Entertainment

Are Any Of The 'Finding Dory' Characters Endangered?

We're in the home stretch now, guys. Finding Dory, the sequel to 2003's adorable Disney/Pixar smash hit Finding Nemo, is finally going to be released and some of us Just. Cannot. Wait. Some of us sort of think that 13 years is an awfully long time to be forced to wait for a sequel. Since the first movie came out, the world is looking a little different. In fact, the ocean itself (the backdrop for most of the movie) is looking very different indeed since 2003. I'm wondering how sea life looks now, compared to the underwater world we saw back then? Are any of the Finding Dory characters endangered, or on their way to becoming endangered? Some people might be surprised at the ironic backlash of the original movie.

When Finding Nemo was released in 2003, the two stars of the movie were a father/son pair of clownfish named Marlin and Nemo. Marlin was the overprotective father who wanted his son to stay close to his cozy little anemone home, until Nemo was taken by a scuba diver at the "drop off", who brings him to his dentist office and holds him captive in an aquarium. The entire movie follows Marlin on his path to "find Nemo", crossing miles of ocean to return his son to his natural habitat.

According to findings by marine biologists reported by AOL, there was a dramatic spike in clownfish purchases after the movie. Because everyone wanted a pet clownfish they could name Nemo... ironic, right? Remember how the whole movie is about getting Nemo out of captivity?

While the marine biologists explained clownfish were easy to breed, the blue tang fish (also known as our beloved Dory) is apparently more difficult to keep in captivity. They say they do not survive well in captivity either, and while the blue tang is not endangered yet, the biologists are worried about the fate of these rare fish after Finding Dory is released.

While the clownfish and the blue tang are not yet endangered, are there any other beloved Finding Dory characters that could be endangered? Let's go down the list.

Fluke and Rudder (Sea Lions)

According to the WWF (World Wildlife Fund), sea lions like Fluke and Rudder are indeed endangered. So please don't try to capture any as a pet to keep in your bathtub, even if that sounds adorable.

Destiny (Whale Shark)

Also sadly endangered. And too big to fit in anyone's tub so we should probably just leave them alone.

Crush (A Sea Turtle)

NOT extinct. Finally a little bit of righteous news about our sea turtle friends. We haven't wiped them off the face of the planet. Totally gnarly, dude.

Bailey (Beluga Whale)

Not quite extinct yet, but definitely threatened by fossil fuel extraction in Alaska. And they are just about the loveliest, calmest looking creatures ever. I don't want anyone saying I look like a whale (so don't) but if you said I looked like a beluga whale, I would take that to mean I looked very Zen. So thank you.

Mr. Ray (Spotted Eagle Ray)

Mr. Ray, everyone's favorite teacher, is indeed categorized as "near threatened" due to fishing. They don't reproduce in great numbers, according to Bermuda's Department of Environment and Natural Resources, so losing even a few can wreak havoc on the ecosystem.

So let's be careful with the oceans, y'all. We don't want to see a world where we're the only people floating around in the water, ruining everything, do we?