Is Seaworld Helping or Hurting the Orcas? As a child, the idea of such majestic creatures performing right before your very eyes seems like a dream, but as you grow up, the idea becomes more of a nightmare. SeaWorld can be traced back to 1959 when the first small sanctuary, Busch Gardens, opened to the public. Busch Gardens expanded with the country’s first free-range habitat for herds of animals, more zoological attractions and an array of roller coasters and shows. Busch Gardens changed the name to SeaWorld and opened the gates in 1964. Today SeaWorld has three locations including Orlando, San Antonio, and San Diego, and multiple smaller parks. SeaWorld collected a revenue of $1.26 billion in 2017. Although this seems like a compiles interviews …show more content…
Seaworld has actually faced fines from putting profit over safety due to incidents of orca aggression. Records show no human death from an orca in the wild, yet three from orcas in captivity. Orcas are even being drugged according to SeaWorld’s documents, to presumably alleviate stress, anxiety, frustration, obsessive-compulsive behaviors and depression. Perhaps these medications are actually used in order to suppress natural instincts to hunt or the frustration of being captive. Orcas in captivity are known to gnaw at iron bars and concrete from stress, anxiety, and boredom, sometimes breaking their teeth and resulting in painful dental drilling without anesthesia. Nonetheless SeaWorld denies the claims in the article, “Truth about Blackfish,” stating that Tilikum is not aggressive and psychotic, blaming the incidents on the individual’s mistakes rather than the orcas acting out. SeaWorld has been permitted to operate under the guise of education and conservation. But they might be manipulating both the amount they actually donate and the information they provide, in order to support their agenda. “SeaWorld has given only $9 million dollars over …show more content…
They need to do right by these animals right now” (Times Magazine 4). Instead of the orcas being forced to perform shows inside a tank, humans would be able to witness orcas in their natural environment, benefiting both the orcas and humans. The research that has been done on orcas in the wild and in captivity provide enough evidence that these intelligent creatures do not deserve to be held captive, especially under the conditions that they have to live through every day. These animals are confined to unnatural social groups for the convenience of their owners, they are bored and restless, and they are forced to perform tricks for food that trainers withhold as punishment, and therefore they occasionally slip into the dark side. By going to SeaWorld, it is just continuing to allow this industry to treat the animals the way they are today. The evidence is clear that orcas do not belong in captivity. They deserve to live the rest of their lives in seaside sanctuaries where the orcas would have a more natural and a less stressful life and where they could feel the tides and waves; see, sense, and communicate with their wild relatives and other ocean animals; and have the opportunity
Among the many things that individuals enjoy doing with their families, visiting amusement parks is at the top of the list. Sea World is a multi-billion dollar chain of marine animal parks, aquariums, and animal theme parks. (Wikipedia) When people are watching the rehearsed performances that the animals and the trainers do, the animals and the trainers seem to be happy. Witnessing the interaction between the animals and the trainers can remind individuals of the beauty of nature and it serves as entertainment.
Orcas should not be kept in captivity because of mistreating other orcas in captivity. For example corky killed kandu by fracturing it’s jaw
Suppose you were kidnapped from your family as a child by an alien species while your family watched in despair, crying out helplessly for your kidnappers to not rip you away from them. Now imagine then being strapped down and transported to a place unknown and once you arrive, you see that some of the other children that were also kidnapped have died. You then witness something that will forever remain engraved into your mind; you witness those monsters that took you hostage cut the children open, fill their bodies up with rocks, tie an anchor onto their feet and throw them into the ocean. The monsters then throw you into a tiny cage; you learn that you will not only never see your family again and die in that confinement but you will also work for these monsters and perform as a source of entertainment for them. You spend every night locked away into an even smaller steel cage that gives no freedom of movement at all and aren’t fed if you displease your new masters. Although this sounds like an outline for a horror movie, it is not. It is happening in real life and in our world. It is horrific, not only unethical but inhumane. This depicts the capturing process and life in captivity for public display of Orcinus Orcas, popularly known as Killer Whales since 1961. Although some laws regarding the capturing of whales have changed, whales are still being treated unethically. Just as inhumane as it is for this to be done to humans, it is equally inhumane for it to be done to animals. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, inhumanity is “the quality or stage of being cruel to other people or to animals” (dictionary.com) and that is what their captivity is...
