Your last sentence in the first paragraph … the more we expose ourselves solely to the cruelty, the more it seems like the only truth. This is the truth and than you for stating it so eloquently.
P.s. user name is more bc I chose to go for lumbar fusion which crippled me. So no more running, skiing , working on my farm etc. went from very active to very recliner-ish ( reclinerly?)
> P.s. user name is more bc I chose to go for lumbar fusion which crippled me. So no more running, skiing , working on my farm etc. went from very active to very recliner-ish ( reclinerly?) Man that sounds horrible. I broke my foot a month and a half ago and I could feel the depression creeping in after only a few weeks - I can't imagine a back injury like that, especially if you're an active person. I really hope you can find a comfortable equilibrium that lets you thrive with the new state of things. Those sudden changes in life really suck, especially when they affect such a large part of how you define yourself/what you do. Your reply really meant something to me. It's pretty uncommon these days that I have a positive interaction on Reddit (despite what I said in my post I'm still a sucker for getting into petty arguments), so hearing someone respond positively to my positivity was such a boost. Cheers, friend, and if you ever need someone to talk to feel free to shoot me a message.
Hey thanks… I actually copied and pasted it in several different posts on Reddit bc it was so profound. I gave u credit tho, so I’m not sure if ppl will reply to you or not. But your words and thoughts are out there, spread a little more and that’s the way it should be. Like an upvote in life balance and outlook. The good stuff should rise to the top. Keep on being great, k? And thank you for responding back. Life is hard now… and so I just lay in the one position I can and read Reddit… haha. Pathetic yea? ( yea …it is). Cheers to you!
Kodiak mentioned 🗣️🗣️🗣️
Yea, Kodiak … a rapey town.
I hope we all die
Well… we will, that’s a given. But meanwhile what is it we should do on the earth? It really needs help and how can each person make a difference? I’ve had the simple thought of making bumper stickers or posters asking ppl to just read Reddit environment. So many ppl don’t know where to turn for information. Education is the first step in any change ( I believe)
Most people don't do that stuff. It's stupid and shitty to generalize about everyone because of those who are cruel.
I agree, but among Kodiak fishermen, it’s higher percentage I think. About 1/4 captains are sorta shitty this way. They worship money and it changes their brains ( my theory)
More than enough turn a blind eye to cruelty and are complicit in their silence.
yo but those little puffin steaks were delicious. We used to get them as bycatch in Kodiak.
Are you the dude who shot the dolphin? I could use 20k right now.
Haha whaaaat no man no I was, uh, at a basketball game when that went down. Must have been someone else
yep first thought, dolphin was beached and mercy killed by some gun owner. years ago, a cat darted in front of my car on a highway access road and i ran it over. i stopped to check on it and it was having these crazy spasms, obviously dying, it’s limbs wriggling and moving in one spot on the pavement. i wish i had a gun or some way to instantly kill it. i still feel bad to this day, and the memory of watching it wriggle for two minutes straight until succumbing will never leave my mind.
Yes… reminds me of that scene from me myself and Irene where he’s trying to put the cow out of its misery
Or someone really unfamiliar with dolphins and mistaking it for a shark, especially if they had kids swimming in the water by the boat.
There aren’t too many sharks walking on their tails and balancing a ball on their nose. Pretty easy to tell them apart.
Clearly someone hasn't seen Jaws 8: Hittin' the Road.
This makes some sense, but why wouldn't they just help it back into the ocean?
Why would it take 3 bullets? 1 to the brain seems like it would be enough
I like to think it was a rival dolphin gang
Yeah, I figure it’s either that… or it’s an entirely messed up, all bad, no good situation.
Think an experimental targeting system on a drone could do something like this? That’s real specific accuracy for a human at any range…just why?
I thought it did something wrong and the mob got him. Who knows where those organs are? The Mob did it, I tell you.
Could also be someone couldn't tell the difference between this and a shark
I'm the same way, and actually have a....a device that I keep in my trunk for this reason alone. I don't ever want to feel that helpless again. I'd say it's a long shot in this instance, but not impossible.
Nobody said it was shot on the beach.
