Der Tod der gefangenen Wale: Die Erwachen einer weiblichen Walentrainerin

This year marks the 9th year since Shao Ran began calling for an end to cetacean shows.

Her career shift stemmed from a near - death experience when she was a whale trainer. During an aquarium show, Shao Ran and a beluga whale named Sophie, under her care, were performing underwater. As soon as she entered the water, Sophie started attacking her, dragging her feet and repeatedly pulling her underwater. Shao Ran choked on water again and again. There had been cases abroad where captive cetaceans killed whale trainers, and she knew that moment was extremely dangerous. Shao Ran floated on the water, holding her feet, too scared to move. Seeing that she was frightened, Sophie finally swam slowly towards her and pushed her to the shore with its head.

Sophie spared her. "It seemed to know that I wanted to live. At that moment, I could only take a gamble, betting that it was kind - hearted and wouldn't hurt me." Shao Ran felt that she was gambling on the kindness of a life, and if she won, she would continue to exploit that kindness.

This was not Sophie's first attack on a whale trainer. Before this, due to being confined in a small concrete pool for a long time, it had shown many signs of mental breakdown, and the most direct manifestation was attacking the trainers.

Before Sophie attacked her, Shao Ran also witnessed the suicide of a captive dolphin. It was her second year as a whale trainer. "A Risso's dolphin named Huahua always tried to get close to me one day. But at that time, I was in a hurry to get off work and refused it again and again. The next day, Huahua committed suicide. It shut down its respiratory system and chose to sink to the bottom." She later realized that maybe Huahua was asking her for help.

From that moment on, Shao Ran, known as "the first female whale trainer in South China", began to awaken. She no longer thought it was justifiable to perform on the whales' heads, nor did she boss them around and take what she wanted from them. She started to pay attention to where these cetaceans came from, what their original habitats were, and how they were abducted from the vast oceans that cover more than 70% of the globe into the 10 - meter - long and 7 - meter - deep concrete pools in aquariums to become objects for human entertainment.

Photo provided by the interviewee, Shao Ran

In 2016, she left the aquarium and founded the "Ran Ai Tong Sheng" Natural Conservation Community, transforming from "the first female whale trainer in South China" into a marine animal rights protector. She traveled around, appealing to people to stop watching animal shows.

Over the years, she has experienced helplessness, pessimism, fear, etc., and witnessed the diversity of society and human nature. However, she has also felt the beauty. By caring about the lives of others, her own life has become more resilient.

In 2023, Sophie, the beluga whale she trained, died in the aquarium at only over 20 years old. "In nature, these cetaceans could originally live to be seventy or eighty years old. They might even become the leaders of a family and be loved and supported by the whole group, just like humans."

After Sophie's death, she cried bitterly. She thought that if her tears at that moment couldn't lead to action, then her tears were worthless. She quietly wrote a wish for it on Weibo: "Go home, Sophie / Go find your mother and your original name / There, the sea breeze will blow away the cruelty."

Recently, "The Institute of the Rising Generation" had a conversation with Shao Ran about how a whale trainer gradually broke free from the professional indoctrination, began to truly understand life, and practice life care.

Here is Shao Ran's self - narration, published after being sorted out:

Becoming "the First Female Whale Trainer in South China"

My becoming a whale trainer was an accident.

Previously, I thought this job was very professional, but actually it wasn't. As long as you liked it, you could do it. Later, I searched online for aquariums recruiting for this position and went for interviews. Coincidentally, an aquarium in Guangdong was hiring. At that time, they didn't have a female whale trainer. They asked me if I was afraid of hard work and if I could bear the cold water. I said I was okay with everything.

Just like that, at the age of 25, I became a whale trainer. At that time, there was no female whale trainer yet, and the aquarium even advertised me as "the first female whale trainer in South China". I was extremely happy every day, thinking how lucky I was that my life dream had come true.

