Orcinus Orca Research Paper

How would you feel if you lived your life in fear daily? What about being taken from your family, just so you can become entertainment for someone else? It is hard for one to envision such barbaric acts. This is not something orcas, also known as killer whales, envision but rather a daily fear that one day can possibly come true. Orcas have been kept in captivity since 1961. There have been numerous amounts of orcas captured from the wild since than. These innocent and helpless orcas have been snatched from their families, and forced to live with other orcas who are not part of their family. By looking at the documentary, Blackfish, one can see the many reasons why orcas should not be held in captivity.

Orca whales have been in difficult circumstances ever since the first orca was captured in 1961. The first orca captured lived two days in captivity then died and the reported cause of dead was pneumonia. Many things come to mind when people think an orca is in captivity. Many people tend to believe they are being treated, they will enjoy life more, and they will live longer due to the fact they are receiving food and care. These statements are told to spectators at seaworld, marineland and many other water parks around the globe. The facts disagree with these statements. Orca are very friendly animals, there have been no recorded attacks of orcas hurting any human being in the wild. Most of them will come up to fishers boats and be

Why would a business do this? The answer is money. Seaworld is dependent of Orcas because it was not until Seaworld had capture Shamu the fourth Orcas capture ever in 1965 until Seaworld gain popularity. This let expand to other locations like Ohio, Orlando and many more. Shamu capture led to Seaworld being as big as it today. Money led to people forgetting ethically business practices. Therefore, no one thought about the whale they were only thinking the money come in.

There has been many other cases that has been ignored before even Tilikum has killed people in Seaworld that they have completely twisted and made up lies to cover up the fact Orcas shouldn't be tamed and put in large pools. For example, November 23, 1987 trainer John had an Orca jump on top of him causing many injuries and another attack in November 29, 2006.

Since 1961, 157 orcas, or killer whales, have been ripped from their homes and shoved into captivity. 127 of these orcas are now dead. With the number of captured orcas plus the number of those born into captivity, The W.D.C. (Whale and Dolphin Conservation) reports that, “At least 162 orcas have died in captivity, not including 30 miscarried or stillborn calves” ( “The Fate”1). Out of the 127 taken into captivity, 44 have died in SeaWorld. There are currently 58 orcas residing in 14 marine parks in eight different countries. 24 of those orcas are held in SeaWorld’s three parks in the United States. Since 2002, 14 have been taken out of the wild and put into these marine parks. (“The Fate”1) It is not fair for these innocent creatures to be physically and mentally manipulated and damaged. Such brutality would not be condoned if it were targeted towards a human, and it should not be condoned when targeted toward an animal. Orca whales should not be held in captivity because they are forced to live in subpar conditions, they are mistreated while in captivity, and they are led to aggressive behavior.

For several years, Americans have been visiting amusement parks, like SeaWorld and Six Flags, to observe large animals like orcas, also known as killer whales. These whales are quite difficult to view in the wild, but can now be seen for a simple fee. Orcas are known to be one of the smartest mammals. They are friendly, and this has caused people to take advantage of them. For the past sixty years, people have brought these massive creatures into their aquariums to make a profit from their exhibitions. Often, without considering the orcas' quality of life. While kept in captivity, killer whales are forced to do many tricks they normally wouldn’t do in the wild. Over the years, there have been numerous controversies regarding killer whales

On May 30th of 2012, judge Ken Welsch issued a ruling on OSHA vs. SeaWorld: During the shows, SeaWorld trainers must now remain behind barriers, separated from the orcas. The ruling on this case is necessary to keep trainers, audiences and as well as the orca safe. In the documentary “Blackfish” clarifies the incidents of SeaWorld, specifically with Tilikum a male orca, utilizing various rhetorical devices. The documentary declares the intelligence orcas have, the controversy with keeping them in captivity and how poorly informed the trainers are of previous incidents.

