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Speak Up
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Fueled by their own fear and ignorance
A bully can come in any shape or size
attacking those they don’t understand
abusing and overpowering those they despise
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Toxic words and deeds load their guns
while their hearts spew molten lava of hate
Intolerant of those who disagree with them
and seeking out the gentle to shove and berate
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How many lives have hung by a hopeless rope
woven of strands of isolation and rejection
because no one had the courage to speak up
thinking the risk was not their obligation?
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Wendy ❀ 2014
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I took these pictures of the Sea Lions at Fanny Bay, Vancouver Island.
They were a happy and noisy bunch.
But there was one that the others seemed to dislike.
It looked like a classic case of bullying.
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Hating back is not the answer.
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Do you have someone in your life that you’ve spoken up for?
Bullying can happen anywhere.
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These creatures might look sluggish
but they can swim up to 25 mph when threatened.
They are able to dive as deep as 600 ft for seafood
and not need air for about 40 min.
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Their natural enemies are great white sharks
and killer whales.
Plastic garbage on beaches and waterways
are also dangerous for them if swallowed or wrapped around their necks.
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These pictures show both Steller and California Sea Lions.
The larger and lighter colored ones are the Stellers.
They molt annually.
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I found it intriguing that they prefer to remain cuddled up
even when there’s no shortage of room.
In their natural habitat, their lifespan may as much as 25 years.
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The Steller males can get up to 1500 lbs ( females considerably smaller)
and 11 feet long.
As humans we need to stop environmentally bullying these animals.
We need to stop littering and polluting.
Let’s clean up our act.
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God asked us to exercise dominion–not destruction over creation.
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Speak Up Blessings ~ Wendy ❀
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Here’s a link to a 39 second video I took of the boisterous choir.
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Here is a link to the CBC news report about a rescue
done in the same bay my video taken was in:
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