Killer Whale Captivity

At SeaWorld, animals have access to 24/7 veterinary care, so they should be healthier than their wild counterparts, but that is not the case. Many factors determine the overall well-being of an animal, so the average lifespan of an animal remains a crucial factor. In orcas, this remains one of the biggest differences between captive and wild whales. The lifespan of an orca drastically reduces in places like SeaWorld, because they live in captivity. Scientists expect wild female orcas to reach 100 years of age, and wild male orcas to live roughly between fifty and sixty years of age. On the other hand, all captive orcas live approximately thirty years (Blackfish). When living in captivity, an orcas lifespan decreases by twenty

Orca whales are the largest members of the dolphin family. Orcas are very curious creatures, they like to sky hop, which is when they poke their heads out of the water and look around, and they can also dive to as much as a hundred feet. These social animals live in pods and stay with them for their whole lives. They are so family oriented that they can may sleep together in a tight circle and have synchronized breathing. Orcas can grow up to thirty-two feet and can weigh nine tons. They typically eat five percent of their body weight and are amazing hunters. The lifespan of an orca in their

One major reason why orcas should not be held in captivity is because orcas are a family oriented type species. Orcas are extremely social animals. Orcas are very close to their family. For example, when SeaWorld orca catchers came to capture orcas in the year 1977, John Crowe, one of the orca catcher’s, said, “When we took the baby orcas and left the adults, the adults huddled in a circle and made noises to the baby orcas that were being taken away.” He also stated, “We dropped the net to let the other adult orcas go, but they stayed and huddled around the boat.” When killer whales are in captivity, they are not with their family. They are involuntary forced to live with other orcas from a different family and are

Orcas have an average life expectancy of thirty to fifty years, however males can reach the maximum age of sixty to seventy years,

Captivity kills orcas. Very few captive orcas make it to midlife (approximately 30 years for males and 45 for females) and not one out of more than 200 held in captivity has ever come close to old age (60 for males, 80 for females). Most captive orcas die while they are still very young by wild

“All whales in captivity have a bad life. They’re all emotionally destroyed. They’re all psychologically traumatized. So they’re ticking time bombs.” This is a statement by Lori Marino from the documentary, Blackfish. Many statements like this one are common and believed to be true due to the proof that the documentary provides. There are many incidents that prove Orcas, also known as Killer Whales, are harmed in captivity and that their trainers are often harmed because of this, too. Orcas should not be kept in captivity since it is harmful to both Orcas and humans.

For many years, we’ve been going to such places like, SeaWorld, and Six Flags, to see vast animals, like Orcas, also known as the killer whale, which we wouldn’t normally see out in the wild. Orcas have been around for millions of years; it’s known to be one of the smartest mammals, closest to humans. Since of their friendliness, people have taken advantage of them. For the past sixty years people have brought these massive creatures into their aquariums to make profit out of it, but never thought about their lives. What if you were kept in a cage for years, and was pushed to do such activities, you wouldn’t do in your normal life. While being in captivities, killer whales are forced to do plentiful tricks, which they normally wouldn’t do

Some people argue that keeping orcas in captivity is not a problem, yet they do not realize some of the limitations and dangers orcas suffer when kept in captivity. One reason is that these unpredictable, thirty-foot long creatures are usually kept in a tank that is too small for them, compared to the ocean where they can swim freely. In captivity, space is limited. According to one expert, “orcas can swim up to 100 miles per day- a phenomenal amount, in comparison to the exercise they receive in captivity” (Cronin). While in captivity, an orca has to keep swimming in circles or float, unable to exercise adequately in a confined space. The small tanks also prevent orcas from living in their natural group sizes, or pods. “In the wild, killer whales typically travel in pods of between five and 30” (Melissa). In captivity, fewer than five whales are kept together, an imbalance that makes the whales more aggressive towards one another. This can lead to dangerous, territorial situations in which captive

One of their focal points in the film was the decreased lifespan of the orca whales in captivity, as opposed to them living in the wild. They spoke several times of how wild Orca Whales live human life spans in the wild, and only in captivity do they die at ages thirty-to-fifty. While it is true that whales can live up to 100 years old, according to NOAA Fisheries, the average Orca Whale in the wild lives from thirty-to-fifty years old (www.nmfs.noaa.gov). The same ages that the film falsely suggests the whales die “early” at in captivity. While it is true that these majestic creatures may not fulfill their full potential that they would in the wild, exaggerating facts to influence others is morally wrong and unacceptable.

