Seaworld Animal Captivity

For centuries, animals have been utilized in a wide variety as forms of entertainment. Their wide range of work expanding from circus acts all the way to social media purposes. The earliest signs of animal captivity according to archaeological evidence, are lions that were caged and held in captivity by rulers in Macedonia around 2,000 B.C. (Evans, 2007). As the decades progressed animal involvement in the entertainment industry began to form. In the 1800’s, circuses and sideshows held wild animal performances for the public that consisted of a trainer showing off their bravery against a wild animal’s ferocity (Evans, 2007). These types of interactions between man and animal called for trainers to establish complete dominance. Therefore, this

After Seaworld’s capture, Washington State banned all succeeding captures in its waters (Smith, 2003). Nevertheless, SeaWorld already had a small taste of the amount of revenue these massive animals would bring to the park. As a result, Seaworld retrieved rights to capture orcas in Iceland, South Africa, Africa, England, Norway, Japan, and Greenland (Smith, 2003). They started off by capturing six orca whales whom would be their main source for future offspring. One of the first six killer whales was Seaworld’s prized possession Shamu. During her capture, her mother was killed, this sight traumatized Shamu and ultimately contributed to her depression while at Seaworld (Hargrove, 2015). While at SeaWorld, Shamu was utilized in a promotional photo shoot that allowed a bikini model to ride the Killer whale (Hargrove, 2015). As stated in the novel Beneath the Surface, “On the third ride, Shamu refused to follow a command and, into the ensuing confusion, the model fell in the water. The whale bit her on the lower torso and limbs, and for several minutes refused to let her go” (Hargrove, 2015, p.33). Shamu exhibited clear predatory traits that could have cost the life of this model. Later, in August 197, Shamu passed away after six years in captivity (Kirby, 2014). However, SeaWorld made the executive decision to reuse the name Shamu along with a few other names for all of the performing