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Each year,millions of people across the world travel to marine parks, for the chance to see one of the most intelligent, fascinating beings of this Earth, the marine mammal. However, this aquarium is actually a torturous jail cell for the marine mammals that inhabit it. Research has shown that these animals were never fit for captivity. In fact, according to the popular documentary “Blackfish”, more than seventy trainers have been injured by the captive marine mammal, though not a single aggressive tendency toward humans has ever been documented to have occurred in the ocean. It is a likely assumption, that the conditions of marine parks are a cause for aggressive and depressive behaviors in these animals. These intelligent, highly evolved, …show more content…
For example, whales and dolphins are starved in order to keep them motivated to do more tricks. An example of this would be the behavior of a seaworld orca named Tilikum, who violently attacked and severed the spine of a seaworld trainer. The enclosures and stadiums marine mammals are kept in causes extreme stress, and physical ailments. An example of this would be the noise produced by crowds during marine mammal performances. The reasoning behind the distress is derived from the dolphins and whales immaculate hearing. Communication between marine mammals stems from the ability to create and process distinct acoustic sound waves. When dolphins are placed in a stadium, their ears are filled with large amounts of ear piercing stimuli, which they can not process. This in turn, causes increased, unhealthy levels of stress, which leads to stomach ulcers. Marine parks are known to keep secrets from the general public regarding the health of their animals. In the documentary the cove Ric O’barry discusses how the animals at the Miami seaquarium were given medications to counteract the physical toll captivity took on their bodies ls “And if you go to any
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.
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
Out of the 156 whales they have taken into captivity from the wild, 129 are dead. Including orcas bred within SeaWorld, at least 165 have died in their facilities (Schelling). Another falsehood SeaWorld claims is that collapsed dorsal fins are completely normal and common of all male orcas. It is actually quite rare to find in the wild, while every single one of their male whales has a collapsed dorsal fin (“8 Shocking Facts…”). SeaWorld also guarantees that they never separate a calf from its mother and even have posted a picture of a baby and its mother as proof. What they didn’t tell the public was that soon after that picture was posted they shipped the calf off to Spain alone to a different park. A past trainer even said that there had been at least 19 separations of mother and calf that he knew of at his location. All of these factors previously stated added up have a large influence on the whales mentally. Many whales are afflicted by psychosis and anxiety and in turn are given drugs such as Valium to keep them performing in shows. There have been various occasions, often swept under the rug by SeaWorld and away from the public eye, where the drugs didn’t work enough (Schelling). There
P6: ‘The animals behaviour and natural instinct changes in a marine park compared to in its natural habitat’ (para 3).
"8 Reasons Orcas Don't Belong at SeaWorld." SeaWorld Of Hurt: Where Happiness Tanks. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. .
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.
Yet these people do not stop to consider what is going on behind the scenes when they are watching the dolphins and whales swim and dive through the water with their trainers. If one were to approach a trainer and ask about the abuse that these animals suffer every day in order for them to perform their shows and tricks, the trainer would say that it is an educational and necessary aspect to keep the animals in captivity. They would also defend these abusive acts by speaking of the information they are gaining of the animals and how they can use this information to help those in the wild. This is due to their own ignorance that they would say such terrible things about these intelligent yet helpless animals. These animals endure much more torture in captivity than most people would like to admit to themselves. Furthermore, the “facts” that the trainers tell the visitors of SeaWorld are untrue. For example, as one sees in the movie Blackfish, the trainers do not give accurate facts regarding life span in and out of captivity as well as the percentage of the collapsed fins
If you have ever been to Sea World, you may have noticed the orcas’ collapsed dorsal fins. The trainers will tell you that this is normal. While it’s true that all captive adult male orcas have collapsed dorsal fins, in the wild, less than five percent of adult males have this condition. It is caused by their unnatural environment and is the sign of poor health (Rose). In the wild, orcas dive to depths of nearly 200 feet; however, their deepest tank at Sea World is only 40 feet deep. Spending so much time near the water’s surface causes the orcas to have constant sunburn (8 Reasons). Incompatibility among captive orcas leads to bullying and aggressive behavior. Aggressive orcas are known to “rake” their teeth down the side of other orcas causing open wounds. Captive females have been known to act aggressively or even reject their newborns. This behavior is not common in the wild. It may be caused by poor psychological development due to unnatural social grouping
Orcas in captivity are forced to all eat the same thing. Their meals consist of frozen whole fish about the size of sardines. In order to train the animals, they must all do the same trick correctly, if not they are all deprived of food. The jumps, dives and other tricks the whales perform, are similar to their natural behaviors. The severe food deprivation causes aggression between the whales, especially the ones who never have been trained before.
It’s a very common practice in todays society for people to go to Sea World and see the famous shamu show while on vacation or out for a day of fun. Many people don’t fully understand how these animals feel while in captivity. Light has been shed on having these killer whales in captivity when a trainer was killed at Sea World recently. At one of the early parks called Sea Land one of the male killer whales Tilicum killed one of his trainers. After this incident Sea Land closed its doors. This meant that Tilicum was up for sale, Sea World jumped at the chance to buy him at a good price. Sea World was not fully aware that Tilicum was the actual cause of his trainers death. This was a death sentence for one of Sea Worlds female trainers. Sea World and companies like it are only in it to make money, these large animals should not be kept in captivity by any means.
Jett, John S., and Jeffrey M. Ventre. "Keto and Tilikum Express the Stress of Orca Captivity."
Observations show that orcas suffer from significant health and emotional issues while in captivity. Trainers also suffer physical risks while working with these animals. The SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment Corporation tends to enhance the appearance of the well being of their whales and staff to the public.
The utilitarian foundation of argumentation indirectly taken by the producers of this film is one that focuses on the consequences as a means of determining what one ought to do. Utilitarianism argues one ought to commit acts that affects invoke more pleasure than pain or suffering. In the case of The Cove, Richard O’Barry and Louie Psihoyos , as well as other individuals chosen for the task of videotaping and creating the exposé, continually argue a few major points. One area where Richard O’Barry disagrees but the others seem to care little is the fact that dolphins are herded and initially chosen for performance purposes at water parks around the world. This showcases the manner in which many see the positives of entertaining individu...
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.
Anyone who has been to SeaWorld has seen trained whales, dolphins, and seals. SeaWorld guests are entertained by the sea mammals in the tanks, jumping in the air on command by whistle. These tricks draw guests into the park. What may seem to be fun for the viewer, is torture for the mammals. There is a deadly truth behind all sea mammals in captivity: they don’t survive well there. Though sea mammals provide entertainment, they do not belong in captivity. Imagine being at home and then somebody broke in and you were forced, without any choice, to join the circus. This is what the mammals have to go through every day. It is not fair for the mammals to go through this. Why should anyone want them to? Now imagine being a six foot man living in an apartment that is only seven feet high. It would be very difficult to get around. Finally, imagine being a six ton whale that has to live in a much smaller confined area that is not anywhere close to the regular area in which a whale should live. At SeaWorld, the tanks are approximately thirty six feet deep. In the ocean, whales can swim up to 200 feet below the surface of the sea. (Stone, B)