Day 47
8th December 2021
Ocean School
We woke to another La Niña day, today. (I knew it!)
Not that we cared, because today was ocean school and getting wet on top of rain, is just fine.
Today was all about the beautiful and diverse animals we share our planet with.
The question was put to us,
“Do you think animals have feelings?”
We are huge animal advocates and so we already knew the answer to this one.
Growing up in a culture that farms certain animals and protects others seems normal right?
Why?
We’ve had this conversation with our kids many times over the years.
Why do some animals deserve to die, while other animals are fiercely protected?
Is it because some animals are deemed unintelligent and therefore, they don’t know any better, so pass the BBQ sauce please?
Nope, that can’t be right.
Pigs are considered the fifth-most intelligent animal in the world—even more intelligent than dogs—and are capable of playing video games with more focus and success than chimps!
Their intelligence is compared to a 3-year-old human!
Would you eat a dog?
No?
Why not?
I mean if animals are food why not eat them all?
“I’ll take a battered emperor penguin and a large chips please”.
These are questions only you can answer for yourself.
Animals Feel Deeply
We learnt that scientific studies of animals proved that all different animal species, the world over, feel very deeply.
They show grief, loyalty, parental devotion & romantic love among many others.
We read from “Do Animals Have Feelings”
Bottom Line
Animals are smart. They know what humans do to them and they think we’re evil. 😢
Meatless Mondays? Give it a try.
Weights
Today was the day.
I knew this day was coming, and today was that day.
They put 3 kilo weights on my babies and took them to the sea! 😱😱
The Blackout
Shortly before putting weights on the children and leading them out to sea, we learnt how sometimes divers can black out. 😲😲😲
This usually happens within a depth of 10 meters, and usually because the diver has pushed themselves too far instead of coming up for air and they pass out.
This becomes obvious to their dive buddy because the diver will exhale underwater and a huge air bubble is released. (Oh, and they stop moving, yeh there’s that too).
Right, so if this happens you rush to the diver, bring them to the surface and you do 3 things:
- Take their mask off – this triggers the mammalian response where your body knows it’s safe to reboot & take a breath.
- Then you blow on the apples of their cheeks – further triggering the body’s reboot system.
- Lastly, you call the divers name and say ‘BREATH’.
Apparently, when the diver has blacked out, they are in a dream like state and are typically very relaxed. You need to reach them with your voice and remind them,
“Hey!! You might want to take a breath now. You’re unconscious and scaring the hell out of everyone!”
So, we acted this out with our buddy’s and then our instructor played dead and we revived him. Legend!
Watch Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItLEy2_kX1Q
After this we hit the water.
Mila was so proud of herself.
“Mama I went down and got the dive stick from the bottom!”
“How were the weights, did they pull you down?” I asked.
“No, they just made me feel heavier. I could still come back up easily.” Linc reassured me.
They are learning so much!!
Every week I am surprised at how fearless they are.
They are not afraid of going out deep. Not afraid of sharks or having weights strapped to them.
They astound me & I feel so proud of them.
When we were driving home Lincoln said,
“I love the ocean.”
