Teen Gives Aquarium thumbs down

To the Editor:

The Courier recently featured a letter ("Aquarium helps whale research", Jan.20) from somebody about the benefits of the Aquarium and how educational it is for children to see the dolphins and whales.

I am almost 15 and my parents have only taken me to the Aquarium once. I don't plan on ever returning to see these "educational" shows or sharks and turtles caged. It really is not different from the circus.

In fact my parents believe that they are giving me the wrong message by taking me there to watch animals perform tricks for their food and cram them into small spaces so that we, the humans, can learn about them before they are extinct. Don't the people who support the Aquarium hear about the deaths of these animals?

Whitewings, who died last week, would have been happily swimming in the ocean if the aquarium hadn't committed this cruelty. And now they want to go and capture a few more.

ILAN WRIGHT Vancouver