End Breeding Programs

End Breeding Programs

Have you ever been to a Seaworld Shamu show or park? Where you aware of the cruelt that goes on behind the lights and magic of the shows? Those creatures that you see doing tricks are depressed and enclosed in their own personal inferno. More and more marine animals, like orca whales (also known as killer whales,) are being captured and forced into captivity. Not only does being in captivity limit their freedom but it also damages their mental and physical health. Seaworld Parks are notorious for continuing the captivity and breeding of orcas in their parks in programs called “breeding programs.” With these breeding programs, marine animals are born into the poor conditions and have no trace or knowledge of freedom. Statistics show that the breeding program has had been thirty-seven known pregnancies at Seaworld parks since the first recorded captive in 1985. Only eighteen of these calves survived the births. That is barely half! There needs to be a call to action to end the captive breeding programs within all Seaworld parks; being the first step to end all captivity.

With these breeding programs, females and the calves experience unnatural circumstances within captivity mostly leading to infection/illness or even death. An example of so is that of Gudrun, a female orca that went into labor. During her labor, trainers and specialty doctors could not find the pulse of the unborn calf, presuming the calf dead. The pain must have been unearthly, making the mother, Gudrun, begin to hemorrhage. Days went by before Gudrun moved painlessly around in her tank. Few hours later, Gudrun died. The list is endless for all the stress factors the killer whales live through and the impact just keeps getting colossal.

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... the trainers and caregivers of the creatures. Their lives are also at stake everyday they go to work.

This personally affects me because I had always had a love for marine life ever since I was a young girl. Infact, I am guilty for having gone to Seaworld once when I was very young, on a family vacation to Florida. I watched the Shamu show and walked all around the park. However, I was unaware of the cruelty that the animals in those tanks endured while in captivity. I feel that knowing as much as you can is key to correcting and fixing any mistakes. Learn and resolve. There is no denying the evidence that these killer whales do not cope well in captivity. Period. It’s time to stop this from going any further. It’s time to give a true education of what these whales’ lives are like in their natural habitat. End captive breeding now and save innocent lives.