14 DAY TRIAL // Last week, 15-year-old Bindi Irwin, the daughter of famous wildlife expert Steve Irwin, announced that she had entered a collaboration with SeaWorld.
Conservationists did not take lightly to this piece of news, and quite a lot of people had not-so-nice things to say about the teenager's knowingly teaming up with a marine park guilty of animal abuse and animal cruelty. Sea Shepherd leader Captain Paul Watson, on the other hand, appears to hold no grudge against 15-year-old Bindi Irwin. On the contrary, it is the marine park he has a bone to pick with.
In an editorial published this March 9, the conservationist argues that SeaWorld is a “soulless corporation” and stresses that, instead of lashing out at Bindi Irwin, people should stay focused on protesting the marine park.
What's more, Paul Watson maintains that SeaWorld's owners only decided to enter a partnership with Bindi Irwin in an attempt to discredit the people who have until now spoken ill of the marine park.
“SeaWorld now can say, ‘look at these people, they are sending death threats and hate messages to a young girl who wants to save wildlife. We told you they were angry radical haters and this proves it,’” Captain Paul Watson explains.
“Keep the focus on SeaWorld, folks. That is where your anger should be directed. It is not constructive to alienate Bindi Irwin’s support base and she does have a large support base,” the Sea Shepherd leader adds.
The conservationist also says that SeaWorld, and not Bindi Irwin, is the real villain, and that it is important that people keep this in mind and act accordingly so as not to make it possible for the marine park to label conservationists and animal rights activists as bullies and haters.
As the Sea Shepherd leader puts it, “We are not bullies. We are not haters. And we should not let SeaWorld frame their opposition as such.”
What's interesting is that, according to Captain Paul Watson, having the news that 15-year-old Bindi Irwin teamed up with SeaWorld spark such a controversy might not be such a bad thing.
On the contrary, it is likely that, thanks to the teenager's partnership with the marine park, the anti-SeaWorld movement will gain even more supporters and will therefore have higher chances to force the “abusement park,” as some like to call it, out of business.
“We will not be distracted by the manipulations of SeaWorld and their attempts to demonize compassion. We know who the enemy is, and we will continue to fight that enemy with all the passion of our thousands of volunteers around the world,” Captain Paul Watson says.