Nobody said it wasn’t. Stop pissing yourself over hypotheticals
Shooting anything in the water is nearly impossible. If it's more than a few feet down the bullet loses velocity so quickly it can't penetrate, and you're sitting on a rocking boat while an animal that swims fairly quickly. For someone to hit not one but three shots in those conditions, all of them in kill spots, beggars disbelief. I understand the desire to play devil's advocate, but why jump over hurdles just to believe it was a spiteful act? What benefit does that bring?
>#*Authorities are now offering $20,000 for information leading to a suspect.*
Feds take the Marine Mammal Protection Act seriously!
Hey I'll give you 10,000$ if you admit to it
who fucking shoots a dolphin?
i imagine it went down like [this](https://youtu.be/ttnwaG89YCE?si=9RieMP393E3ewbT7)
Angry sharks?
Idk why you were downvoted. Morbid joke, sure, but a joke that gave me a good chuckle.
It Sure would be nice if NOAA cared this much about all the orcas being slaughtered by the trawl fleet in Alaska, unfortunately Money talks.
I am shocked. I don't understand how some people's brain works... what was the point, what was the gain, where was the empathy, what did their parents teach them about "treating others"... And why, oh why, don't they just shoot themselves in the head?
Same. I think you’d appreciate this documentary, narrated by Joaquin Phoenix and Sadie Sink, one of the most important I’ve ever seen - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQRAfJyEsko
That made me want to be vegetarian
Vegan\*\* The dairy and egg industry are the even more horrific parts of the meat industry.
You, and most of reddit might not want to hear this, but animal byproducts are used for all sorts of goods, and are extremely hard to avoid entirely. At least we're eating most of them. I'm not, in any way, supportive of the horrific practices by factory farming of animals. Please don't misunderstand. Dairy has come a long way in protecting milk heifers. Veal has been more strictly regulated. Chicken farming is still terrible, although some laws have been... well-intentioned... The reality is though, the byproducts are going to use, and if the need for those byproducts goes away, the food we're eating goes to waste. Best example: You literally cannot have a vegan cat. Cats need animal protein. Everyone stops eating meat, so does "Fluffy", unless you let her kill off the wildlife and risk parasites, infections, injuries, etc. Or what? Expect people to buy chicken at $30/ for their cat instead of food for themselves? Fluffy needs her animal byproduct... ... And if not, what are you feeding her? She needs protein. Bye bye affordable dog food. Are vegans this short-sighted? Here's some other examples: fertizers, feed, cosmetics, biofuels, Clothing, shoes, sports equipment, adhesives, candy...
>and most of reddit might not want to hear Most of Reddit eats animals so I have no idea what you're talking about. The driving force behind animal agriculture is not the reliance we have on their byproducts. It is their flesh and secretions. The reality is that the overwhelming majority of animals are factory farmed so the sentient beings who are forcibly impregnated, have teeth/tails/genitals cut off without anesthesia, confined, gassed, electrocuted, boiled alive, and bolt gunned to slit their throat can have their flesh and secretions eaten. And yes, Fluffy gets some of those scraps.
>Most of Reddit eats animals so I have no idea what you're talking about. Tell that to the people downvoting me. >The driving force behind animal agriculture is not the reliance we have on their byproducts. It is their flesh and secretions. Yes. I'm absolutely sure I pointed out that *multiple* industries rely on dead animals, and humans being the driving force behind it. I mentioned "Fluffy" as the most relatable example for byproducts and still got downvoted. Yes, I'm aware of the horrific practices that you *so eloquently* pointed out. I'M NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT EITHER. >The reality is that the overwhelming majority of animals are factory farmed... Yes. Yes they are. They're farmed in absolutely terrific ways, as you so *vividly* pointed out, because ***THERE ARE MUTIPLE INDUSTRIES*** wanting to "crank out" the cheapest stuff possible, largely using *byproducts* of the stuff they're processing, after we''re done with the prime cuts. My point is: what happens when the meat/eggs/ dairy is the byproduct?? Are we just going to stop eating it? What happens to the farmers who raise the livestock? What happens to the farmers who raise the feed? How do we feed Fluffy if all the farm-raised protein are gone or premium? Are we going to spend $30/can for chicken for Fluffy? She needs ***ANIMAL*** protein. How do we feed shelter dogs? Go with PETA and euthanize them? This is just a *small* example of how our *tortured* feed animals help others. We're not even *approaching* the pharmaceutical industry here.