From 2011 to 2016, I worked as a whale trainer for a total of 5 years, coming into contact with many animals such as beluga whales, penguins, fur seals, sea lions, and polar bears. My daily work included taking care of their lives, providing them with food, cleaning their enclosures, conducting training, and preparing for shows.

Shao Ran, a whale trainer. Photo provided by the interviewee

"Training whales is the same as training dogs. There's no unique method." For example, when a person steps on a whale's back, at first, the whale definitely won't like it and will try to shake you off. If it shakes you off, you don't give it fish. First, you use a target stick to guide it to lie flat on the water. It might be confused or just guessing, but once it happens to do it right, you quickly blow the whistle and then give it fish. Then it will know that this action is correct. If the action is wrong, you don't blow the whistle or give it fish until it gets it right. Then, gradually, you can extend the time step by step.

Some people are patient enough to guide slowly, while others, lacking patience, might train the animals faster. "The boss wants results, the shows. We demand that the animals act like machines, doing whatever we tell them. When they are disobedient or don't cooperate in the shows, I used to think it was only natural for me to get angry, strengthen management, not give them fish, point at them, stare at them, or lightly hit them with the target stick in my hand." But you don't dare to kill or seriously injure them because they are the company's property. You can only scare them, and this kind of mental violence is the most terrifying for them.

People who have watched the documentary "The Cove" know that humans usually catch young cetaceans. Catching one - or two - year - old calves has a lower transportation cost and is easier to domesticate. They can perform for a longer time. If you catch an older one, how many days can it perform? "Cetaceans live in a matriarchal society. One - or two - year - old calves, separated from their mothers and families, without the care of their relatives and with immature minds, are mostly in a state of fear." Due to fear, they either obey or rebel, and different animals show different behaviors.

At that time, the salary of a whale trainer was only two or three thousand yuan, and the turnover was very high. People didn't think the animals were pitiful; instead, they thought humans were so powerful that they could conquer these marine giants.

There was a period when I also started hitting animals, specifically a newly - born fur seal pup. After the pup was born, to get it into the training state, we had to separate it from its mother as soon as possible so that it could adapt to my feeding. But in nature, it's not fed by humans; its mother teaches it to hunt. So, we had to have several people hold it down and force - feed it, but it would resist and struggle. "Now you can still see such advertisements. Some aquariums claim that a dozen trainers take care of an animal, holding it down to make it eat. But this is just a beautification of the situation in words. Just think about it. If a dozen people hold you down, is that taking care of you?"

When I was forcing that little fur seal pup, its companion, another little fur seal, tried to protect it and rushed at me and bit me. I hit it with the target stick. Even now, when I think about it, I feel that I was like a devil at that time, gradually being assimilated from a person with a conscience into one of them.

The relationship between whale trainers and animals is actually very complex. At first, I thought I was their protector, taking care of everything for them. But I overlooked one thing: they didn't need this kind of care, right? "The premise of my taking care of them was that they had lost their original habitats and families, left the ocean, and were 'abducted' into a 10 - meter - long and 7 - meter - deep concrete pool." Whales are highly social animals, just like humans. When you are locked in a dark room, you might even prefer to be interrogated or whipped rather than staying alone. Many animals are the same. When they are imprisoned, they also long for us to interact with them.

"This is actually a relationship between a prison guard and a prisoner, but it's not a real prisoner. It's a kidnapped captive."

Finally, It Spared Me

On weekdays, each species has three shows a day. During holidays, there will be more shows, maybe six shows a day or even more. Because many audiences think they'll lose out if they don't see the shows. Especially when many of the visitors are from tour groups or school - organized trips, they definitely want to watch the shows.

