The long awaited movie Finding Dory was finally released in Korea several weeks ago. Because the film is a sequel to the popular movie Finding Nemo of 2003, many had been anticipating for this day to come. 

          Dory, the main character of the movie, is a blue tang fish. The growing popularity of Finding Dory may be devastating to these species. After the hit of Finding Nemo, the popularity of clown fish rose significantly. Countless people wanted Nemo as their pet fish. Although this was a big issue, the popularity did not harm the clown fish population; because clown fish can adapt easily to their surroundings, they are easy to keep as pets. However, it’s a different story this time. Blue tang fish are very delicate and sensitive to their surroundings, and thus cannot be bred in tanks. Furthermore, they are prone to sickness and infections. If the blue tang fish become popular like the clown fish have, it would certainly be a threat to the blue tang population. 

          I first came across this information through a video posted on social media. After more research on the blue tang fish, I decided to organize a campaign to raise awareness and warn the audience about buying the blue tang fish. For two days, I designed a poster and a pamphlet to hand out to people. I noticed that the details about the blue tang fish did not reach the Korean population as much, so I felt like I had a bigger responsibility of educating the public. I went to the Megabox movie theater in Coex mall on July 7th, 2016, the day when Finding Dory was scheduled to be released in Korea, with the poster and the pamphlets. As I handed out the pamphlets to the audience who were waiting in front of the theater, I was surprised by the fact that people showed more interest than I had expected. Some even asked me questions about the blue tang fish, while others deliberately asked me for a pamphlet. 

         As a supporter of animal rights, I am a member of the club that advocates for the humane treatment of animals at our school. As part of a club activity, I have been visiting an animal shelter near my school to care for abandoned animals. During big school events, other club members and I fundraised money to donate to the shelter as well. Because issues regarding animals are generally of my interest, the subject about the blue tang fish struck me as soon as I was informed of the problem. Similarly, I found out that the audience that I encountered that day was far from indifferent towards the blue tang fish. Knowing that a lot of people would care about this matter if they were to be informed, I would like to warn the larger audience not to buy Dory.









Sun Woo (Madeline) Kim
Grade 12
Yongsan International School of Seoul

Copyright © The Herald Tomorrow, All rights reseverd.