Orcas aren't Just Animals
Most people view SeaWorld as a “fun family vacation spot.” The main attraction is Shamu, a glorious and majestic orca. Orcas at Seaworld are taken out of the wild and held captive in a man made tank. The orcas don't deserve this and one really big effect from abuse and keeping them in captivity is their average lifespan decreases. “In the wild male orcas live up to 70 years and female all the way up to 100 but sadly there lifespan in captivity is only 13 years.” (http://www.seaworldofhurt.com/features/ten-things-didnt-know-seaworld/). That's not even the start of their problems. Imagine a 10,000 pound whale living in a concrete “tank” that’s 350 ft wide and 50ft deep; that's only almost double their own size. Seaworld doesn't properly tend to it’s animals that have feelings because they don't provide the proper food, care, or habitat for the Orcas. Seaworld enslaves there animals.They have a process of enslavement they will either take baby whales from the wild or they will forcefully breed orcas into their horrid system. “At least 163 orcas have died in captivity, not including 30 miscarried or
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Orcas are used to swimming 100 miles everyday in a “never ending” ocean. But now there swimming in a kitty pool which cause them a great deal of stress. The workers are forced to give drugs to the Orcas to relieve their stress. Orcas are forced to do tricks and entertain people in a trade to get food. Not to mention there food is freeze dried fish; freezed dried fish isn't good for orcas health because they are suppose to be catching their own organic wild fish. Then there's the Orcas “tanks” which are concrete circles that are man made and are less than a mile wide that the share with other Orcas. Orcas are animals and animals have feelings as well as humans so they should be left where they belong free in the wild with their own food water and a whole
The captivity of large, wild animals is accepted for theme parks all around the world. Tickets are sold for people to come and watch these animals live and even preform in an exhibit that almost resembles their natural environment. It is impossible for parks and zoos that use animals as attractions to provide the same resources and space they would have in the habitat they are usually found in. They can, however, help injured or ill animals that cannot survive in the wild. This is where I believe they should draw the line for keeping animals in captivity. SeaWorld has gotten a lot of attention in the last few years, especially since the Netflix documentary, Blackfish, was released. This film targets the company for the mistreatment of their orca whales. In particular, it told the story of one named Tilikum and shows the problems he and the other orca whales face while living under the care of SeaWorld. Gabriela Cowperthwaite, the director
I am sure almost all of you have either been to or heard of SeaWorld. Today I am going to tell you about what they do to their orcas that they are trying to hide. I chose this topic after watching a documentary called “Blackfish” that goes into the behind the scenes of how SeaWorld treats its animals. I have since done further research online to prepare for this presentation. This is an important topic because you should know what kind of company you are funding and behaviors you are endorsing when you go on your vacations to this destination. Today I am going to persuade you that SeaWorld is corrupt and maltreats its animals, specifically the orcas. First, I will talk about the specific way the orcas are treated and how it affects them
Millions of people come from across the world to visit Seaworld every day without thinking about the lives of the animals behind the scenes. Why would they have concerns? From Seaworld’s commercials to the website, they convince the general public that Seaworld is the place to go to see the happy sea animals perform. If Seaworld is such an ecstatic place, what excuse does Tilikum, their greatest well known orca whale, have for the three attacks on trainers? The documentary “Blackfish” was created by the director Gabriela Cowperthwaite because she questioned herself after realizing Tilikum's odd behavior over time in captivity, and if there was any indisputable parts to animal captivity?
Suppose you were kidnapped from your family as a child by an alien species while your family watched in despair, crying out helplessly for your kidnappers to not rip you away from them. Now imagine then being strapped down and transported to a place unknown and once you arrive, you see that some of the other children that were also kidnapped have died. You then witness something that will forever remain engraved into your mind; you witness those monsters that took you hostage cut the children open, fill their bodies up with rocks, tie an anchor onto their feet and throw them into the ocean. The monsters then throw you into a tiny cage; you learn that you will not only never see your family again and die in that confinement but you will also work for these monsters and perform as a source of entertainment for them. You spend every night locked away into an even smaller steel cage that gives no freedom of movement at all and aren’t fed if you displease your new masters. Although this sounds like an outline for a horror movie, it is not. It is happening in real life and in our world. It is horrific, not only unethical but inhumane. This depicts the capturing process and life in captivity for public display of Orcinus Orcas, popularly known as Killer Whales since 1961. Although some laws regarding the capturing of whales have changed, whales are still being treated unethically. Just as inhumane as it is for this to be done to humans, it is equally inhumane for it to be done to animals. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, inhumanity is “the quality or stage of being cruel to other people or to animals” (dictionary.com) and that is what their captivity is...
The trainers, along with Cowperthwaite, believe having them in a captivity like SeaWorld is inhumane. I agree with this documentary, Blackfish. This documentary gave a perfect visual representation of why I do not like having animals in a cage or in a small area. Having animals captive, working hard, and hardly fed is wrong, especially when only allowing them in a small area to roam. Watching this documentary made me feel sympathy towards these poor animals that must go through this harsh life style.
