Shrieks of shock come from the first 5 rows of people as they are doused in water. Tilikum, the 12,000 pound orca who measures in at a whopping 22 feet in length, jumps into the air on command and splashes the crowd who has paid a hefty price to sit and enjoy the show. It was certainly not the first show Tilikum and his trainer, Dawn Brancheau, had done together. To the crowd’s horror though, it would be the last. While going through the routine during their show on February 24, 2010, something seemed to be wrong. Mid-act Tilikum grabbed Dawn’s arm and ponytail and pulled her underneath the water. After having many bones broken and sustaining many life threatening injuries, Dawn was drowned to death by Tilikum in his tank with a live audience …show more content…
Little do they know that they are placing their money in the hands of people who are destroying the lives, “SeaWorld has experienced roughly one orca death per year since its breeding program began,” and reputations of wild and beautiful animals (Rose 4). The animals that are held captive are not bred and born in captivity, but rather captured and sold to the park or rescued and relocated into the parks afterward. The tanks made for these captive creatures are nowhere near the size that they should be in order to create a comfortable life for the orcas. In fact a wild orca spends most of it's life swimming. The orca swims when it is hunting and traveling and breeding. An orca that lives the entirety of it's life in the ocean will swim thousands upon thousands of miles in it's lifetime. The orcas like Tilikum, “the largest orca in captivity, weighing 12,500 pounds and measuring over 22 feet in length,” who are taken out of the ocean and placed in tanks for the enjoyment of mankind do not obtain the ability or the luxury of performing such a basic need in their life (SeaWorld of Hurt 1). The orcas that are held captive can not swim thousands of miles like they need to in order to remain healthy not only physically but mentally as well. These orcas are left to live in a rather confined space and spend most of their time relatively stationary when compared to …show more content…
People believe that it is no different than training a dog to perform tricks in order to receive a treat as a reward. Some scientists and ecologists also believe that rather than leaving some orcas that are abandoned by their pods, these orcas would be able to live out their lives in captivity. Captivity is not always a bad thing for many wild animals. In fact captivity is what has helped to save the lives of many endangered species and has allowed them to survive and be seen thousands of people around the world. Orcas are an especially hot topic in the science and ecology fields across the globe. Orcas are the largest member of the dolphin family and are extremely unpredictable creatures in the wild. These facts being true makes it extremely difficult and nearly impossible to study the lives and mannerisms of killer whales in the wild. Simply because of this some scientists believe that it is best to hold some orcas in captivity in order to study them and learn more about the psychological stages and happenings in the population as a whole. In some cases it is best for the orcas to be in captivity. The United States Fisheries have set rules and regulations that ensure that all the marine life that is held in captivity has a purpose. This purpose must be educational in some form. The fisheries also mandate that the tanks the orcas are held in are kept at a certain standard to
Underwater shark nets make us feel safer at the beach,but are we? That’s the question. Are we safe? There are lots of possibilities that the shark, with sharp like knife teeth, may outsmart us. Because of shark attacks we use nets, called shark nets. However, that doesn’t mean nets used in the past prevented shark attacks. These nets don’t only trap sharks they trap other sea creatures.
I am sure almost all of you have either been to or heard of SeaWorld. Today I am going to tell you about what they do to their orcas that they are trying to hide. I chose this topic after watching a documentary called “Blackfish” that goes into the behind the scenes of how SeaWorld treats its animals. I have since done further research online to prepare for this presentation. This is an important topic because you should know what kind of company you are funding and behaviors you are endorsing when you go on your vacations to this destination. Today I am going to persuade you that SeaWorld is corrupt and maltreats its animals, specifically the orcas. First, I will talk about the specific way the orcas are treated and how it affects them
The mental and physical stress affects the whale’s bodies, which leads them to lash out in different ways. Expressed in the “Blackfish” documentary, Tilikum shows his stress in different ways, from breaking teeth to three deaths of trainers. Tilikum, in attempt to manage stress, chewed on the concrete and metal walls of his tank, shattering his teeth. Many of the Orca’s teeth end up being drilled, hollow, or fractured. Tilikum eventually turned to a different way of relieving stress. The first occurrence happened in February 21st, 1991 where Sealand trainer and marine biologist student Keltie Byrne fell into a pool with the holding of three orcas, one including Tikilium. Keltie’s autopsy read that she was drowned by being tossed among the three orcas like a playtoy (“Orca”). The second occurrence happened on July 6th, 1999, a man trespassing through the park named Daniel P. Dukes was found dead across the back of Tilikum one morning when the park was being opened. He was found with many wounds and punctures to his body, his autopsy showed he had a profound death of drowning. The last occurrence happened February 24th, 2010 when Dawn Brancheau, a SeaWorld trainer was pulled into the water by Tilikum, who had her ponytail in his mouth. The death of Dawn Brancheau concluded that she was killed by blunt force trauma and being drowned. “Tilikum (orca)”. By levels of stress being strained, different animals take out stress
When a man spoke highly about the orca he trained, he explained how they were a team, which was very heartwarming. I was very displeased to hear about Dawn Brancheau’s death. Not only did that displease me, but how no records of an orca killing a human in the wild, only in captivity. Cowperthwaite showed pathos by allowing stories to be told to those who had first hand experience with these moments.
