It’s almost time. It’s been 13 years since we found Nemo, and we’ve had the song stuck in our heads ever since then (just keep swimming, just keep swimming).
It is time…to find Dory. *Cue squeals that sound suspiciously like Ellen*
But as we all gather our long lost Finding Nemo memorabilia in anticipation for the movie’s release, there is one major point to keep in mind: All fish want to be in the ocean. Did we not learn this in the first movie? So, no matter how big of a Dory fan you are, under no circumstances are you to go out and buy yourself your very own Dory. Leave her where she is–she’s happy in the ocean.
In 2003 (the year we first found Nemo), clownfish sales rose as much as 40%. Everyone wanted to have their own Nemo sitting on their bedside table, waiting to be found every morning. On average, 1 million clownfish are harvested annually by the fishing industry for ornamental purposes. But 90% of clownfish sold at the time were from the wild, thus there was a dramatic decline in the number of clownfish in the wild.
Two years after “Finding Nemo”, a marine biologist and doctoral candidate at the University of Queensland–Carmen da Silva–and a group of researchers started the “Saving Nemo Conservation Fund” (pst…check them out here: http://www.savingnemo.org/). This non-profit studies clownfish and breeds them in captivity to both feed the consumers’ needs for more Nemos and replenish the world’s population of clownfish.
However, as of yet, the Blue Tangs–or Dorys–cannot successfully be breed in captivity. That means 100% of the Dorys being sold have been taken from the ocean. So when the movie comes out and everyone wants their own Blue Tang on the bedside table, there will be a lot of clownfish wandering around in the ocean looking for their lost Dorys.
Blue Tangs are not currently endangered or even threatened, but there are already 300,000 imported just into the US annually, and researchers are fearful of the oncoming boom in demand the movie will cause.
Enter: the Million Kisses Campaign. The Saving Nemo Conservation Fund is to the rescue again–with this campaign, they are promoting leaving the Blue Tangs where they belong, in the ocean. In an attempt to gain the support of Ellen, the campaign asks all Nemo and Dory lovers out there to take a fish face selfie using the hashtag, #fishkiss4nemo.
Check out the campaign here: http://www.savingnemo.org/#!million-kisses-campaign/sjoxs.
So if you really, truly love Dory—snap a pic of your best fish face, and please, leave her in the ocean.
That being said, we can all sit back and wait for this most highly-anticipated sequel.
Sources:
http://qz.com/694462/finding-dory-will-make-the-blue-tang-fish-popular-and-thats-not-a-good-thing/
http://www.nature.org/newsfeatures/specialfeatures/animals/fish/blue-tang.xml
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/finding-dory-nemo-pet-fish_us_573fb10ae4b00e09e89f2814
http://www.savingnemo.org/#!million-kisses-campaign/sjoxs