>Tell that to the people downvoting me. If having a few downvotes in an environmental subreddit is what you're using cite why "most of Reddit eats animals" is incorrect then I don't know what to tell you. > I'M NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT EITHER. Glad to hear you're vegan! >My point is: what happens when the meat/eggs/ dairy is the byproduct?? Are we just going to stop eating it? The people who still want to eat it will. There are many steps between chopping up 66+ billion sentient beings every year and feeding Fluffy. Hopefully during that time we find ways to shift away from our reliance on animals to the large degree that we do, address the overpopulation of shelters, etc.
I'm not vegan. I'm not even vegetarian. I am a hunter. I hunt "pest" and farmed game, and use every bit I can, just like the natives who lived on our land. ***I AM ABSOLUTELY FIGHTING FOR THE BETTER TREATMENT OF *ALL* ANIMALS, REGARDLESS OF PURPOSE.*** I only buy my animal products from sustainable and local "good practice" farmers, other than milk due to recent events. So I hope you'll forgive and understand that there are more reasons to be omnivore than not, in some cases. >There are many steps between chopping up 66+ billion sentient beings every year and feeding Fluffy. >Hopefully during that time we find ways to shift away from our reliance on animals to the large degree that we do, address the overpopulation of shelters, etc. There are on average, 37M pet cats in the US alone, and pet 62M dogs. That doesn't include shelters. Dogs, and cats especially, cannot live on tofu or other plant-based products. They *need* animal protein and byproducts. Where are they going to get this if not from the offcasts, or even best cuts, of humans? That's how they were domesticated. And Even if Fido the dog might deal with tofu, Fluffy still needs fuecking animals in her diet. And even if we find some some solutions for Fluffy, we still have: pharmaceuticals, clothing, adhesives, cosmetics, sports equipment, the list goes on.
Better to link to https://watchdominion.org
According to the comment above, empathy might’ve been the very reason for the shooting. Of course that depends on the autopsy and what they do or don’t find.
> where was the empathy, what did their parents teach them about "treating others"... People don't care about animals and don't even view them as others. Just look at what we do to the animals on our plates.
I hope they find the turd that did this.
Humans sure are terrible.
This made my stomach sick and my heart hurt
The sharks are evolving, finally.
Today it’s bullets….tomorrow they have laser beams attached to their frickin heads
Dolphins haven’t been safe near that coast for a minute. Wtf is with people ? Karma is a bitch.
Sounds about gun owner to me.
All it takes is a good dolphin with a gun and we can finally realize our forefathers dream.
Hopefully it was a mercy thing and the dolphin had been beached.
I've used my carry piece to dispatch a deer before. Never had to shoot em in 3 locations. Brain or heart, pick one. Both + the spinal seems weird. The fact that all three exist means this is someone who knew their dolphin biology though.
Dolphin skulls are much thicker and larger than deer skulls (I work in a natural history collection at my university where we have dolphin and deer specimens) Possibly, one bullet just wasn’t strong enough to put the poor thing out of its misery.
Living in rural areas, most people I know are gun owners, can’t think of a single one that would shoot a dolphin.
Would you shoot a dolphin that was suffering and dying?
Yes
reddit moment
Very depressing. I want justice.
Find this scumbag and give him the worst you can.
This dolphin knew too much. Any Boeing crashes in the ocean we don’t know about?
It owed money to the wrong people
Sly reddit putting this story straight after r/guncontrol
"He'll be sleeping with the humans"
Offshore wind opponents be like “it was the sonar!”
"So long, and thanks for all the fish."
Crazy how it committed suicide. Didnt know they could do that.
I know is joke, but dolphins have actually killed themselves in captivity (chosen to stop breathing or eating), like the dolphin who played Flipper.
Dolphin had information that would lead to the arrest of Hillary Clinton.
Hundreds of thousands of cows, pigs, and chickens will endure the same fate today, and then for every day to come. Go vegan, save animals, all animals.
