By Judi Curry
I realize that I have written about the fireworks at SeaWorld many times in the past. There are definitely two camps in this on-going battle – those that love the fireworks and those that see the pain and suffering to animals, big and small; pain and suffering to those people diagnosed with PTSD; the harm it is doing to the environment; and the lasting effects every time a firework is shot off.
I am, quite frankly, tired of the people that give stupid advice about turning up the volume of the television to distract the animals from reacting to the noise and repercussions of the fireworks; the people that are now advocating giving the animals a small dose of CBD to calm them down. (I wonder how small a dose you would have to give an Orca, a seal, a porpoise, a dolphin, etc. to “calm them down.”)
How loud would you have to turn up the volume of a television, or a radio, or….to calm them down?
This article is NOT for those people. This is for those people, like me, who are fed up with watching our animals shiver and shake every night when this unnecessary display is going on. And they don’t just react at the time of the noise; they react for hours afterwards.
Is there any real purpose for the fireworks?
Yes, they are beautiful, but so are laser shows, and they are quiet and do not harm anything. It can’t be to bring people into the SeaWorld park to watch the fireworks, because it is at the end of the evening and everyone that is going to pay to be in the park have been there for hours.
There is not a special occasion going on that the fireworks are celebrating; for those of us that are suffering there is absolutely no reason for fireworks to be shot off every single night except to destroy the environment and antagonize those that suffer from the noise and destruction.
Many counties in California are enacting new laws to prohibit the shooting off these incendiary devices, particular now when it has been stated that we are going to be in a “severe drought.” Fireworks have been the direct cause of many fires; the anticipation that there will many more if not curtailed is a scary and realistic thought. We are down over 8 inches of rain so far this year! Doesn’t take a genius to know what they means.
Somewhere in my last article about this very same topic a suggestion was made that we have a “Class Action” lawsuit to stop SeaWorld from their nightly shows. I am all for it but do not know how to go about it. Perhaps some of you reading this might have an idea. I believe there are many of us that would go along with it.
I thought that several years ago we were successful in stopping the SeaWorld Fireworks. What happened to that?
And, before closing this off, I am submitting a picture of my dog Rollo, taken last night while the fireworks were going off. In case you need more explanation, he is hiding in the fireplace to get away from the noise. It is a secure feeling for him; small, and narrow. I finally put his bed in it so that he wasn’t laying in the ash and brick. If you look at his face you can see the fear; it is too bad you can’t see the trembling, because it lasted for over 2 hours. And, by the way, he didn’t come out from there for 6 hours!
Maybe his picture will elicit a little more compassion from those of you that just ignore the pain and suffering of these living things. I hope.
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Well, it’s one big way for SeaWorld to remind people they’re open again. See! We’re back! Come on over and spend your money.
Does it really take fireworks to get people back in? Sad.
So much is a matter of quantity. Fireworks meant the Fourth of July and maybe New Years at one time. Every day is too much. The same is true for AirBnB. When one person in the neighborhood rented a room for extra income, it was acceptable. Now we are the only people in our block who live here full time. Some of the owners are out of town and out of state. We used to think corporations supported the needs of people instead of people existing to corporations. The tide has changed everywhere. Must be global warming, followed by cooling off.
“We used to think corporations supported the needs of people instead of people existing to corporations.”
Mmmm I don’t know about that. Greedy corporations out strictly for their own self interest has been a things for as long as there’s been corporations. Some worse than others and a few who are actually good.
Your Dentist’s office may now be owned by a corporation based in Los Angeles. You will buy books from Amazon. Things that used to be small businesses are not As with fireworks, it is a question of quantity.
Dublin recently had a spectacular drone light show for St. Patrick’s day. No pollution, no noise, and safer than lasers. Why can’t SeaWorld invest in that?
Article… Concur. Drone light show… Interesting. Or how about lasers? Likely cheaper in the long run.
SeaWorld just announced they will be having fireworks EVERY weekend till the end of May! And I’m willing to bet they will go back to everyday beginning in June. Screw them.
Judi:
I thought it was to end April 4th? Seriously, why every night now? EVERY weekend til the end of May? What is the do-nothing Council doing?
The Council is doing just what you said they are doing – nothing. I am absolutely livid. I thought we had eliminated this once before. Why they are starting again just ticks me off!
I imagine it’s like living in the midst of the Syrian civil war. Booming every night, the dog going nuts. It’s very, very intrusive. I surfed on over to Yahoo Finance and checked out SeaWorld’s situation. Not good at all. They have a huge amount of debt and an artificially pumped up stock value which is typically a sign of impending doom. And they can’t seem to keep a CEO, right now they have an interim CEO. Me thinks the fireworks are a last ditch effort at financial survival. And where is the Air Resources Board? They have outlawed many types of gas powered lawnmowers as polluters, but can’t seem to quash SeaWorld’s the nightly air pollution fest??
“I imagine it’s like living in the midst of the Syrian civil war.”
Will – That is an outrageous comment. I suggest you go spend a few nights in a war torn country and then come back to tell everybody that it was just like being 3 miles away from Sea World with all their crazy bombing for 10 minutes each weekend night.
Go outside and spank yourself!
Judi. CONGRATS! You did it! No fireworks (for now)!
4th floor of the federal court downtown…ask for the form packet to file a class action lawsuit since sea world is not just in one state, else superior court downtown both on broadway across from each other…give rolo a hug for me
negligent infliction of emotional distress, carries punitive damages, ur name as claimant and et al, you add the others protesting after you file and advertise the crap out of it asking for others to join in the suit
It’s Sunday night for god’s sake, April 2, 2023. WHY?! What is the reason? I have to hear two shrilly dogs barking like crazy in a complex that’s not supposed to have them, because the owner has no idea how to either comfort them or shut them up! It’s awful! Huh? It stopped after 1 minute? Someone is asleep at the switch, or maybe they took SeaWorld off the map. That would be nice. I doubt I can live through another summer here, with the VRBO on the corner whose owner lives in Mexico that can have up to 30 kids screaming at 3am, pounding music, and the frat boy Airbnb bs across the way. I’ve had enough of the noise pollution.