Out of Its Element

A wire service story in my local newspaper tells of the life-altering travails of Bubba, the lobster. It seems Bubba was an old lobster; estimates range from 30 to 100 years. As the wire story tells it, “He may have survived two world wars and Prohibition”.

So what did in poor Bubba? Taking the poor creature out of its element and transporting it to a zoo. In fact, only 1 day after arriving at a zoo in Pittsburgh, the lobster was dead.

Of course, zoo officials have stated they plan to do an autopsy. Why waste the time and money? It’s obvious the lobster died due solely to human intervention. If we had simply let Bubba be, he may have lived for another swath of years.

I’m not sharing this little tidbit simply to lament the demise of this one creature, sad as it may be. For me, this story is more representative of a disease that seems to plague our present civilization. Our society has a penchant for removing things from their element and then suffering from the eventual consequences.

This tendency of ours is most prevalent in regards to the environment and the way we choose to interact with it. Instead of trying to understand the laws, processes and rhythms of the natural world, we’re constantly trying to manipulate it to our egotistical will. Instead of acting in symmetry, we race along in a helter skelter manner.

For example, it’s well known that trees play a pivotal role in keeping the air clean. Through the complex interplay of biological forces, trees help maintain the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide. So, it would seem prudent for humans to be very protective of these organic allies.

Unfortunately, too many people are lackadaisical when it comes to trees. Sure, they’re nice to climb or lay under on a warm spring day, but we need to cut them down at a feverish pace to supply us with crisp white paper and sturdy beams for new homes, many built on the edge of the wilderness. Partially as a result of this lackadaisical attitude, we allow greedy timber barons the ability to clear cut complete tracts of forests and to replace them – if we’re lucky – with managed tree farms.

The very act of clear-cutting fractures fragile ecosystems and causes stress and misery on the associated flora and fauna within such. If the forest stand is on or near a slope, it increases erosion which often leads to landslides and property damage. If these things weren’t bad enough, it appears the replanted “managed” forests are more susceptible to fire than the natural forests we’ve cut down.

Our forests end up sharing the same plight as Bubba, the lobster. If they were allowed to live in their natural state, we would benefit far more than we do by removing them from their element.

When will we learn and respect this valuable lesson?