Visit to Anacortes and Whidbey Island
Just this weekend, I decided to take a drive to Anacortes and Whidbey Island to check out the area.
The beautiful town of Anacortes is not as beautiful as it seems. About 5 miles out of town headed south is an industrial district. There are huge factories, pillars, and machines pumping out clouds of pollution. There is litter everywhere, and the town of Anacortes itself is shabby and dumpy.
I decided to ask a few establishments a few questions.
Safeway, the biggest grocery store on the island was the first, and this is what they had to say.
"Hey, I just had a few questions! May I ask you?"
"Sure." (She seemed quite disgruntled.)
"Do you guys recycle here?"
"Not really. We recycle the cardboard boxes from shipments, but that's it."
"Are you guys aware of the pollution levels harming the waters of Puget Sound, therefore harming marine mammals?"
"No, I didn't.. I had no idea.."
"Have you ever been out to see the iconic southern resident killer whales on a boat?"
"Oh yeah a couple of times, but its so expensive nowadays, you really have to make a lot of money to be able to afford it, and even then, there's no guarantee. It is amazing, though."
"Well thank you!!"
Everyone else I asked said similar things. No real recycling, no concern, and no knowledge of the struggles of the whales.
My entire experience of Anacortes and Whidbey Island is that, a town and a region that claims to be so invested in saving and protecting these whales doesn't even understand that they're in danger and they're doing nothing to prevent their demise.
Also, the whale watching industry seems to be making thousands of dollars on these whales, while it doesn't seem that much of it is going back to the whales themselves. Just to take my car on the ferry to Friday Harbor would have cost me well over $60, then a parking fee once I was on the island, $10. If from there I decide to visit the Whale Museum, $6 for admission. $30 for a land-watching pass if I chose to hike the area and watch from the shore. If I were to take a boat out on the water, the cheapest I could find was $99, but that's not including tax and port-fees. Kayaking is a few hundred for all the rentals and tour. There's also the option to rent binoculars, but I couldn't find a price for those. Food on the island is rather expensive, too. It seems that this island is definitely profiting off the viewing of these endangered whales, and although there are strict laws and guidelines to viewing these mammals, it seemed much less conservational than I remember.
Over the next couple months I'll be doing a study on where exactly all this money goes, what it does, and how the region profits and benefits from these beloved whales.