An orca, more commonly known as a killer whale, is currently one of the largest marine animals held in captivity. Countless arguments are being made, supporting and opposing captivity of orcas to be exploited as circus animals in theme parks around the world. Throughout recent history, Sea World trainers have been injured and killed by the orcas and the whales, and the whales themselves have been observed as severely depressed. If Sea World releases the whales, they would undergo an immense economic downfall and the whales would be too weak to survive in the wild if they were freed. Since the first Sea World park opened in San Diego, California in 1964, common questions have arose concerning the well-being of orcas in captivity, the dangers of humans training them, the physical capability of whales theoretically being released, and the psychological differences between whales living in the wild versus whales living in Sea World's confinement.
And even a six year old wasn’t blind to that fact. The issue of keeping Orcas in captivity and under the care of man has been a controversial practice ever since the first dolphins and whales were taken into aquariums for the amusement of humans. In more recent times, the documentary Blackfish (which has been recently broadcast on popular TV stations such as CNN) that focuses on Tilikum, an orca held by SeaWorld, has brought to light the controversy over captive killer whales. Orcas are majestic, beautiful, and intelligent creatures that should not be kept in captivity for our entertainment because of the harm they cause. SeaWorld, a leader in the captivity and use of killer whales for entertainment, has counterattacked the points made by the documentary Blackfish, which brought many points to light.
It all began with good intentions. People thinking that they can control these animals and not expect any negative impacts. It was all due to wanting to explore and entertain with the animals. However, not all animals are meant to be taken from the wild to be show animals. After many years of unfair ways, SeaWorld is doing the right thing by closing down the whale exhibit even if it isn’t by choice because it is unhealthy for both the humans and animals involved.
At first, the film is happy and the trainers talk about how much they loved working at SeaWorld and working with the animals. As the film goes on, you get to see the tragedies and heartbreak that goes on at these parks. The film talks a lot about the living conditions of the whales. Tilikum gets beat up by the female whales, which does not necessarily happen in the wild. The whales are used to swimming around one hundred miles a day, but in captivity, they are confined to a little swimming pool where they barely have any room to even breathe. It is also mentioned that orcas have a lifespan of twenty-five to thirty years. In reality, that is their lifespan in captivity. In the wild, male orcas can live up to sixty to seventy years and female orcas can live anywhere from eighty to more than one hundred years. This shows how SeaWorld fails to treat their animals
For almost 50 years, we have captured and contained orcas, more commonly known as killer whales, from the wild for our own personal entertainment. Living in Indiana, the closest thing we have to a “Shamu Show” is our dolphin shows at the Indianapolis Zoo. Watching those shows can be absolutely enchanting. So much so that you often forget about how they got there or how their habitat suits that massive of an animal, or maybe you just don’t know to think about those things. Although some may argue that we learn and teach more than we harm, orcas are not meant for captivity for the gain of entertainment. Those large, beautiful and social animals are meant to have freedom in their own environment.
Seaworld is a giant marine life theme park. The greatest attraction to these many theme park would be those killer whales. In fact, these killer whales are the face of the park. As gigant as these mammals are, seaworld is keeping them in some pretty tight quarters. Mr. Jett and Mr.Ventre says “Wild killer whales can swim a hundred miles daily as they socialize, forage, communicate, and breed. In stark contrast, with little horizontal or vertical space in their enclosures, captive orcas swim only limited distances, with most spending many hours surface resting.” The animals don't have the freedom they need. Also when taking the whales out of their natural habit the whales tend to be depressed and not as heath in that situation. They need their freedom in the big ocean blue. Bring them into the small living units, breeding whales in captivity all for the entertainment of humans. At young ages the calves are taken away from their mothers on to a new seaworld park. Mothers of the calves have even been seen denying their offspring.
At least 148 orcas have been taken into captivity from the wild since 1961, now it is 2015 and 126 of those orcas are dead. In the wild male orcas live to an average of 30 years and 46 years for females. There are a lot of options as to if we should captivate whales or keep them in the wild. the pro is to keep them in captivity. We can learn from the whales, we can connect with them, and lastly, they are endangered. The con is to let them free into the wild. They become depressed and die of depression and anxiety and they are dangerous.
It is apparent that orcas do not thrive in captivity. These marine animals do not belong in confinement. They thrive in the wild. Orcas are successful predators in the their nature habitat. They are social marine animals that enjoy roaming free in the wild with their social pods. It is utterly cruel to place orcas in captivity for the pure intention of providing entertainment to people visiting aquariums. By placing orcas in confinement we are allowing for their health and social aspects to
Captivity is the state or period of being imprisoned, confined, or enslaved, according to Wiktionary. Every year, marine parks and aquariums, like SeaWorld, make billions of dollars through ticket sales. SeaWorld estimates about 70% of their total revenue is due to their performing killer whales (Jeffs). People visit from all over the world to encounter killer whales up close. “Their beauty and power, combined with willingness to work with humans, have made them legendary performers” (Gorman). In recent years, humans have gained the ability to tame and train these creatures. Killer whales should not be kept in captivity simply because it is cruel, unnatural, and dangerous.
They claim that having Orcas in captivity is a good thing because the population is endangered; they say that the research they can do is just not possible in the wild, but at the same time how are they helping the population? Yes they breed them, increasing the population but what good does that do when they keep them locked up and use them to make money? SeaWorld. From the Animals: Captive, but not Contained article by Talal Al-Khatib. Animals may be captive in cages and pens, but that doesn’t mean they are contained, as was demonstrated in 2010 at Sea World.