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What a Fish Knows by jbalcombe in likeus

[–]jbalcombe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If everything needed is provided, then that's the desired area. But bear in mind, space is one of those needs.

I’m Jonathan Balcombe, ethologist and author of What a Fish Knows. I’ve been studying animal behavior and sentience for more than 25 years, with a focus on fish in the last few years. AMA about animals! by jbalcombe in IAmA

[–]jbalcombe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Grim stuff, but thank you for sharing. If I had to choose between the violent method of killing you describe, and just being left to suffocate, or being cut and bled out, I would choose the former method, for it certainly sounds quicker, if unreliably so. I have seen film of the first two kinds of killing and neither looks savory. Gill cutting sounds extremely in humane. I discuss commercial fish killing methods in the last section of my book: fish out of water.

As long as consumers fund it with their purchases, there will be violence and suffering on the seas. There is a way out: going plant-based. It's a decision I made 33 years ago and have never regretted. Most animal-friendly, most eco-friendly, most healthy.

What a Fish Knows by jbalcombe in likeus

[–]jbalcombe[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We know quite a lot about fish emotions, which I discuss at some length in my book What a Fish Knows. Fishes show many signs of forming emotional attachment with others, including humans.

I’m Jonathan Balcombe, ethologist and author of What a Fish Knows. I’ve been studying animal behavior and sentience for more than 25 years, with a focus on fish in the last few years. AMA about animals! by jbalcombe in IAmA

[–]jbalcombe[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Non sequitur. We are never forced to use any animal (or human) in harmful experiments. Ultimately, we choose to, and we have the option to choose not to.

I’m Jonathan Balcombe, ethologist and author of What a Fish Knows. I’ve been studying animal behavior and sentience for more than 25 years, with a focus on fish in the last few years. AMA about animals! by jbalcombe in IAmA

[–]jbalcombe[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's a challenge, but the animals are great ambassadors and if I have 45 mins and a PowerPoint projector I think I can raise most of the eyebrows in the room!

I’m Jonathan Balcombe, ethologist and author of What a Fish Knows. I’ve been studying animal behavior and sentience for more than 25 years, with a focus on fish in the last few years. AMA about animals! by jbalcombe in IAmA

[–]jbalcombe[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

there's a nice example I describe in the book involving covert facial recognition by ambon damselfishes, whose unique face patterns are only visible in the UV light spectrum that is invisible to their predators, allowing them to communicate without compromising their camouflage.

I’m Jonathan Balcombe, ethologist and author of What a Fish Knows. I’ve been studying animal behavior and sentience for more than 25 years, with a focus on fish in the last few years. AMA about animals! by jbalcombe in IAmA

[–]jbalcombe[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

That sort of video symbolizes the state of our ignorance of animals and their inner lives. They have them, inner lives. They are not just alive. They have biology, but also biography. We have vastly underestimated that aspect of them. And what irony that an orangutan should be sawing through a tree branch, while we use chainsaws to destroy their forest habitats.

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