Beluga whale show in an aquarium. Photo source: IC photo

"Some animals died from exhaustion. Many people are surprised, thinking that animals can't get exhausted. First of all, the trainers in the aquarium can rest two days a week, but the animals have to work 365 days a year." Then, during training or shows, they are fed fish after each action. For example, the audience likes to see these animals jumping and reaching for balls. Dolphins often have to perform high - altitude spins and then eat fish, which makes them prone to intestinal torsion. Intestinal torsion can easily lead to death because they can't tell you when they're uncomfortable. "There was a pregnant dolphin. The aquarium kept adding more shows for it, and finally, due to excessive fatigue, both it and its calf died."

There was a Risso's dolphin named Huahua in the aquarium where I worked at that time. The pool it was in was going to be demolished and renovated, so the trainer moved it to the pool where the two beluga whales I was training were. The pool was already small, and with Huahua in it, it became even smaller. Animals have a sense of territory, and without a "parent" to mediate their relationship, the two beluga whales bullied Huahua. It was in great pain but had nowhere to escape.

"Normally, when I smiled at Huahua, it would happily play with me. But if I was a bit fierce to it, it would run away." But one day, it behaved very abnormally, constantly approaching me. I didn't know if it was pleading or what. Since it wasn't under my care, I had a reasonable excuse not to accompany it. I repeatedly refused it so that I could get off work.

"The next day, Huahua committed suicide." Whales can choose to shut down their respiratory systems and stop breathing. When I found out, I cried bitterly. In the wild, animals rarely choose to commit suicide. Only in extremely desperate situations will they make such a choice. And the suicide behavior of cetaceans has occurred in many aquariums.

Even now, every time I recall these things, it still hurts. As time goes by, it only deepens my sense of guilt. It's like when you've hurt a child, you won't reconcile with it as the years pass. You'll keep recalling it and find it hard to forgive yourself.

What really made me wake up was a beluga whale named Sophie that I trained. Sophie came from the distant Arctic. It was nearly 4 meters long, pure white all over, and very beautiful. It had thick subcutaneous fat and looked like a big, chubby ball. I loved to touch its chubby forehead. Every time I did, the flesh on its forehead would shake, which was extremely cute.

"However, due to long - term captivity, its mental state became irritable." It often attacked the trainers, biting our feet, legs, arms, and even our heads. Even our colleague with the best swimming skills would tremble for a long time after being bitten.

"During a show in 2012, as soon as I entered the water, Sophie started biting me desperately, dragging my feet and pulling me underwater. It was extremely agitated, with its eyes wide open, showing the whites. I choked on water again and again." This was very dangerous for us. There had been cases abroad where captive cetaceans killed whale trainers. I squatted on the water, holding my feet, too scared to move. It saw that I was frightened and finally swam slowly towards me, pushing me to the shore with its head.

It seemed to know that I wanted to live. "At that moment, I could only take a gamble, betting that it was kind - hearted and wouldn't hurt me. Finally, it spared me."

Shao Ran and Sophie. Photo provided by the interviewee

For me, it was not easy to witness how a life, when facing injustice and oppression, overcame its anger and chose kindness. I saw clearly how it struggled and made that choice.

As it is said in "The Secret of Whales", whales are one of the smartest species on this planet, with the strongest perception and cognitive abilities. They are highly evolved, have their own language, strong family bonds, and ancient traditions. Maybe through tens of millions of years of evolution, kindness has been engraved in their genes.

Later, it made a gesture to start the show, so I jumped into the water again and completed the show with it. But I saw tears in its half - open eyes. At that moment, I also shed tears. We were underwater, and no one could see us. The audience on the stage gave us the warmest applause and cheers. The happy sounds made me feel scared.

"Suddenly, I realized that not only was I domesticating Sophie, but I was also the one being domesticated. My colleagues were domesticating me, and I was domesticating the new colleagues. The company, the aquarium, and the whole social system were all involved in this process."

Mocking Other Lives Is Not Funny

After experiencing Huahua's suicide and all that happened with Sophie, I started to investigate where these animals came from, what their original social relationships were, and whether the same thing was happening all over the world.

Only then did I discover that in many places, laws had been passed to ban the captivity of cetaceans