Differences and Similarities in Perceived Veracity and Efficacy of Conservation Message Strategies of Sea World vs. BlueVoice.org and Friends: A View from Shamu

• In Event: Scholar to Scholar V
  In Paper Session: Congruency of Discourse in Environmental Communication: Differences and Similarities in the Changing World of Aquariums

Abstract

Greenpeace was founded in the 1970s to bring global awareness to the problems of the world’s oceans. Today the organization has a broader scope, far more members worldwide, and many spinoff organizations. For many, Greenpeace and her sister organizations such as bluevoice.org represent eco-terrorists who interfere with industry and greatly exaggerate claims about threats to the environment. For others, Greenpeace and BlueVoice doggedly wage war against those who would wreak havoc on our planet.

Having grown up with Greenpeace, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and similar groups, this author visited Sea World in November 2008 fully expecting to hate everything about the experience. In fact, I was armed with 40 years of discourse about the horrors of the “captivity industry” and the many ways whales and dolphins are abused in aquariums of this ilk.

What I encountered there was an army of trained professionals doing their best to provide for the animals in their care and to engage children in a relationship with these animals that could lead to life-long commitment to saving aquatic animals and habitat. The discourse was focused on how the industry has changed, how groups like Greenpeace distort and exaggerate unsupported claims, and the value of organizations such as Sea World in the fight to save the oceans based on the hold they have on the world’s children.

This paper will examine discourse from Sea World and compare it with that posted on web sites of conservation organizations that have taken a strong stand against aquariums like Sea World such as bluevoice.org and The Ben White Legacy for Dolphins. Claims and data used to support each claim will be examined for both types of organizations to determine the degree to which the discourse is rational vs. emotional. Data will also be collected to determine if individuals with no specific interest in the messages from either side will perceive one set of messages as more truthful and/or effective than discourse from the other side.

Author

• Nancy Buerkel-Rothfuss, Central Michigan University