Thar' She Blows, with a Barb Like the Washington Monument

Charissa asked me if I had heard in the news that dead stingray are showing up all over Australia. Actually, the AP says that it's ten dead stingray but, hey, who's counting. It seems that, like Captain Ahab searching for Moby Dick, people have started hunting wildlife for revenge. This of course on the heels of Steve Irwin's death by stingray.

Two of the animals had their barbs cut off. This is a very interesting statement on human nature. Steve Irwin spent his entire life preaching conservation to the people, trying to teach people that saving wildlife is an important mission and yet, people try to atone for his death by killing the very animals he tried to save. Michael Hornby, Exec. Director of Irwin's conservation group said:

It may be some sort of retribution, or it may be fear from certain individuals, or it just may be yet another callous act toward wildlife...We are disgusted and disappointed that people would take this sort of action to hurt wildlife.

This story makes a couple points about humanity:

1) People are fundamentally illogical. The people doing these things don't seem to get the irony in their acts.

2) Human endeavor is destined for failure. The very sad truth is that Irwin's life mission to save animals was symbolically (and actually)undone when his death led to the destruction of animals.

There is something tragic yet artistic about all of this.