Seaworld Orlando, The Largest Orca Of Captivity Essay

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

In November of 1983 Tilikum was taken away from his family at approximately two years of age. Once he was in America he didn't go straight to Seaworld, he actually started at a small marine park in Florida called Sealand. While he was there the trainer used the female orcas to teach Tilikum all the tricks, but if he did not perform it the correct way there would be a punishment. This meant that neither of the orcas would get a reward which was food.the females became mad at tilikum and would rake him, meaning they would scrape their teeth across the length of his body. The conditions at the very small marine park were awful for such large animals, the tank that all three of them were put into was only 100-foot-by-50-foot pool that was just 35 feet deep. Now you would think after being trapped in such a small space would make you go a little crazy, and in Tilikum’s case it did. While he was at Sealand he was the cause of a trainer's death, he had drowned her, this was the first humane killed. Eventually Sealand shutdown, and “on January 3, 1992 SeaWorld applied for an emergency permit authorizing immediate importation of Tilikum for medical reasons.”- PBS, Frontline. Once he was at Seaworld he was put straight to work learning all the routines, but his living conditions didn’t get much better the other whales at Seaworld raked him too. The trainers soon put Tilikum into his own

Theme Parks such as SeaWorld confine dolphins and orcas, who are capable of swimming up to more than one hundred miles a day, in tank that are 50 feet deep and 350 feet in length. To put it in perspective, that’s equivalent to the size of a standard bathtub. SeaWorld portrays itself as a loving, fun, and family based establishment; however, certain activities can harm the killer whales emotionally and physically.

Since SeaWorld opened in 1964, the park has encountered harsh criticism from the public. Whether criticized for their ethics or their oblivious harm to animals, the underwater amusement park raises many ethical questions regarding the captivity of sea animals, especially orcas. Most people are uninformed about orcas to begin with, so they do not understand why SeaWorld is such a terrible place. SeaWorld exploits animals in their shows to bring revenue to their company, while disregarding the physical and mental health of the animals. Today, people have begun to see the reasons why SeaWorld should close. SeaWorld should close their doors due to their record of unhealthy orcas, their aggressive killer whale, Tilikum, and their dishonesty to the public.

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.

Since the 1960s, SeaWorld has captured wild orcas’ for their main events. However, what SeaWorld does not disclose in the events, is how they come into possession of these beautiful animals. In 1964 a fella by the name of George Millay decided that he wanted to open up a theme park the featured marine animals. Therefore, in 1965, SeaWorld came into possession of a

“If you love something, set it free.” This is a quote that has circulated for years, and nowhere else is it more applicable than in SeaWorld’s parks. Trainers and corporate alike claim a deep love for the animals they keep captive, but in recent years, the topic of holding orca whales in captivity has become more controversial than ever before. The CNN documentary “Blackfish” brought the conditions Seaworld provides for its orcas to the public eye in a way that had not been done before, which led to much public outrage. The containment of orca whales for educational and entertainment purposes has, in almost every way, been brought into question. Ranging from the physical and psychological damages they experience, the issues in their family structures, and the dangers that their human trainers experience, orca whales are not fit to be kept in captivity.

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

These sources include, former seaworld trainers and directors, were they revealed the horror that would occur within seaworld but would not be discussed with the public. Many of the incidences were not even being discussed with the trainers, seaworld kept their staff in the dark. She even interviewed the former director of seaworld, Steve Huxter, were he implies that some of the orcas were being deprived of food just because they wouldn't do a simple behavior right. “ When he was first introduced… previous head trainer would use techniques that would involve punishment, he would team up Tilikum… to do the same behaviors and if Tilikum would mess up or not do them then both orcas would be punished and not get food. The other orca would get mad and bite Tilikum”, said Huxter. Nevertheless, these sources helped boost Cowperthwaite credibility by showing that she has done her homework and has provided facts and statistics, as well as expert opinions to support her

It was a normal day on February 24, 2010 at around 1:30pm, Dawn Brancheau was working a “Dine with Shamu” show at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida when things suddenly took a turn for the worse. While guest of the park watched in horror the 40 year old senior trainer at the park was attacked by a 22 foot long, 12,000 pound killer whale. The trainer was scalped, dismembered, her bones where crushed, and she was ultimately drowned by the massive whale known as Tilikum. This was a day that would forever change the way that the general public would view SeaWorld. After this horrific incident Tilikum was kept in a tank for a year that was so small that it limited the massive whale’s ability to swim to the point where he would float lifeless in the water for hours at a time. A lot of people still believe that it is perfectly fine to keep these top predators in captivity, while others believe they are best kept in the wild where they belong. While reading this I want you to think should SeaWorld be allowed to keep killer whales in

The book has three parts, the last part focuses on how SeaWorld management could not hide their dark side anymore. After Tilikum killed trainer Dawn Brancheau, everything changed. The captivity debate increased exponentially and questions aroused as to why an intelligent orca would commit this act. Although originally SeaWorld said that Brancheau slipped and fell into the pool, there were witnesses that told the media the truth. Tilikum grabbed Brancheau while she was laying on the surface about ten inches away and began to ram her head against the pool and dragged her to the bottom. After thirty minutes, Tilikum was captured with parts of Brancheau’s body in his mouth. Researches began to look up previous cases where Tilikum has attacked, and they did not make sense to Brancheau’s case because of how long she has worked with Tilikum. This book supports my thesis because it begins the journey to orcas being completely free. Although it may contain similar information to my former source Blackfish, this book goes into more depth as to why the animal captivity investigation

SeaWorld is a United States based park with live aquatic animals. SeaWorld has been under some scrutiny lately with the treatment of their Orcas as well as their living conditions. Some people believe what SeaWorld is doing is okay whereas others do not. Some think keeping animals in captivity is acceptable, and others think taking them away from their families is uncalled for. Washington Post believes what SeaWorld doing is perfectly acceptable. PBS a typically children’s network is completely for SeaWorld and keeping animals in captivity. SeaWorld is strongly debated on keeping animals in captivity, their living conditions, and taking orcas away from their families.

SeaWorld is a profit based zoo not educational or research focused. They will get their whales from anywhere and any way possible.“For Tilikum felt and also inflicted great pain. While in captivity, he was implicated in the deaths of three humans, including his trainer, Dawn Brancheau, in 2010.” Tilikum felt pain and gave a lot more pain back. There is way too much stress involved with SeaWorld and its whales from killings to the whales themselves being very

Tilikum is a prime example of why Orcas should not be held in captivity and then made to perform. Being that Tilikum, at the time had 27 years at Seaworld when he had killed Dawn, he had become accustomed to the limitations of captivity and it had a terrible effect, not only on him, but the people who were trusted to protect him and the people who interacted with