JPG Magazine: Photos: "The Chosen One" by Melinda Smith

The Chosen One

By Melinda Smith

On 21 February 2008

Favorited 36 Times

On an outing in beautiful, pristine Resurrection Bay in Alaska we came across all kinds of wildlife. It was wonderful seeing these creatures in their natural habitat, free of cages and holding pens.
But even these free animals are marked by man. Hot branding was ruled against in 2006 but there are reminders out there still.
All the other rest peacefully while this poor animal couldn't take his eyes off of us.

In the Big, Beautiful Alaska photo essay.

28 Responses

On 22 February 2008 Leslie Eagle gave props:
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/may2006/2006-05-31-05.asp
On 22 February 2008 Melinda Smith said:
Thank you Leslie. I feel inspired to make another donation to the Humane Society.
If man can do something as horrible as this, I'm pleased that man has the compassion to stop it as well.
On 22 February 2008 Sherry gave props:
how sad. your pic tells it all, you have my vote
On 22 February 2008 John Sloan said:
What is that all about?
On 22 February 2008 Hunaid H gave props:
Very well captured
On 22 February 2008 Colleen Duncan said:
Sure, but what if this tag allows us to track migratory patterns, thus better understanding our impact on the larger species?
I'm not saying that's what it's there for, but there may be more at play here than a quick 'oh, that's sad what they did the to poor furry animal' here.
In any case, good pictures often start a discussion, so for that reason at very least, well done.
B
On 22 February 2008 Colleen Duncan said:
Have you tried it in B/W?
On 22 February 2008 Melinda Smith said:
Thank you all for commenting. Colleen, I understand the need for tracking patterns and such but this seems extreme. The link that Leslie provided stated that the animals are subjected to painful research procedures, including teeth extraction and removal of fat and other tissue samples, often with no anesthesia.
I'm not a scientist but there are more humane ways to track animals. The Humane Society went to court over this in 2005 and court ordered it stoped in 2006. This was taken in Sept of 07 and the brands on this sea lion are still red and raw looking.
I love B&W but I wanted the scars to stand out.
Thank you for taking time to open the discussion on this. I am by no means an expert on the subject. I just found the whole thing disturbing
On 22 February 2008 Leslie Eagle said:
Bet you didn't know you were going to spark an entire debate when you posted this haha! At any rate I wanted to post in a comment for those that don't notice the link I posted before...
I have lived over 30 years in Alaska and have many friends in biology as well as fish & game and I had never seen anything so invasive before! There are proven practices that have been used for years to study our glorious wildlife. Generally they tag animals on an ear or put a radio transmitter or observe them personally from a safe distance using spotting scopes and binoculars using distinguishing characteristics that the animal already has.
I'm all for science, Bbt this study was just plain immature, selfish and lazy without any regard to the animals involved.
On 22 February 2008 Melinda Smith said:
I'm with you Leslie. I am for science also but not like this. I've never seen an animal marked so cruely for research.
On 22 February 2008 Jan Hoffman said:
Melinda --
Bravo for showing us this eye-opener. Tagging and tracking can be done in a much less invasive manner. You nailed the theme concept with this offering in my opinion.
Best wishes, Jan
On 23 February 2008 Pilar Coll i Gatells said:
Molt bona! my vote
On 25 February 2008 Adrian Rodriguez said:
Wow..........Got my VOTE
On 28 February 2008 Mandolin Davis gave props:
this makes me want to cry...very very powerful image.
On 5 March 2008 Christian Rodriguez said:
Definitley have a vote here too.
Besides what has been said and that the shot is technically well done; you have the fact that the branded animal is the only one aware of, or cares about your presence. Due to the dumb scientific practices here, and I am a big believer and supporter of science, the animal's natural behavior is now alterered because he/she will always have this unnatural/invasive human experience. I've always been under the impression that while the scientists do their work, the animals are not very conscience to the human presence. Branding being allowed in 2006 is very, very suprising to me.
On 10 March 2008 Cody Brundidge said:
hey i have a simular photo.
On 10 March 2008 Sagi Shapira gave props:
what can i say... either way you cut it (and pardon the pun) this photo certainly, by any measure, fit the theme...well done!
On 13 March 2008 Nelson Campbell gave props:
Fury!!!
On 13 March 2008 Eleanor Dinneen said:
i'm sure the ''poor furry animal'' feels the same way about tracking migratory patterns !
On 14 March 2008 Jessica Kuligowski gave props:
Well composed! Nice job!
On 15 March 2008 casey wangrud said:
I don't know...I have no words for this. I'm speechless. I want to say something that truly expresses the disgust I feel when I see this sort of inhumanity, but all I can do is stare & shake my head.
On 18 March 2008 melanie scott gave props:
very powerful and emotional shot - perfect entry for the theme
On 23 March 2008 Nancy Brooks said:
Brought tears to my eyes. Very powerful, it has such an impact.
On 26 March 2008 Paul Lavallee gave props:
very sad
On 28 March 2008 Laurie Search gave props:
This is ridiculous! How can any good come from doing something like that to this beautiful creature?! This shot is very powerful and disturbing. And it really is amazing that he is the only one looking at you. So sad. Excellent work.
On 1 April 2008 Kristin Chiara-Platts said:
The more humane thing to do to track an animal would be to put a collar on it. I've seen that many times, this is just wrong. Great shot.
On 1 April 2008 Melinda Smith said:
Thank you all for your wonderful comments on this disturbing practice. Let's hope it continues to be outlawed.
On 1 April 2008 Raphael Grynsztajn gave props:
That is a powerful image. You are making a difference