Whales And Babies

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.

In an article by Paul Koene he talks about there being three categories that inspector’s base animal welfare off of these categories include health, body, and functioning of the animal including their feelings, natural history, and their ability to use their natural instinct (Koene). Based off of these categories the welfare of the killer whales at SeaWorld is terrible. A lot of the time SeaWorld gets reports that the whales are floating lifeless in the water, they are not really provided the opportunity to use their natural instincts, and are extremely restricted on what they can and cannot do. Based off of this information the only humane way to keep a killer whale is let it live in the wild like they are built

There are numerous harmful effects of keeping whales in captivity. For instance, there is often a decrease in survival rates, the orcas begin to convey rough behavior, and there have been an increasing amount of human injuries and deaths within the past few years. However, some individuals believe that companies such as SeaWorld are doing the public a favor by educating families about wild whales. Also, some believe that the quality of life is better in captivity than in the ocean. However, while keeping killer whales in captivity might appear as a harmless entertainment act to the public, there are numerous cases of evidence that further support

The SeaWorld trainers follow a very precise script whilst delivering shows to the public and have to be very careful with what they say. Of course, because we are so naïve to what actually goes on behind the scenes, we are brainwashed into thinking it is morally acceptable for these whales to be in captivity. For example, the trainers say that a good age for a whale to live to is around 30 years old; when in fact, a killer whale in the wild can live up to the age of 70 to 80. Does this not show we are damaging population numbers and cutting lifespans of these wonderful whales? Another fact trainers mention is that it is ‘normal’ for male orcas to have a collapsed dorsal fin - this is a common condition, they say. You will be shocked to know

Did you know that when an whale is kept in captivity its lifespan is cut almost in half? (Smolowe, par. 3). Whales in captivity are often abused, underfed, and poorly cared for. They become much more aggressive and develop completely different personalities than if they are left in the wild. They are a danger to the trainers that work with them, one whale at SeaWorld has killed 3 people. The whales are captured and forced to live in swimming pools that are barely bigger than they are and perform shows.

“We do not separate killer whale moms and calves. SeaWorld recognizes the important bond between mother and calf. On the rare occasion that a mother killer whale cannot care for the calf herself, we have successfully hand raised and reintroduced the calf. Whales are only moved to maintain a healthy social structure.” (SeaWorld)

Killer whales were first captured and separated from their family group (pods) to be put display for the public 1964. After years of research in their natural habitat and at marine parks throughout the world, it has become obvious that they belong in the ocean and not kept in captivity (Rose). The stress that killer whales feel at being kept in tanks for the general public’s amusement changes their natural behavior and makes them a danger to anyone who has direct contact with them. I feel that after so many years of having marine biologists and veterinarians studying these animals in captivity that little can be left to learn about the killer whales to justify breeding killer whales and keeping them in marine parks.

Orcas in captivity isn’t a good way to see and experience them, but seeing them in the

1,000 of whales are still being killed or captured of scientific research or captivity (“Ending Commercial Whaling”). In captivity whales will usually have been separated from their families or often in cruel hunts. People think it is okay to use animals for testing but animals react differently to drugs and putting whales and dolphins in tanks for our “entertainment” is wrong.

Some of SeaWorld’s whales come from the wild. They heard them to a cove and take the calves away and let the rest go. These animals have an additional brain structure that humans don’t have. Killer whales not only have larger brains than humans, but they have a part of the brain that we don’t have, possessing an extra lobe of tissue that lies adjacent to their limbic system and neocortex. This lobe has something to do with thinking, of course, but also with the processing of emotions… killer whales may have a greater capacity for emotion.  That is, they may experience the same emotions in a range and depth that are inaccessible to us.  In addition, they may experience some emotions that are unknown to us. So taking orcas away from their young in the wild or captivity cause the mothers and calves to become depressed. They make loud noises to try to contact each other not knowing they are thousands of miles away.

Killer whales form pods in the wild. These groups can be anywhere from 5 orcas to 50. Having strong emotional attachment to their young, these pods place their safety as top priority. Calves stay with their mothers until the age of four or later. For entertainment purposes, SeaWorld separates pods and places calves with different mothers to create the most convenient pod to display in shows (Cowperthwaite). Though they deny it, they attempt to play God by mixing and matching orcas to create new families, all for the purpose of show business. “Blackfish” shows footage of a mother orca going into extreme depression after being separated from her calf.

Cetaceans are divide into two groups the toothed and baleen whales. As their name suggests, toothed whales or odontocetes have teeth. They also have one opening at their blowhole. There are over 73 species of toothed whales, including sperm and beaked whales, belugas and narwhals, porpoises and dolphins, and even fresh water dolphins that live in rivers. They range in size from the 60-foot (21.1 m) sperm whale to the 5-foot (1.5 m) vaquita. Some toothed whales are quite unusual. For instance, the beaked whales spend most of their time in the deep water and, therefore, are rarely encountered by people, and new species are still being discovered! Some beaked whales are odd looking and often only the males will have teeth. The straptoothed whales

The size of a sperm whale is longer than a bus. The sperm whale has the biggest animal brain and it weighs 20 pounds. The giant can swim about 23 MPH. It can hold it breath for about 90 minutes. The lower jaw has 36-50 teeth the top is toothless. Sperm whales migrate. Calves are born tail first and take their first breath within seconds of being born. They learn to swim in 30 minutes. Their teeth are 10 inches long and weigh about 2 pounds each. The best news of all is that sperm whales appear to be thriving in our oceans

Whales are largely known as the most elegant of the massive sea creatures in the ocean with Blue Whale being the largest of all whales. People all over the world spend large amounts of money to travel on boats and watch these ocean giants fly through the water. Most people don't realize that whales were not always like this. In fact, they were very different from the enormous mammals we experience today.

A pair of "dolphins" beached in Waveland, Mississippi turned out, actually, to be melon-headed whales. The last time the species was seen in the area was about 40 years ago.