Orcas in captivity suffer from more than just physical imperfections. Dosed with drugs to help the killer whales deal with stress, they suffer terribly in marine parks. Animals and humans share the same immune system. Just as stress reduces our immune system, it does the same to the killer whale. Therefore, stress has been an indirect cause of death in captive killer whales. Killer whales in captivity experiencing stress tend to beat their head against the walls of their tanks until it bleeds. At least three captive whales have killed themselves with this repetitive motion brought on by stress. Have you ever heard of this happening in the wild? Not only does it not happen, an Orca in the wild would never bring bodily harm upon itself. Denial of their right to live in their true habitat where they belong causes the killer whales much stress, frustration, anxiety, and sadly aggression. In the wild Orcas, do not attack humans as they have in marine parks. As Barry (2010, Para, 12) explained, "Isolation among marine animals is highly stressful, which leads to abnormal behavior." Marine parks such as Sea World have what they call petting pods, where the children can pet and feed the Orcas. Orcas are given tranquilizers to help them deal with the stress and anxiety of human contact. People might not be so eager to pet these wild mammals if they knew everything the Orca had to go through just so they

When orcas are in the wild, females usually live an estimated average of 45-50 years and up to about 90 years. Males live about an average of 30 years, but they can live up to 50-60 years. In captivity, the life spans are heavily reduced and most orcas do not live beyond about 20 years. The way the whales are treated while they are in captivity at SeaWorld causes them to die faster. Captive orcas usually die from the stress of boredom, depression and from the intense aggression between other whales.

The equivalent would be like a human being trapped in a closet for twenty years. Another example of harm to them is shown in how long the whales live in captivity versus the wild. One article states that, “[W]ild males typically live for about 30 years but can live up to 50 or 60. Wild females usually live up to 50 but can live up to 100” (Hogenboom, 2016). On the other hand, the article, discussing Sea World, claimed, “They say wild male and female orcas reach average ages of 17 and 29 years respectively” (Hogenboom, 2016).

Killer whale is known as the Orca or their scientific name, Orcunus Orca. Killer whale is the largest of the dolphin family and also the strongest and powerful predators. The Orca has the name killer whale because they can take down any large creature such as seals, sea lion or even white shark. The killer whale’s current population range is about 50,000 and they are the most distributed marine mammals. Their territory extends from the Artic to the Antarctic but they mostly can be found in the cold-water upwelling areas such as the Pacific Northwest, the Southern Ocean that has high latitude. Not only they can be found in the cold ocean, many data has also shown that they have been seen in the warmer area such as Florida or Hawaii. They are predators, so they eat marine animals such as seals, sea lions, fish, sea turtles, birds or even the great white shark. The difference between the female and the male killer whale is the male Orca is 32 feet long; weight 22,000 pounds with 6 feet tall dorsal fin while the female Orca is 28 feet long; weight 16,500 pounds with a little curve dorsal fin on the back. Their color is black on the upper body and white color on the lower body with gray saddle on their back or behind their dorsal fin. They have two white spot on the side of their face called eyespot. Even though the eyespots look like the eyes, the Orca’s eyes and ears are actually located below the eyespots. They depend on their sound and vocal to communicating, navigating,

Whales kept at marine mammal parks, have been known to bite along the steel gates that separate the whales in order to help relieve their stress, however; this results in broken teeth and other oral problems.

One reason why I think Orcas should not be in captivity is that their attitude towards humans dramatically changes when kept in captivity and can result in deadly dilemmas. Tilikum the whale broke SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau’s jaw and wounded sections of her spine. Firstly the Orcas should not be in captivity because they start to become more aggressive and frustrated. I mean how would you like it if