Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Whales in captivity
Why killer whales should not be held captive
Whales in captivity
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
As a child I loved going to SeaWorld to see “Shamu” and his performances. It was a magical place where I could go see one of the most beautiful creatures on the planet wave at me, splash me and even do a small dance. Little did I know that the captivity of these grandiose animals is extremely harmful.
Half a century ago in 1964, the first orcinus orca or killer whale was captured and put on display (Rose 1). Today, there are forty-five orcas in captivity with about half being born in confinement (“Killer Whales in Captivity”). Orcas are tremendously intelligent, socially complex, and family oriented animals. Studying them in captivity, and at the same time in the wild, we have learned enough about them to realize that orcinus orcas do not belong in captivity and the confinement of these animals is very hurtful. The imprisonment of orcas for human amusement and research leads to aggression, death at an early age and numerous health problems.
Orcas exhibit aberrant and aggressive behavior in captivity. Aggression towards each other occurs a great deal because, “incompatibility among captive whales is frequent” (Rose 7). It is difficult for captive whales to escape when being attacked by another in the tight space provided. This leads to lacerations, deep wounds and even the death of whales (Rose 7). Just because they are the same species does not mean they necessarily get along. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration states on its Orca fact sheet, “Killer whales are social animals that live in stable family-related groups”. In captivity the whales are put in artificial social groups and moved around depending on how the management department wants to group the whales, not thinking about how the animals will get alon...
... middle of paper ...
....
Blackfish. Dir. Gabriela Cowperthwaite and Gabriela Cowperthwaite. Prod. Manuel V. Oteyza and Gabriela Cowperthwaite. By Eli Despres and Tim Zimmermann. Perf. Former SeaWorld Trainers. 2013. DVD. Netflix. Web.
"Killer Whales in Captivity." National Marine Mammal Laboratory. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2014. .
Reza, H.G, and Greg Johnson. "Killer Whale Bled to Death After Breaking Jaw in Fight." Los Angeles Times. Ed. Anthony Millican and Chris Kraul. Los Angeles Times, 23 Aug. 1989. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.
.
Rose, Naomi 2011. Killer Controversy: Why Orcas Should No Longer Be Kept in Captivity. Humane Society International and The Humane Society of the United States, Washington, D.C. 16 pp.
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
Millions of people come from across the world to visit Seaworld every day without thinking about the lives of the animals behind the scenes. Why would they have concerns? From Seaworld’s commercials to the website, they convince the general public that Seaworld is the place to go to see the happy sea animals perform. If Seaworld is such an ecstatic place, what excuse does Tilikum, their greatest well known orca whale, have for the three attacks on trainers? The documentary “Blackfish” was created by the director Gabriela Cowperthwaite because she questioned herself after realizing Tilikum's odd behavior over time in captivity, and if there was any indisputable parts to animal captivity?
The trainers, along with Cowperthwaite, believe having them in a captivity like SeaWorld is inhumane. I agree with this documentary, Blackfish. This documentary gave a perfect visual representation of why I do not like having animals in a cage or in a small area. Having animals captive, working hard, and hardly fed is wrong, especially when only allowing them in a small area to roam. Watching this documentary made me feel sympathy towards these poor animals that must go through this harsh life style.
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 number of killer whales are caught and brought to different aquatic parks where the viewer gets a behind-the-scenes look at what happens to these animals and their families upon imprisonment.
... Documentaries such as Awards winning The Cove and Blackfish have been drawing a lot of attention to cetaceans in captivity. More documentaries should be made and broadcasted regarding this topic so that more people will get to know about this issue. Environmental groups can also make it more accessible for people to join and help in bring this message worldwide. Education could be also useful in teaching the young about animals in the wild and instead of bringing them to the marine parks, bring them to whale watching. This way they can learn about them living in the wild and not seeing a whale swimming rounds in a tank. People should be encouraged to visit whales in the wild and not in marine parks performing tricks. Through help from environmental groups, the government, schools and individuals, the killer whales will get to return to the wild, where they belong.
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
Reza, H. G. "Whales Collide, 1 Is Fatally Injured in a Sea World Tank. " The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 22 Aug. 1989. Web.
And even a six year old wasn’t blind to that fact. 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 broadcast 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 they cause. SeaWorld, a leader in the captivity and use of killer whales for entertainment, has counterattacked the points made by the documentary Blackfish, which brought many points to light.
Orca whales have been in difficult circumstances ever since the first orca was captured in 1961. The first orca captured lived two days in captivity then died and the reported cause of dead was pneumonia. Many things come to mind when people think an orca is in captivity. Many people tend to believe they are being treated, they will enjoy life more, and they will live longer due to the fact they are receiving food and care. These statements are told to spectators at seaworld, marineland and many other water parks around the globe. The facts disagree with these statements. Orca are very friendly animals, there have been no recorded attacks of orcas hurting any human being in the wild. Most of them will come up to fishers boats and be petted and fed. Although in captivity numerous orcas have attacked humans. Average life of an orca in captivity is between twenty to thirty years in the wild their life span are three times longer between fifty to eighty years. Although during shows spectators sea orcas swimming in huge pools of water most of the time they are in the back of the arena’s in small confined spaces, which is unacceptable because in the wild orcas swim sixty to one hundred miles a day, searching for food and exercising daily. Whales should be free from captivity because, they are more aggressive in captivity, they live less in captivity and they don’t have great living conditions and are kept for profit.
Director-producer Gabriela Cowperthwaite of Blackfish tells the story of Tilikum, An Orca at Sea world used for performance shows that killed several people while in captivity. Along the way, Mr. Cowperthwaite shows emotional, shocking footage and interviews to explore the whales pulled out of nature and the inhuman treatments that orcas where getting in captivity. Some of the trainers that are alive and the ones that were lost was put under pressure brought this sea-park industry billions of dollars.
The main focus in this article is the two killer whales that died from mosquito
These killer whales are massive creatures living in these cramped pools not doing what they want to do when they want to do it. Mr. Jett and Mr. Ventre also said “...Typically spending their entire lives within tight family groupings, orcas captured from the wild, have been traumatically extracted from the security, comfort and mentoring which these groupings provide. Captured animals are confined to small, acoustically-dead, concrete enclosures where they must live in extremely close proximity to other whales with which they often share no ancestral, cultural or communication similarities.” Seaworld ends up throwing these animals in random groups of whales that are not their families, having whales that have never been outside of the concrete wall, to whales that all they know is the wild. The Documentary Blackfish states that one of the killer whale
Orca whales do not like to be taken from their family, held captive for many decades and put with other whales that they do not know. No other living organism on this planet would like to be put through the same thing. Orca whales are highly social animals, they are very intelligent, and are very emotional. If they are kept away from other whales, fed intermittently and received little attention from staff makes them get very emotional and can lead to death of people and the whales. Orca whales should not be held captive; they are beautiful creatures that are not great for people’s amusement and if they are treated poorly, they will act poorly.
In recent years, humans have gained the ability to tame and train these creatures. Killer whales should not be kept in captivity simply because it is cruel, unnatural, and dangerous. Orcas, or killer whales are majestic giants of the sea. They are actually
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.