The orcas on film have suffered greatly as a result of their captivity. The area in which SeaWorld

Imagine a place where you can see your favorite sea animals. Whales, dolphins, sharks, even penguins. Doesn’t that sound like somewhere you would enjoy going? SeaWorld is what comes to most people’s minds when they think of this, but is SeaWorld really that wonderful? Is SeaWorld truly what it’s hyped up to be? SeaWorld claims to be a sanctuary for animals where they keep animals like killer whales safe from the dangers of the world. Well, SeaWorld should really get a dictionary because a “sanctuary” is truly not what they give these animals. Orcas are the main attraction of SeaWorld but they are also one of the animals that suffer the most. Orcas in SeaWorld lifelessly float in their pool with little to no shade from the sun. In the wild,

One example all orcas have their own pods ( family ) in the wild. Imagine if you were an orcas and you were captured and taken away from your family to live with complete strangers. Orcas are genius animals they are one of the smartest marine life animal. This clearly shows that sea world and other marine parks that keep orcas in captivity only want the orcas so that they can make money. If marine parks wanted to have orcas for a good reason don't just for money they would be taking good care of them and instead of taking them out of their happy families in the wild and bringing them into a bad home. From the article, “should orca shows be banned” the article clearly stated that when orcas live in the wild they all have their own pod with about 5-10 whales. Each pod of orcas all have their own way of squeal and languages to communicate. It could be that when an orca is taken out of the wild and into a new tiny artificial pool they are basically being put with a bunch of strangers. Picture this if you were an orca, suddenly you fall and trip and everything has been blacked out. You wake up the next day without your family and you are put in a tiny pool with 5 different strangers and you are forced to live with them. You are then forced to be doing tricks

In 2013 a documentary called “Blackfish” (a documentary explaining the illnesses of orcas and the weaknesses of seaworld) was released to inform the world why seaworld was not all fun and games. In fact after the release seaworld lost $31.6 million the second-quarter income. Just one of the many things “Blackfish” told us is that capturing the orcas doesn't always go as smoothly

Thesis: SeaWorld should be shut down because of the treatment against Orcinus orcas in captivity.

Documentation proves that Orcas are social creatures. In the wild they form lifelong communities, have their own unique dialect, and the calves stay with their pods forever (Blackfish). The Orca pod is committed to one another; they will stand by each other until their death. Not to mention, they will always help each other out if the need arises. The documentary, Blackfish, proves whales from different communities, subsets, and cultures are captured and forced to live with each other in tiny twenty by thirty feet deep concrete pens. Naturally, they do not get along and become annoyed, because they do not speak the same language or have the same genes, they are without a doubt different (Blackfish).Inside the pens, there is no room for them to move around let alone escape from each other. The result is always injury to the whales and in some cases death (Blackfish). Next, in the wild Orcas are free to eat whenever and whatever they want. However, in captivity, they have a regimented feeding schedule. In fact, food rewards good behavior. Knowing they are intelligent creatures, they are aware of food running low, or lack of food (Blackfish). Naturally, this causes them to refuse to listen to commands or want to continue to perfume. Instead of humans trying to understand them, their only reward, at this point, is punishment. Because of the whale not wanting to comply, they are isolated in small rectangular pools away from the others. Irrefutably, this further causes unneeded stress for the whale. There is no doubt; Orcas need to be in a stress free environment, the

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

How would you feel to be taken away from your family? Since 1961, orcas from all around the world have been taken away from their family groups and moved from park to park (WDC). “One faction views SeaWorld as a Garden Hilton for killer whales, and the other views it as a Hanoi Hilton for killer whales.” - David Kirby. Out of the 150 orcas taken from the wild, 127 of them are now dead (WDC). As of December 2015, there are a total of 57 orcas being held in captivity. 23 of those orcas were taken from the wild and 33 were born in captivity. Do you think that those wild orcas would take happily to living life in a water park? SeaWorld enjoys to cover up what actually goes on with their whales. For instance, at least 45 orcas have died in SeaWorld. They say that they provide a functioning family unit for the whales, but during one of the Shamu shows in 1989, a female orca rammed into another trying to assert its dominance. This collision caused internal bleeding to the less dominant whale. The whale ended up bleeding to death in her pen with her calf swimming helplessly by her side. The public never heard of this side to SeaWorld, until very recently. The public sees orcas as big, performing, gentle, giants. The truth about SeaWorld is slowly revealing