A different way to communicate about endangered species...

https://gofund.me/59d4477d

This gofundme is to finance productions about a character called the silent one. The silent one is the creation of an artist named Memuco
https://memuco.myportfolio.com/the-silent-one
The idea is that the environmental movement has tried to reach people with a lot of information. But I realized that Kennedy didn't get people to back the space program by describing all the great science we would do, he appealed to the nation's emotions. I think the environmental movement needs to do the same thing for endangered species. MAKE PEOPLE FEEL SOMETHING.

The go fundme was started by a opera teacher, writer, producer from the Lawrence, KS arts center.
https://thecoterie.org/person/ric-averill

So how am I involved in this?
So I started reading books not just about whales in general but about specific species to get more in depth. I was finishing a couple of books about the gray whale (have to brag, a total of 1400 fascinating pages) and was looking for my next subject. An acquaintance had suggested reading The Log of the Sea of Cortez (because of the gray whales) and something about the 2 triggered my memory of the vaquita.

I had assumed that like the northern right whale the vaquita was critically endangered with a small fairly stable population. Well, no. The numbers have been crashing. I was distraught to say the least. That made me realize that others must feel the same way, and there needs to be a way to express this grief. There is a word for it, "reef grief".

So I realized that the best way to express this grief would be to stage an endangered species opera. I had another acquaintance that put me in touch with Ric. He loved the idea. The idea continued to churn in my mind and I realized that the story needed a central character. I was looking for pictures of the vaquita and stumbled upon the work of Memuco.

So I can credit myself with the idea, and hooking up these two extremely talented men.
I did my own little production using the character and as soon as I get some editing done on the video, I'll get it posted to youtube. As a hobby, I'm going to start producing short puppet videos about endangered species.

Anyway, I'm trying to get this off the ground. My vision is to see a grand production on Broadway with a rotating cast of species that would keep people coming back for years and God willing be a change in direction for many endangered critters.