This might be AI and it might be killer whales, but it would most certainly mean that non-humans are encircled within our sphere of being in much the way that many Native American peoples approach animals, the land, and the environment. Professor I. Glenn Cohen, my mentor this year during my student fellowship at the Petrie-Flom Center, discusses the significance of this nuance in his recent TED talk in Cambridge, Massachusetts in which he argues that we ought to take a person-centric, not a species-centric, conception of how to approach morality. They call everyone who opposes their business an “animal rights extremist” as if that implies that we are all wrong and do not know what we are talking about. What then is a person? Alongside economic concerns, there are political reasons why countries may resist such social change. A short 2-minute clip will suffice to show the ways in which orcas communicate and cooperate in intricate ways. Instead of AI, I wish instead to examine cetacean intelligence. The oldest of the deceased orcas was Kalina who was 25 years of age, yet around 92% of the orcas who died at SeaWorld did not manage to reach Kalina’s age. Self-awareness implies having knowledge. A world where every whale and dolphin is safe and free. In reality, the concerns of the animal rights movement are supported by scientists who have studied these animals in the wild for decades and recognise the severe impacts captivity has on them. First, whereas human is a biological category, in law and ethics, the category of person entails certain duties or rights, such as the right not to be harmed or killed without a very good reason. Such splits tend to reduce nature, including the human body, to physical forms and processes. To be self-aware implies to have a concept of self. Such an approach might very well still claim humans as the central figures (as in the. Studies of orca brains and their behaviour have revealed that they tick many of these boxes. It seems that whales and dolphins might have rich “human-like” cultures and societies. Research suggests that orcas are capable of recognising themselves in the mirror which indicates that they have some sense of self as they recognise their own reflection. All of these are reasons why I started a petition asking British Airways (BA) to stop selling trips to SeaWorld. SeaWorld tries desperately to hide these statistics from the public to continue with their business. SeaWorld tries desperately to hide these statistics from the public to continue with their business. “I think therefore I am” is the conclusion he reached at the end of his investigations about what we can actually know. Learn how your comment data is processed. Here she provides some insighful thoughts on orcas in captivity and their right to freedom. Experts are divided as to whether the injuries and deaths … Companies like SeaWorld might deny that and claim that all their orcas lead happy and healthy lives but the statistics of their 50 year history present a different image. Please support our work to protect whales and dolphins. On this understanding, humans and persons are not necessarily synonymous, and there can be non-human persons. “To be, or not to be, that is the question”, Shakespeare’s famous opening phrase for the play Hamlet wasn’t intended to make a case for the animal rights movement. The infamous whale jail on Russia’s Far East coast stands empty. Twenty-nine of those are currently alive, including the ones living at Loro Parque, and 50 have died. The way in which Native communities view the natural world relationally and in conversation rather than as a force to be dominated offers a constructive way to understand our place in it on a different moral scale. How Does Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine Work, and Who Is Funding Its Development? Humans, it is generally believed, are distinguished from other animals by our self-awareness and our ability to use tools, to think, reason, and construct meaning and representations about life. It is this same humility that, theist or not, we may all agree is an honorable quality to embody. Orcas are first non-humans whose evolution is driven by culture Life 31 May 2016 By Colin Barras Captivity facilities with orcas, such as SeaWorld, would be forced to rehabilitate and release their orcas. As SeaWorld have repeatedly stated that they will not change their orca policies, I felt that I had to do something to stop them from mistreating orcas by confining them in the name of entertainment. Orcas may not be humans, but evidence is mounting that they are non-human persons, thus endowed with rights and protections. Whalers would no longer be allowed to hunt them and even the … Many of the 251,907 supporters of my petition have voiced their dissatisfaction with SeaWorld’s orca treatment by calling it slavery, cruelty, abuse, and some even referenced orcas as non-human persons deserving of having their rights recognised as the reason for signing. Further studies of their social behaviour indicate that they indeed possess emotions, for example some scientists have pondered whether they grieve over the death of a family member. Imagine the consequences of declaring orcas as non-human persons with rights to life, freedom and non-interference. The French philosopher René Descartes wrote in his meditations that thinking is the essence of being. Registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Perhaps we can learn from the Native communities’ way of being in the world and in so doing learn not only about orcas, but learn from them too. Popular literature notwithstanding, no scientist is equating cetaceans with humans, however, the research into the complex social behaviors and cognitive skills again raises the question not only about how vastly different brain structure can give rise to a myriad of behavioural similarities including: social play, complex alliance relationships, cooperative hunting, complex vocalizations, etc. Generally speaking, a person is someone who is self-aware and intelligent, has a consciousness, thoughts and feelings, an ability to solve complex problems, and is able to initiate actions on his or her own volition. Kathleen Haase, who developed her own petition to ask British Airways to stop selling trips to SeaWorld, has been volunteering for WDC, working with us on our anti-captivity campaigns. While the mirror test gives us no indication of what orcas think and feel, it does give us an indication that they do in fact have thoughts and feelings. In reality, the concerns of the animal rights movement are supported by scientists who have studied these animals in the wild for decades and recognise the severe impacts captivity has on them. Please note that the content of newsletters may not be suitable for children. Considering the most recent scientific findings, how is it that orcas are not yet considered non-human persons? As a Muslim and a theist, I avow my belief in the unique status of humans; however, as someone who also believes in science and is keenly attuned to the environment, I have a great love for nature and the animal world, and a great desire to protect them.