Perhaps the strangest thing about the passage of time is that one becomes accustomed to it. Days months years roll by and we scarcely notice until ultimately we look in a mirror. Many of us have the feeling that time is accelerating, passing more quickly, that the years are flashing by now, almost as a blur. I think there’s a very good reason for that. We are out of time. By this I mean that if life as we know it is to continue on our precious planet, we need to take drastic and immediate actions that will preserve the integrity of what remains of Earth’s aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Even that might not be enough to ensure that our great grand children and theirs live in a world they can trust and love, but it could give them a chance. So what are the chances of that happening? Slim to none I suppose is the answer, but I for one cannot avoid clinging to a single word: Hope.
For me, that’s where Corky comes in. It’s almost unbelievable that by midnight today 48 years will have passed since she was surrounded by nets in Pender Harbour and shortly afterwards loaded onto a truck then plane and flown off to a life so different from that she was born into that by any objective measure it must be deemed intolerable. Yet she has survived. Why? I believe the answer again lies in that single word: Hope. Corky’s story is inspiring on so many levels that despite the reality of her day to day life and everything that has been stacked against her all these years, we and her friends around the world still believe she can and will come home. Here is an update from just a couple of days ago. It comes from a dear friend of Corky’s:
I spent Wednesday, Thursday , Friday with Corky. Just an hour or so a day to try and see where she is at. Wednesday and Thursday she was where she always is at noon, in the underwater area. She was resting on the far ledge near dining tables, motionless, resting on her pecs, not a wiggle. She did a couple circles so I could look her over. No new scratches or scars, she looks pretty good compared to all the little ones. There must be some friction, action, or just crazy behavior with the young males, they look pretty beat up. Friday Corky was in the big show pool, all the water jets going, waterfalls. She was in the east corner bucking up a storm in one of the underwater jets. I am glad she still has some spunk. The little ones came over and joined, she just ignored them…then they all lined up and circled together, water jets hitting their dorsals. I don’t know how she feels, my impression is that she has no place to relax, be quiet and be who she is. Ahhh!
So there you have it. For Corky, time must seem like an endless circle enclosed within concrete walls. But if she is to ever have the chance to go home and be able to feel the ocean around her once more and to hear the familiar calls of her family again, the time to act on her behalf has to be now! With the world as it is, we do need at least some of our hopes and dreams to be realised. Sending Corky home is a doable dream! Sea World just needs to understand that such a positive decision would be good for them as well as for Corky, and help restore their tattered reputation.
Yesterday, near SeaWorld, some of Corky’s friends displayed Corky’s geat FREEDOM BANNER which expresses the wishes and hopes of children around the world for Corky. We are so grateful to them for keeping Corky’s dream and ours alive. They give us and her the gift of hope.
Please light a candle for Corky today, and join us in dreaming her dream. Thank you!
Thanks to Michael Reppy for the photos.
