Whales In Captivity

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

Most people today have visited or at least heard of the popular tourist attraction, Seaworld. These tourists may think of it as a place to see marine animals do trick, like killer whales interacting with humans in a fun and entertaining way- but do we ever stop to think about the treatment or feelings of these creatures? After visiting Seaworld and seeing the famous Shamu, the thought of how living in captivity affects the animal had not crossed my mind. After researching I am now extremely concerned with the way these whales are impacted by spending their lives in bathtubs and forced to do tricks for food, all while humans are blindly funding this billion dollar business.

“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.

David Kirby’s book describes the complex issues of whales in captivity. The death of a SeaWorld trainer brought up many objective reasons of the training practices of this business were not effective at keeping trainers safe in the water. Currently this debate is still being tested in a court of law. OSHA claims that even with the precautions that SeaWorld tries to use, it still cannot guarantee the safety of trainers in the water. This cultural topic has been gaining ground, and recently prompted a movie based off this book titled, Blackfish. The audience of this book includes animal activists, followers of David Kirby, and people that are interested in the topic of killer whales in captivity. Rob Grom was contracted to create a book

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

Another reason whales should not be held captive is that they can be dangerous in captivity.

I believe that orcas should not be held in captivity because orcas are very intelligent animals that should not be held in small tanks, also captivity can cause health concerns, lastly seaworld taking orcas from families. For the last couple of years many people might have heard many stories of captive orcas suffering health problems, being taken away from their families and you might of even hear of killer whales eating their trainers. One of the most famous whales is a whale in captivity named tilikum. Tilikum has been involved in three deaths during his time in captivity. To learn more about tilikum keep reading.

Get out of line and take a stand to stop the unjustified capture of killer whales. Orcas, also known as killer whales, have been imprisoned, against their will, for years. Evidence proves many Orcas are inhumanly captured, from the ocean, for the sheer pleasure of human entertainment and profit. Irrefutably, these majestic, intelligent, marine creatures belong in one place, and one place only, the ocean. Clearly, documentation proves, these magnificent mammals do not thrive in captivity, become irritated, and have injured or killed hundreds of humans.

Since 1961, Killer whales have been held captive in a tank for entertainment. Helpless whales get captured from their families and get forced to live in artificial social groupings. At least 56 orcas have been captured and are currently held in captive. 23 of them were captured from the wild, and 33 were captive born. At least 163 orcas have died in captivity, not including the 30 miscarriages held in captivity. As you can tell, killer whales have a great negative impact when their in captive.

Whales in captivity are accessible to safer standards and care. SeaWorld trainers are well trained and are fit to help killer whales stay in shape. As told by Sea World, “The killer whales in our facilities benefit whales in the wild. We provide scientific research and data that would be difficult or impossible to get in the wild (Killer Whales). “SeaWorld provides “positive reinforcement training techniques and compassionate care with all of the animals (SeaWorld Cares)”. Sea World remains and world’s most respected marine zoological institution.

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

In the early 1960’s, the highly intelligent and emotionally evolved Orcas (Killer Whales) were captured and taken from their pods (families) and their natural habitat. They were forced to live in captivity where they were trained to entertain the public while generating large profits for businesses such as SeaWorld Entertainment. However, that practice was eliminated altogether due to the unpopularity of Killer Wales in captivity and the inhumane way in which the young Orcas were captured in the wild. Today Killer Whale entertainers are no longer captured and taken from the wild as in the past but instead are bred in captivity where they are raised and trained from birth to be tomorrow’s performers. Many scientists and advocate groups for the ethical treatment of animals such as PETA have been raising this ethical issue for many years and have even proposed methods that would allow the animals to continue entertaining the public while

Holding killer whales in captivity is a harmful problem to the mammal that requires action from both the government and the public.

Captivity is where an animal is taken from the wild or there natural habitat for entertainment, scientific research or other reasons. In 1986, a global ban on commercial whaling came into effect and around 1,000 whales are still being killed cruelly and unnecessarily every year (“Ending Commercial Whaling”). They threw bombs in the water to

It is bad enough that most of the whales can not have a successful pregnancy, but what about when a mother whale actually has a successful birth with a healthy baby? One would think that because whales are supposed to stay in their pods their whole life that the parks would keep the two together, right? No, after about six months and the calves don't need the mother anymore, the two are separated. This is extremely stressful and sad for both of the whales. Babies are sold for money and taken to other parks or transferred because they disrupt a routine in a show. When the two are separated it has been shown that both call for each other for a long time. The calls are long and loud, heartbreaking if you must. After the separation, the mother