Orcas are meant to be in the wild and swim close to 100 miles a day. Instead SeaWorld decided to capture them and use them solely for entertainment purposes. Orcas in captivity behave nothing like those in the wild and it is due to the fact that the living conditions in captivity are not suitable to keep such an active animal healthy. Tilikum is a prime example of what happens to an orca when they’re kept in a tank against their will. Tilikum ended up killing 3 people, not because he was actively seeking to kill them but because the unnecessary stress on him caused him to get increasingly more aggravated and decided to take it out on the cause of his stress. If orcas were not held captive none of these tragedies would have occurred. SeaWorld is a horrible place and needs to be shutdown for good to stop torturing these immensely intelligent
Just like Cowperthwaite, I strongly believe the orcas should not be held in these small areas and be allowed to live in their natural habitat.
The most effective piece of this documentary, however, was neither the structure of the film nor the specific questions that one is forced to answer regarding the ethical treatment of these killer whales, but the overall questions of whether or not these corporations should be allowed to continue their cycle of abuse toward the animals and whether or not we, as patrons, should encourage their behavior by giving them a monetary profit every day, every month, and every year. Ignorance is forgivable, but with the knowledge given in this documentary: the final two questions raised should be able to answer themselves.
The Sea Shepherds are group of volunteers who try to protect the sea animals, and capture criminals who kill the animals without permits. Their website has many purposes, one dedicate to collect donations from the reader. Furthermore, they want to protect the ocean wildlife. The website audience includes people who want to protect the ocean, and they want to save the sea animals which will likely be extinct. They offer the audience a chance to donate, volunteer, and stay up to date with ongoing issues involving marine life. This website is outstanding because the sea shepherds host a successful website that effectively reaches out to the audience through appealing to the reader's emotions, logic, and credibility.
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.
Let me first start of by saying that Orca's don't live up to their killer name in the wild, only in captivity. There has only been one report of Orca aggression in the wild. Only 1. In captivity, specifically Seaworld, there has been over 100 reports of Orcas putting humans in danger. I don't believe that Orcas should've ever been called by this nasty name. It was just
It’s a very common practice in todays society for people to go to Sea World and see the famous shamu show while on vacation or out for a day of fun. Many people don’t fully understand how these animals feel while in captivity. Light has been shed on having these killer whales in captivity when a trainer was killed at Sea World recently. At one of the early parks called Sea Land one of the male killer whales Tilicum killed one of his trainers. After this incident Sea Land closed its doors. This meant that Tilicum was up for sale, Sea World jumped at the chance to buy him at a good price. Sea World was not fully aware that Tilicum was the actual cause of his trainers death. This was a death sentence for one of Sea Worlds female trainers. Sea World and companies like it are only in it to make money, these large animals should not be kept in captivity by any means.
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
After watching Blackfish, if you could only take one thing from the film it should have been that orcas are being kept in captivity under cruel conditions for the sole purpose of their investments and profits off of them. The film starts off with a 911-phone call as the person on the phone explains what is happening. We hear two different calls, one call about a trainer being in the water when they are not supposed to and another call about a whale eating a trainer. At 00:35, the first call has a woman on the line saying, “We actually have a trainer in the water with one of our whales-the whale that they’re not supposed to be in the water
Thesis Statement: Closing SeaWorld’s doors would be unjust, however; SeaWorld can repair its image by providing excellent care for its current residents and by shifting the business model from entertainment to rescue, rehabilitate and release at all locations.
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.
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.