If you’re like me, you saw or will see Finding Dory, the sequel to one of Pixar’s biggest films, Finding Nemo. And if you’re also like me, it will leave you with ugly Pixar tears and gigantic heart swells because, without giving anything away, it’s that kind of movie. This is a good thing - getting the public actively involved in and thinking about marine conservation is very, very important. But something else besides newfound awareness has been sparked by the release of these two films.
When Finding Nemo came out in 2003, it was a huge success, but something began to happen that, with the message of the film, should have been avoided. Masses of people flocked to aquarium stores, wishing to take home Nemo or Dory - clownfish and blue tangs, respectively. While clownfish are easier to bred in captivity and make good aquarium fish, their demand caused problems for coral reefs, which are already in danger.
The increase in purchases of blue tangs - otherwise known as our forgetful friend Dory - should raise a lot of eyebrows. Blue tangs are beautiful fish native to the Indo Pacific region, an area stretching from Africa to most of the Pacific Ocean. Blue tangs are almost impossible to breed in captivity, and many people don’t realize that they grow to be quite large (12 inches), are prone to diseases, and have a specific diet. The large increase in demand for this fish inches them closer and closer to the Endangered Species List, where clownfish are inevitably headed as well.
Taking Dory home hurts that beautiful blue tang, and it’s part of a larger problem. Many of the 90% of aquarium store fish caught in the wild are caught using cyanide poisoning, which uses cyanide poison to paralyze the fish and hurts coral reefs in the process. If we keep going like this, eventually, there will be no Dorys or Nemos to take home, and it will be on us. But, if you’re an unassuming mom with eager kids wanting to raise an animal, you most likely don’t know this when you buy a clownfish for $15. You might not even know this if you’re a slightly richer but still unassuming mother who shells out however much it takes (upwards of $100) to get a blue tang. It’s all for the kids.
This raises my last point. Instead of letting your kid watch a movie about preserving the ocean and then going out and being a part of why it needs preserving, take them to an aquarium to look at Dory and Nemo, and maybe Crush or our new friend Destiny, too! Teach them about how important it is to help save our oceans, because they've been here a lot longer than we have, and they should be here long after we’re gone.
The ocean doesn’t pollute itself. We are responsible for what we put into the world, and that directly affects what we get out of it. Our children deserve to grow up with beautiful oceans to visit and green forests to play in. Do your part.
For more information on how to help save Nemo and Dory, visit www.savingnemo.org.
