Sea World As an Exercise in Mindfulness

Kennin and I petting a dolphin at Sea World.

Sea World was by far my favorite place in the world when I was young. A place where you can watch these beautiful whales leap out of the water and interact with humans as if they were as friendly as my dog was unfathomable. I loved all the shows in which human situations are acted out through sea animals, such as the mystery show starring a walrus.

As a teenager and college student, I went back to Sea World to ride the roller coasters, sit in the shark exhibit for an hour, and feel like a kid again. Over the Labor Day weekend, however, I revisited Sea World as a mentor for a five year old and two year old child. This entire summer has heavily consisted of me getting over my fear of children by interacting with my brother's girlfriend's children, and I've been amazed at just how curious and interested they are in the wonders of the world.

Kennin, the aforementioned five year old who watched Shark Week with me, loves sharks. She asked me to teach her about all the fish around us, so I took her hand and started pointing out sharks, talking about their behavior and having her identify them when they swam by. Sure enough, she started to remember them by their features and even responded to another visitor's spoken out loud thought as to what kind of shark had the giant teeth. We walked around the aquarium and looked at different fish, and she was constantly listening to everything I said, watching the fish, and asking things like, "Are they friends?" or "Where does he live?" Her being engaged in stopping and watching the fish instead of passing by inspired other kids and their parents to do the same; at some points, I was nearly lecturing a group of visitors about what they were really looking at in the tanks.

I don't think a lot of people really contemplate what it is they are experiencing when they look at a fish tank in an aquarium, feed a dolphin at Sea World or watch a Shamu show. This mindfulness makes trips to Sea World not only fun, but it helps to better grasp just how beautiful the world really is and how great it is that companies like Sea World use their resources to save wild animals and show the public what they share the planet with. Perhaps it is mindfulness that allows us to have that curiosity we value in children. If we can constantly remind our selves to really think about where we are, who we are, what we are doing and what we are looking at, we can see the world as brightly as we used to when we were kids.

Happy Shark Week!

This precious baby above is a Sand Tiger shark. He looks quite vicious, as his mouth is constantly open and bears quite a few nasty teeth. This type of shark, however, is particularly harmless and non-aggressive. Additionally, their jaws are not built to eat large creatures, and they'd rather not have to take multiple bites for a meal. They keep their mouth open in order to breathe underwater and will only attack humans if provoked. They are the only shark known to gulp air, as storing air in their stomachs allow them to float still in the water, making it easier to catch unsuspecting fish. Looks can be deceiving no matter what species. (Personal photo taken at the Georgia Aquarium--a place of dreams)

Does else anyone think it's curious that millions of people across the nation (and quite possibly the world) take time out of their days during a singular summer week to watch educational programs about sharks?

Today I sat down with a young five-year-old girl who I have been trying to teach Star Wars and marine science to. This young lady particularly likes television shows such as Spongebob Squarepants. While the animation is colorful and arguably quite beautiful, I find myself a bit agitated at the improbability of it all. Life underwater would not be able to contain crabby patties or the same terrestrial laws of physics, nor should children think it possible to make jelly out of jellyfish.

I flipped off the cartoons and turned on the Discovery channel, as my friends have been wishing me a happy Shark Week. Most of the dialogue was inarticulate for a five year old to follow, but the show itself showed a group of divers trying to prove that sharks are not the cold blooded killers we often think them to be. The stars of this episode in particular were great white sharks, who have been known to be more aggressive than other species. Kennin, the young girl, was confused as to why the sharks didn't eat the divers. I explained to her that people don't go around eating everything in sight that they see, though Kennin confessed that she is hungry all the time. We are constantly surrounded with things that are "edible" in a sense: tv remotes, couches, tables, books. We do not, however, think of these items as appetizing. Sharks do not think humans are particularly enticing, and sharks mostly do not voluntarily choose to taste a human. In fact, sharks are not the voracious eaters we always imagine them to be. Rather, they are sort of like vultures and often eat the dead and dying fish instead. This isn't to say that sharks are lazy; Rather, sharks help maintain healthy ecosystem balances and are dire parts of oceanic life.

