Monday, March 14, 2011

Captivating: Earthquake, Tsunami, Wildlife (Photos)

This owl is behind bars. His crime?  Maybe being cute, unusual or rare.  Human nature got him behind bars. Wildlife in a cage.  For sure, he got a life sentence.  He's in a zoo, not some rehabilitation facility. Location: Somewhere in Okinawa, Japan. Photos taken MAR 13, 2011.


Here is a pretty Peacock.  This critter has more room to move around.  That's probably because of human nature, too. We want to be able to see all those brilliant colors and designs when the feathers are spread.


This bird, in captivity, needs lots more room than that little owl.  Throw plenty of flourescent lights on the peacock and put windows all around the sides of the cage. Now, humans can run and encircle the captive bird, bang on the windowpanes, press their noses to the glass and gawk at some genuine wildlife.

It dawned on me as I was developing these photos, the disasters in Japan, earthquakes and tsunami are captivating audiences, as well.  It's human nature.  People like to gawk at disasters, too.


        Here are a couple of birds stuck in another cage surrounded by glass for people to gawk through.

                      Imagine one of them saying to the other, "Is he still gawking at us"?

                                 "Maybe if we gawk back at him he'll leave us alone".

The devastation, in Japan, from the earthquakes and tsunami is horrible.  It's hundreds of miles away.

Now that I know friends and family closer to the disaster are alive and safe, I don't want to look anymore.

I don't want to blog about it, either.  I hope the worst is over but, it may not be. There may be more devastation waiting for those poor people.  Readers keep asking me what they can do to help. 

My reply is: Wait and let the emergency response folks sort things out.  You have to wait.


Yesterday I got mail from my trusty friend, Rusty as he was departing Narita Airport in Japan.  He said the departure line at his terminal was 1,000 meters long.

People need to be evacuated from some areas.  Rescue personnel, firefighters, divers, search dogs, doctors, police, nurses and engineers from 50 other countries are trying to get into Japan and offer support.

What Japan doesn't need, I can tell you.  They don't need Uncle Bill cleaning out his yard sale collection to send over as a charitable donation.  They don't need some major pharmaceutical company to write off a big donation of drugs with an expiration date of next month.  And they don't need anymore news reporters, cameramen, travel writers or anybody else going after the big story.

No more gawkers.

We need to let those on the scene do their work without clogging up their transportation and logistical systems.  They will ask for help where and when it is needed.

It is human nature to show sympathy and want to help those in distress, I know.  I want to help, too. 

We just have to be patient if we really want to help.  Wait.

There are always a small percentage of people who rub their hands together with glee when these tragedies happen. The scammers, we'll call them.  Be aware before making any type of donation.

Know, for certain, that any contribution you make, material or money, is actually benefiting those in need.

It's nice to think that charities, churches, governments and individuals all pull together for the common good when Mother Nature does these things. 

Is Mother Nature really a female or a dude in disguise ?

Here is something I dug up as a result of folks asking me where they can make donations. 

I won't recommend any particular organization over another. 

I just think you should be familiar with anyone you decide to send support to.

While you're waiting for the earthquakes and tsunamis to to fade into history, until natural disaster strikes again, there's something you could do for me. 

The next time you visit a zoo ask them if they can figure out a way to make virtual critters for everybody to gawk at.  Then, they could turn all the wildlife loose.

Wildlife, I bet, if you leave them in their natural environment (where they belong), they know more about earthquakes and tsunamis than those Seismology folks. Hah !

RELATED POST: EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI FAR FROM OKINAWA, JAPAN




11 comments:

Jay said...

Hard to decide which is more fascinating:
Your Photography
or
Your writing, Mike!

RyukyuMike said...

Jay,
Hah, well the camera I know something about. Writing, I'm fairly clueless so your feedback is important to me! Thanks.

Unknown said...

nice pics and commentary Mike

Ryan said...

Gawking is unfortunately human nature Mike, it's the same when there's a smash on the motorway and all the ghouls slow down to have a look. I wish the people of Japan all the best.

RyukyuMike said...

Greg,
Thanks

Ryan,
Yeah, I know it's human nature but, sometimes it goes to extremes with these disasters and actually brings recovery efforts to a screeching halt. Let's just hope the worst is over.

Cathy Sweeney said...

Excellent points, Mike. I hope that everyone will take them to heart.

RyukyuMike said...

Cathy,
Thank you. Things will be looking up soon, I hope.

Spockgirl said...

Glad I decided to pop over here and check out your blog and found that you had posted this. And... I agree... "wait" is a sound philosophy to have.

RyukyuMike said...

Spockgirl,
Thanks for popping-in and I'm glad some people realize, sometimes do-gooders do more harm than good, unintentionally, of course.

mrken said...

I respectfully disagree. While we certainly should not interfere in the relief efforts and should not gawk at the spectacle of horror, we should contribute to reputable charities, some of which are collecting material support as well as financial. So, if the yard sale stuff is useful, it should go through proper channels to do some good. And if the images and stories coming from the disaster areas are spurring people to make useful contributions, then they are helpful too, even if they are gratifying a somewhat distasteful human tendency.

Furthermore, if you don't approve of wildlife being caged for human spectators, then you probably shouldn't be spending your time or money in zoos (I certainly don't).

RyukyuMike said...

mrken,
Thank you for taking the time to enlighten me. Hopefully, there will be some useful contributions when the time is right.
It will be awhile before the time is right.
Thanks for the tips on how to spend time and money, too.

Cheers,
Mike