In 2010, there was a tragic accident at the SeaWorld in Orlando. For many years, aquariums have kept killer whales, or orcas, captive for entertainment, and bred them for many generations. They took them from the water, separated them from their pod and family, and kept them in captivity until they died. This is a poor choice for aquariums looking for entertainment, since orcas are at the top of the ocean food chain. A 40-year-old trainer, Dawn, was the star at SeaWorld. She took care of a 5-ton orca, Tilikum. Big animals never do well in captivity, and they tend to strike back. Tilikum killed two other people before Dawn, a trainer and a homeless man. Dawn knew that what she did was dangerous, but she never thought that something bad would happen to her. At a show in SeaWorld, Dawn laid down next to Tilikum on a shallow part of the tank. According to further evidence, Dawn’s ponytail got wedged into Tilikum’s mouth. Acting on pure instinct, Tilikum pulled Dawn into the water. Orcas are known to play with their food before they kill and eat them, which is exactly what happened. Dawn was not only drowned, but her left arm was torn from its socket. Dawn was also scalped, with her hair and skin found at the bottom of the pool. Horrifically, her spinal cord was severed, and she also suffered from broken ribs and a broken jaw; a post-mortem revealed she died from both drowning and blunt force injury. Dawn’s death sparked some changes. There was a documentary made about the orca entertainment program at SeaWorld, called Blackfish, that raised attention to Dawn’s death and the mistreatment of orcas in captivity. There was also a lawsuit and government investigation into SeaWorld’s practices. As a result, SeaWorld has now stopped its orca breeding program. However, SeaWorld could not release its remaining four orcas because they lived their whole lives in captivity, and it would be cruel to put them back into the ocean. So, these orcas continue to perform, although they are given more flexibility in current shows. For example, if they don’t want to come out, they are not forced to, and they get fish as treats no matter if they perform tricks or not. When these four orcas die of natural causes, SeaWorld does not plan to obtain any more orcas. I think that this episode proves a point for marine biology, which is that, if we had not held animals captive to perform tricks, the tragedy could have been avoided. However, we can make change out of tragedy, like stopping animals from being held to perform tricks.
Young Bloggers
Visiting Malaysia with Elaine Elizabeth Jinto
Hello everyone! Welcome back to Scribbler’s Blogs. Last time I told you all about De Nang, Vietnam. Today, I am going to tell you about Kuala Lumpur City in Malaysia. Before I begin, let me give you some of the general information about Malaysia. The capital of Malaysia is the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. The main languages spoken there are Malay and English. Malaysia is most famous for the Petronas Twin Towers, which are the tallest twin towers in the world. Nasi Lemak is their most popular dish. Malaysia is mostly filled with skyscrapers, but there are many hidden spots, where nature is at its best (Langkawi beach for example). Before I reached Kuala Lumpur, I did a lot of research on the plane like I always do. I was extremely sorry at that point of time when I realized that it was mostly filled with towers reaching for the sky. I am the kind of person who enjoys crumbling monuments, beautiful beaches, and wonderful views. But something made me change my mind. A thing that made me feel that Kuala Lumpur is a place that is worth sharing with you all. So, I will tell you all about it. Let me start with the main places you can visit. Kuala Lumpur City Centre KLCC, also known as the city inside a city, is the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Towering skyscrapers, huge malls, giant man-made structures this place is a testimony of how far humanity can reach. The most famous buildings here are, of course, the Petronas Twin Towers. The tallest twin towers on Earth. Awe-inspiring indeed. The towers were built by the revolutionary oil company Petronas, as their international headquarters. They are 1483 feet (above street level) tall, and have 88 stories, a pinnacle, and spire of 242 feet. There is also a double-decker sky bridge that connects the two towers. It is located on the 41st and 42nd floor. The towers were constructed mainly with reinforced concrete, glass and steel, with many Islamic motifs. There is an observation floor, with plenty of models of KLCC, and telescopes with which you can see a lot of the city, and a floor with a gift shop, café, and screens with plenty of information. At the ticket counter, there are online games, information, and quizzes for visitors. I really enjoyed using the telescopes, seeing all the models, and seeing the collection of photos from the history of the towers. What I liked the most was that with two identical