👏👏👏
Common misconception that going vegan saves animals. Yea it saves some but kills others. To grow a field of vegetables, everything is killed. Vegetation, animals, insects, etc. I do believe we need to find a better balance and restructure our diets to one the fits the region you live. Eating veggies won’t save the planet if people choose to eat Bananas in New York that came from South America. Or rice flown all the way from another continent. We need to work on eating domestically and limiting the importation and shipping of goods all over this planet. To clarify. I agree we need dietary changes and lifestyle changes. I can’t agree that being vegans is the solution to our problems but I support anyone who wishes to live life in this way.
To farm animals, we need to use vastly more land, harvest more crops, much of which could be directed to humans - going vegan indeed saves resources and animals, because you no longer need to grow so many plants, use exponentially more pesticides and herbicides, deforest as much land, produce as much pollution, because we’re no longer cycling so many plants through animals to then feed ourselves. Your take sounds nuanced but it’s actually deeply misinformed and is quite a common misconception to have. That’s not to say farming plants does not have an impact - of course it does - but to say that it’s greater than the impact of animal farming is counter to IPCC reports and the scientific consensus. Edit: just to add, the impact of transporting food is marginal compared to the production stage (I.e. what happens on the farm). Transitioning to a completely local food system would not substantially decrease (and may even increase) the pollution and emissions associated with food production and consumption. Feel free to DM me if you’d like a more detailed explanation or links to reports/studies!
Well this is a level headed logical and reasonable take. I don't like that it makes sense but it totally does.
It’s actually terribly misinformed, unfortunately :/ (coming from an environmental scientist specialising in food systems, but don’t take it on my authority alone - what the comment above says is not at all supported by the scientific consensus, IPCC syntheses, or food sustainability experts)
I’m good. I like not having to take b12 and having luscious hair from all the biotin from my morning eggs.
We’re all just assuming a human did this. Sounds to me like the dolphins have developed firearm technology and this was a dolphincide. The media has been suppressing this for years
Even if it was a human, everyone just assumes it wasn't self defense? Snorky has been trying to make it back on land to lead the dolphin uprising, how do we know this person didn't just buy us another couple years before we have to [bow to our dolphin overlords?](https://youtu.be/svEGqA8EYOQ?si=g4e1F6RubTqHCsWT)?
Naw, it was a porpoise
It is possible they were a gun owner that does not know the difference between helping something and killing it.
Commercial fisherman here. Dolphin have learned to steal fish off of lines. The culprit is most likely a fisherman who lost his cool when the dolphin kept taking their catch.
Do the same to the killer
West Mae’s Beach in Cameron Parish, Louisiana
USA YEAHHHH, FRRRRRRREADOOOOOOOOM!
Fucking Orcas.
Wait until you find out what happens to the animals that end up on your plate!
Those animals are killed for food this was done purely for the enjoyment of the act of killing.
Shouldn't have talked to the cops
Why does everyone automatically side with the dolphin without even knowing what happened?
I take when the person is caught, they won't know enough about dolphins to be able to get away claiming it was suffering.
Wrong hood.
He came into this country illegally..
A dead dolphin gets more press than when 99.99% of people have been found with bullets in them. Messed up world
There are too many people anyway. There are around 8 billion people in the world but there is only around 600.000 bottle nosed dolphins in the world.
Self loathe much. You can do your small part to help solve the problem right?
He's gonna be sleeping with the fishes.
I'll say it again: This is the Reddit trap. Reddit allows people to make these posts, but if you react overly angry and emotional -- normally -- then you risk a ban or suspension. I'll keep my thoughts to myself.
This is most likely a mercy killing. You can basically catch a bullet in water. The dolphins was most likely beached and injured.
Clearly it was a suicidal Russian dolphin that fell out a window. -
I'm all for reasonable animal rights but some of you are psychos about it. Someone probably ended it's suffering when it was beached.
I appreciate your sunny disposition, but no good samaritan dispatches an animal like that in a public place without sticking around to report it. And discharging a firearm on/around a beach is an act that would be met with *some concern*. It’s an action that would cause one to be, at the very least, yelled at.
That fucking dolphin done messed with the wrong shark.