Seaworld's Abuse Of Animals In The Entertainment Industry

If you have ever been to Seaworld you would have had to go see the Killer whales in fact its one of the top attractions there. Through the eyes of a child, these gentle giants seem to be happy, healthy, and enjoying a playful game with their trainers. The question is are they really happy, do they get treated the right way, and why have there been deaths and injuries. Many people wonder about these things and after the movie Blackfish came out more and more people began to question how well Seaworld treats their animals. “The truth is that Sea World keeps its animals for entertainment and money and helps no one but themselves.”- Animal Legal Defense Fund

It is hard to imagine a life without the childhood trips to the zoo, the circus, and other animal based attractions. It is even harder to imagine a daily life without digging in to a hamburger and washing it down with a cold glass of milk. It is almost impossible to imagine a life where one does nothing wrong, but it subject to abuse and torture for selfish purposes of another species. Animal exploitation is a common yet overlooked practice all around the world. Helpless animals are poked, prodded, and slaughtered without acknowledgement due to the satisfaction it brings to the human race. However, if it was known what happens behind the scenes of the making of your dinner or the production of your favorite show at SeaWorld, the lives of tortured animals could change forever.

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.

“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.

Some orcas have even broken their teeth trying to get out of SeaWorld. In SeaWorld Orcas are forced to breed unnaturally and on a regular basis. Employees at SeaWorld train male orcas to float on their backs so their trainer can masturbate them and collect their sperm. Females are artificially inseminated and are forced to breed at a much younger age than they naturally do. In the wild female orcas are ready to reproduce at the age of 14. In SeaWorld, there have been instances where they breed them at the age of 10, and even sometimes at the age of 8. Katina is a killer whale that’s in the SeaWorld located in Orlando Florida. She is used as a breeding machine. Caretakers sometimes even breed her with her own children. Although SeaWorld claims that Orcas live longer if they live in captivity it has been proven that Orcas have a shorter lifespan while they are held in captivity. SeaWorld has claimed females live to 26 years and that males live up to 15 years. While according to national geographic female killer whales can live 50 to 100 years while males can live 30 to 60 years. Killer whales live longer in the wild than they are claimed to live in

On average a killer whale in the ocean lives 60 - 70 years a maximum would be 80 - over 100 years. In captivity a female killer whale live to be about 29 years while a male killer whale lives to be about 17. The year gap between wild and captive orcas is so big because the orcas are too large to live in a 50 ft. deep tank. The most appalling fact to know is that the killer whales are the most prone to diseases in captivity, so they will die sooner than the life expectancy if a disease is caught such as broken teeth. Broken teeth occurs often in captivity. Killer whales are consistently getting treated for dental issues but the effects are unsuccessful. Fractured teeth are caused by biting on the steel gates, the killer whales only bite on the gates for one reason in particular that is wanting to be freed back to the ocean home they belong

For thousands of years orcas, or killer whales, roamed the oceans in peace. Untouched by human hands until the freedom of some had to come to an end. The SeaWorld corporation captured multiple wild orcas until they were banned from almost every body of water. Since then, they have bred and shipped orcas between each of their parks around the world. However, this act did not go unnoticed. Animal rights activists have expressed their feelings on the inhumane living conditions of these majestic creatures and they have not and will not back down. Without hesitation, the SeaWorld corporation made many claims as to how their animals in captivity live more fulfilling lives

“In the wild, despite centuries of sharing the ocean, there has been only a single reliable report of an orca harming a human being.” ("8 Reasons Orcas Don't Belong at SeaWorld"). Due to stress, aggression and other causes, captive whales have killed 3 humans just since 1990s. Captive whales have injured numerous of other humans within that time as well. This proves that keeping whales in their natural habitat is best for humans. Also, most whales are not compatible to be living in small quarters with many other whales, results can be harmful. Sea world of Hurt says; “The resulting anxiety and tension cause fights between orcas.” ("8 Reasons Orcas Don't Belong at SeaWorld"). In the wild orca whales have strong social bonds that rarely ever lead to violent fights. However if fights do occur, whales have enough room to get away, captivity leads to several injuries because there is no place for the whales to go. To minimize the amount of violent activity between whales, it best to leave them in their natural environment. Finally, whales are social animals that live in groups differing from two to 15 individuals, everything changes in captivity, for example, “In some populations, children stay with their mothers for life.” ("8 Reasons Orcas Don't Belong at SeaWorld"). When orcas are split up with their families, they are put in small tanks with random whales from other family units. They are forced to interact and live with one another even though they may speak different languages. Imagine being taken from your home and out into a random house somewhere around the world. How would you feel? This is what is happening to whales around the world, it should be

Animal captivity acts as a broad way for the public to view and enjoy wild species. However, “it transforms helpless, harmless animals into aggressive, agitated monsters” (4). “Wild animals should never be kept in captivity- especially not at SeaWorld Parks” (7), and little did you know that kept Animals in captivity are deprived of their loved ones, their freedom, and their personal will to carry on, which lead to them becoming highly aggressive. The conditions in captivity are horrifying and disgusting. The animals have to have a better place to live in so that they will have the capability of striving. Why do you think so many species are in danger of going extinct? Many believe that SeaWorld is a family-friendly incorporation and an

Captivity has been a controversial subject for as long as it has existed. In the past decade, SeaWorld has been under scrutiny for their killer whale program and the number of incidents regarding them. Almost as big as a school bus, these animals are incredibly intelligent. Their brain’s are so much larger than humans. One may think that is because they are so massive, but body size does not determine brain size. Many animals much larger than humans have brains much smaller. Killer whales even have a center of their brain that processes emotions; humans do not have that. SeaWorld has taken social animals who swim almost 100 miles a day, to an introverted, almost immobile bathtub, baking in the sun. Nothing good can come from changing their

Half a century ago in 1964, the first orcinus orca or killer whale was captured and put on display (Rose 1). Today, there are forty-five orcas in captivity with about half being born in confinement (“Killer Whales in Captivity”). Orcas are tremendously intelligent, socially complex, and family oriented animals. Studying them in captivity, and at the same time in the wild, we have learned enough about them to realize that orcinus orcas do

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.

SeaWorld recorded that, “On August 13th the parks welcomed 600,000 less visitors.” Now that people are aware of this cruelty, many petitions and organizations are working towards freeing captive orca whales. In January of 2017, SeaWorld announced that they will be stopping their orca show and their breeding program too by 2019. Even though SeaWorld is changing, these orcas still had their lives taken from them. What if the situation was

SeaWorld holds marine animals in tanks that are not substantially big enough for their animals. Their idea of caring for their large animals is putting multiple of them in a single tank that is sufficiently too small for them. Hillary Wise wrote a law review named All is Whale That Ends Whale? The Deficiencies in National Protection for Orca Whales in Captivity. Her article how the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 does not protect and care for orcas. She provides evidence referring to the orcas who are captive in SeaWorld, Blackfish the documentary, and Dawn Brancheau who was killed by an orca. Wise states, “The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) was passed in

Many people that visit SeaWorld or know of the theme park believe that it is just a welcoming marina and a great place to take family to see wild animals and the remarkable shows that the killer whales present. Clearly many people do not realize the truth behind what SeaWorld is doing to these poor animals. For starters, captive marine animals are robbed of most everything that is natural to them such as living in a family pod and swimming up to a hundred miles each day. Obviously these necessities cannot be met within the small enclosures where the killer whales live. Another less known fact about SeaWorld is that it lowers animals’ life spans quite drastically. Orca whales live on an average of thirty to fifty years in the wild and some can live to ninety, but the average age for orcas in