towers, covered in glass, in the pouring rain, the spectacle almost looked like an illusion! There is also a mall in KLCC, called Suria through which you can enter the twin towers. It was a really big mall, with plenty of international brands, and restaurants of many cuisines. (I got Indian food there. It was a delight after many days of food from Thailand and Vietnam.) There is also a Science Centre at the top of the mall called Petrosains, which my science-loving brother and I enjoyed. The best part of the Science Centre was the recreation of an oil mining station, in the middle of the ocean. The KLCC park is also really nice. Putrajaya The area where all of the important buildings of the government is located. The buildings and the palace are really beautiful. (I could only see it from afar, as we were in a hurry for our flight.) IOI Resort City Located in Putrajaya, this city has many hotels, resorts, a golf club, and the biggest mall in Malaysia. You could get possibly anything you want there. My brother got a cool new Lego set (we could not find it India), and I got a really bendy and twisty Jibitz for my collection. The mall was very crowded on that particularly hot day. Apparently, people flock to the air-conditioned mall when the heat is unbearable! Now perhaps you will be thinking that Kuala Lumpur is just a city filled with towers and malls. I thought so too. Until… The Kopidulu Experience This was like a traditional, Malaysian tea party hosted by the resort we stayed in. There was traditional Malaysian coffee and snacks, which was really tasty! Forgive me, for I do not remember the names of the dishes they served. Anyway, after the food, we got to try traditional Malaysian games like Congkak and their form of checkers. There were also many beautiful Malaysian clothes and accessories donned by the ladies, who taught us the games. Along with all this, we got to learn about the Wau Bulan, which is a traditional kite shaped like a half-moon. It was really nice to see the fine blend of cultures of various parts of the country. After the Kopidulu experience, I realized that Malaysia was not filled with just modern buildings, but also had many amazing traditions, crafts, and delicacies, all hidden by the mighty skyscrapers of the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. Because we were only there for 2 days, I could not explore more of the hidden Malaysia. I hope that one day I can go again, to see all that I missed, and I hope you would join too. This is Scribbler signing off. See you next in the Land of the Thai people.
Hidden Figures, Reviewed by Sydney Kesselheim, 12
Hidden in Plain Sight: Women of NASA in 1960’s This month, in my feminism alliance club at school, we watched a movie called Hidden Figures. In this movie, three Black women working at NASA in the 1960’s get promoted to a higher-level job. Unfortunately for them, all of their coworkers are white men, who doubt the women and their skills. But even though the men don’t believe in them, they all go on to create great achievements for NASA. This movie is set in the days of segregation and when the US was trying to win the race with the former Soviet Union to get a man to the moon. Because of these women, the US won. This was such an inspiring movie, and I recommend it highly. This movie taught me many lessons. First, the movie’s whole plot was that we should never judge anyone based on how they look. In fact, these women were being stereotyped by the men around them, even though these women proved many times that they have stronger math skills. This is a really important lesson because, after years of segregation and sexism, people should have looked past superficial appearances to recognize individual talent. This movie proves that exact point: these Black women lead the US to victory. Next, the movie introduces many important facts about history and space. This movie provides interesting facts about training, test runs, debugging, code, and so much more. This really helped me understand more about space, spaceships, and the math that goes into it. In the movie, they have only one chance to get this equation right, or the person in the rocket will die. The math is extremely difficult, narrowed down to the tiniest decimal. Fortunately, NASA finds someone who can do it, who happens to be a Black woman. This proves that women can do anything, and it doesn’t matter what they look like. I recommend this movie to anyone wanting to know more about space, rockets, NASA, or anything related to math. This movie is also based on a true story, NASA themselves confirming the problems with gender and race in their early years as an organization. Their journey was inspiring, and they were so complicated. Watching this movie also opened my eyes to other types of movie genres. I had no idea history and math movies could be so interesting and absorbing. For anyone who likes any of those genres, or just has some free time and might not know what to watch, I highly recommend Hidden Figures.