The film focuses on one orca, commonly referred to as a killer whale, in particular by the name of Tilikum. The documentary begins as a group of contract fishermen hunt a family of killer whales off the coast of Iceland. The hunters are attempting to capture the whales so that they can be put on display for entertainment purposes at various aquatic parks around the world. They succeed in catching Tilikum, a large male orca, along with two other females, and almost immediately, an important question is raised in the viewer’s mind: What gives humanity the right to incarcerate and separate these animals from their natural environment and their families? As the documentary progresses, Tilikum begins to exhibit frustration and aggressive behavior at the amusement park due to the fact that he is being kept in a small underwater storage container when not on display. Eventually, this treatment leads Tilikum to kill his trainer by dragging her to the bottom of the performance tank and forcing her to drown. At this point, another question is presented: Is Tilikum’s aggressive behavior a product of nature, and the nature of orcas as a species, or is it due to his coerced captivity? Over the course of the documentary, a...
You are a 200-year-old endangered Hawksbill Sea Turtle twisting yourself into a foreign knot. Thrashing for freedom, panic sets in as your realise you are helpless in your bending cage. The ocean turns from turquoise green to Prussian blue as the sun slowly pierces the shadows of your watery grave. Bubbles rush from your mouth like stolen phantoms as you begin to contemplate your own mortality. Slowly suffocating, hope begins to fade. Deeper and deeper you sink into unconsciousness. Euphoria sets in as your panic begins to ease, in your mind you remember freedom, just a memory but not so long ago, is this death? Is this a good death? You take one last breath, and let go of
For 50 years SeaWorld has entertained park guests with numerous stunts involving the majestic sea creature, the orca, also referred to as the killer whale, and their human trainers. What the on-lookers don’t see at these shows is what goes on behind the scenes: how the whales got there in the first place, and the conditions in which they are housed.
The issue of keeping Orcas in captivity and under the care of man has been a controversial practice ever since the first dolphins and whales were taken into aquariums for the amusement of humans. In more recent times, the documentary Blackfish (which has been recently broadcasted on popular TV stations such as CNN) that focuses on Tilikum, an orca held by SeaWorld, has brought to light the controversy over captive killer whales. Orcas are majestic, beautiful, and intelligent creatures that should not be kept in captivity for our entertainment because of the harm it causes them.
The whales are usually pregnant for 15 to 17 months; but having young every 2 to 6 years. In captivity about 163 orcas have died. As well as about 30 miscarried or stillborn calves (“10 Things…”). SeaWorld force breeds the orca’s. They do this by having the animal lye on its back while they masturbate it. The people take the sample and put it inside of a female (“The Fate of…”). They do this to make the numbers of orca’s they are capturing to go down. In all actuality they are making things worse. They have inbred these animals. They don’t know what it could do to the baby inside of the mother. It could come out with some type of deformation, and the wiring in their brains could become
Attention Gainer: For the attention gainer, I plan on showing the audience a two minute and thirty second video in order to display the tragic events that are happening around the world regarding shark killings. My attention gainer will enable the audience to become aware of the situation as well as invoke a serious and potentially sad mood in the classrooms, before I begin to touch on the terrible situation we have
Seaworld is a giant marine life theme park. The greatest attraction to these many theme park would be those killer whales. In fact, these killer whales are the face of the park. As gigant as these mammals are, seaworld is keeping them in some pretty tight quarters. Mr. Jett and Mr.Ventre says “Wild killer whales can swim a hundred miles daily as they socialize, forage, communicate, and breed. In stark contrast, with little horizontal or vertical space in their enclosures, captive orcas swim only limited distances, with most spending many hours surface resting.” The animals don't have the freedom they need. Also when taking the whales out of their natural habit the whales tend to be depressed and not as heath in that situation. They need their freedom in the big ocean blue. Bring them into the small living units, breeding whales in captivity all for the entertainment of humans. At young ages the calves are taken away from their mothers on to a new seaworld park. Mothers of the calves have even been seen denying their offspring.
I’m Yukina Yasuda. I'm here to ensure you that the great barrier reef is best icon for Australia.
As the great Sir David Attenborough would say “The great barrier reef is in grave danger” and everything that comes out of his mouth is in fact a fact.
Kirby, David. Death at SeaWorld: Shamu and the Dark Side of Killer Whales in Captivity. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2012. Print.
Now let’s take a look at Orcas and the torture they go through at places like Sea World and Sea Land. What exactly do you think goes on in there after hours? Do you think they are just trained so well that they are released overnight and just come back the next day by themselves? I sure hope not, though. They are kept in tiny wells, it wouldn’t be tiny to us, but they spend their off time in a little tank with seven to nine other orcas that could be up to twenty three feet long and weigh up to six tons and they aren’t happy so you could imagine what they do to each other while in there.