Reports of shark attacks are almost always accounts of sharks being under stress or mistaking a human for another creature. It is advisable to not go swimming in the ocean when one is wounded, as sharks can detect such stress from quite a distance and will indeed seek to "clean up" their territory. When sharks do bite, however, they usually don't take much more than one bite; humans are not particularly delicious. Unfortunately, one bite from a large jaw with rows upon rows of sharp teeth can do a lot of damage. Sharks are not going to seek out innocent and unsuspecting humans, but there are precautions humans should take when in shark territories.

As the program progressed, Kennin thought it interesting that the divers would swat their hands at the shark who swam towards the diver. I explained to her how the diver is telling the shark that he (the diver) is not to be messed with. These divers study sharks for a living and know how to read shark behavior. That's why when the shark showed the divers his teeth, the divers decided to leave the water and respect the shark's territory. Like most animals, barring one's teeth is a sign of threat or aggression.

The grand finale in the program consisted of a female great white shark revealing her stomach to a snorkeler. This behavior is an act of submission, or like a hand shake as I explained to Kennin. The shark then allowed the snorkeler to hold onto her fin and swim 75' with her--just like a trained dolphin might. Kennin understood this as the shark and snorkeler becoming friends, and I was awe-struck by this friendship.

Sharks are creatures that date back before the dinosaurs, and they are some of the most feared and misunderstood creatures on this planet. Though I recognize many of the Shark Week programs are about shark attack survivors and often dramatize shark's predator capabilities, I am incredibly thankful that the discovery channel can help people rethink their understanding of what sharks are. The ocean stretches over 2/3rds of our earth, and sharks are the ones who regulate and control the water. That means sharks are much more influential than we might think; as stewards of the earth, it is our responsibility to ensure that they are treated with the same delicacy and respect that we give to all life.

Shark Video : Here is a trailer for a Shark documentary that seeks to help people better understand sharks' roles in our world. They are becoming increasingly threatened by humans' fear of and disinterest in their well-being. By seeking to learn more about the worlds' odd inhabitants, however, we begin to see how dependent humans are on the intricate balances maintained by all forms of life.

Lenten Season Aquarium Contemplation

(Picture taken of Cownose Ray in the Carribean Tunnel Exhibit at the New Orleans Aquarium. Stingrays, unlike their name, are non-aggressive to humans and, when domesticated, begin to act affectionate as if they were puppies. Working with them has taught me a lot about how seemingly dangerous animals are really just as sweet as the cute, fluffy ones.)

As I am curious about Jesuit ideals, I have been participating in an Ignatian Lenten Retreat in which I pray with scripture 20 minutes a day and conduct a daily examen.





One of the places I have sat down to pray is the Aquarium Gulf Exhibit. This is a large room with the largest tank in the New Orleans Aquarium, containing a 50 year old green sea turtle, a sandtiger shark, many nurse sharks and sandbar sharks, tarpon (big, shiny fish) and a whole lot more. There's a set of raised benches for observation set up, so I sat down. Once I opened the retreat packet, I started writing and reflecting on "finding God in all things," (Ignatius) keeping in mind how to "pledge allegiance to all," including things like the soil that we often leave out (Snyder).





I started to write about William Blake's "Tyger, Tyger." Obviously, the poem questions how the same God can create both a meek lamb and a strong tiger. Yet, I started thinking about the sandtiger shark. This shark constantly has his mouth open, baring his rows of teeth and giving him an uneasy appearance. Yet, he's actually the most docile shark in the tank because he can only eat small fish due to his jaw structure. If anything, people are afraid of the potential, not the nature, of a shark, as most sharks are not particularly aggressive. Lambs have the appearance of being meek and innocent, yet they have the potential to be destructive, too. They can overgraze fields and destroy ecosystems; lambs just don't have the appearance of dangerous potential. Sharks and tigers are not malicious creatures and they never kill for sport or out of their natural habitat. In fact, most sharks only eat fish who are dying or sick to keep the ecosystem healthy and never attack a healthy fish. Perhaps it is more appropriate for us to understand an animal's potential. Both a tiger and a lamb have the potential for fearful symmetry in different ways; it's how a creature deals with their own potential that makes it a beast.