I was recently pleasantly surprised to be ironically inspired by a rather spirited yet somewhat evil lady named Alota Baloney.
This was during the Fish Detectives sea lion show at Sea World on the Gold Coast. Having been told upon enquiry at the front desk that a big fat zero of my $90 (yes $90!) entry fee was going towards marine conservation projects, I took a little bit of comfort in knowing that hundreds of families per day are being exposed to the environmental message of the sea lion show.
Please stop reading now if you are about to visit Sea World on the Gold Coast and don't want the Fish Detectives story spoilt! Alota Baloney is a sneaky mafia-style business woman who is found to be overfishing the local harbour in order to make more and more money for her fish business. In summary, upon capture by the Fish Detectives, Alota Baloney is offered an ultimatum: go to jail, or shut down her business and set up a fish sanctuary in the harbour to replenish the now dwindling fish stocks. Happily and obviously she chooses the latter.
Thankfully Sea World does have a Research and Rescue Foundation, which focuses upon scientific research. I just spoke to a representative who said that the Foundation funding does actually come from Sea World corporation- whose funds come through the gate entry fees. The only other ways to donate are by sending a cheque or by dropping cash into several boxes around the Sea World park.
Whilst the sea lion show represents a fun way to become aware about the problem of overfishing, it does carry with it a hugely important message because overfishing is a global phenomenon that can be stopped. If you would like to learn Alota more (sorry) about overfishing, please see Greenpeace and overfishing.org who can explain it Alota more (sorry again) eloquently than I.
