At Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo, CA a new exhibit was opened to provide an interactive experience with the parks residents. These “Ocean Discovery” exhibits now include a 200,000 gallon tank containing three to five of the parks 14 Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins. The dolphins have been removed from their natural habitats deprived from an annexed refuge and placed in petting pools poorly located and smaller than that of an average living room. In these petting pools, dolphins are feed buy the visitors who reward the mammals by giving them fish in return for letting the humans touch them. The most dominate of the dolphins and those most willing to accept human touch receives the most human attention in return getting the most fish. In some cases visitors have been observed feeding french fries, sandwiches, and even left over soda to the dolphins. One report observed dolphins in a petting pool so obese the blow holes which the mammals expel air from had been covered by fat cells To escape the constant feeding and noise some parks have added refuges where the dolphins may go if they do not chose to interact however no such refuge has been added to the pool at Marine World. The dolphins must interact continuously through out the twelve hour day of the park and then many hours after closing as they are put through medical checks, pool maintenance, training Robinett 2 and feeding. Marine World representatives state that the dolphins could avoid interaction by swimming to the edge of the pool where the visitors were not allowed access. On a recent visit to the park, people were observed on all sides of the pool. They continue this work day with out breaks as visitors have non-stop access during the parks operating hours seven days a week. The pool Marine World had created for the dolphins is located directly below two of its largest and busiest attractions, two roller coasters called Vertical Velocity and Roar which not only brings noise levels into the unpleasant scenario but sends a rather noticeable vibration through the ground with each pass of the rides car. Unfortunately for the dolphins, this location also does not include much shade, is close to the nearby interstate, parking lot, and fairgrounds. Legislation on how these pools are kept would, their occupants treated and visitors educated, petting pools such as these will continue to be harmful to the
SeaWorld is best known for premature deaths for orcas. From the article “8 Reasons Orcas Don’t Belong at SeaWorld” states “Orcas in the wild have an average life expectancy of 30 to 50 years—their estimated maximum lifespan is 60 to 70 years for males and 80 to over 100 for females. The average age of death for orcas who have died at SeaWorld is 13 years old.” Furthermore, these mammals are irreplace, and when their life expectancy goes down
One of the most common dolphins that are found in southern California is the bottlenose dolphin (Kelly). The bottlenose dolphin is mainly found in coastal waters between 45 degrees north and 45 degrees south, also in Northern Europe waters. It is believed that there are two types of bottlenose dolphin regional wise: oceanic form and coastal form. This species is studied the most by biologists (Jefferson). The coastal population lives in fairly open groups with twenty or less in a pod, some groups are found to contain more in open ocean. It is not uncommon for these species to interact and breed with other species, as would a human interact with other diverse humans. The dolphins feeding behavior is adapted to the availability of resources. They sometimes are known to work together to catch fish from large schools, they also trail behind large fishing boats to catch what falls behind (Leatherwood).
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 orcas’ aggressive tendencies have led to many injuries and even deaths of trainers. SeaWorld’s trainers were trained to perform with and feed the killer whales. The whales are rewarded for each “behavior” they do correctly (Kirby 9). When the amount of fish they are receiving starts to dwindle and they hear the trainers’ hands hitting the bottom of the bucket...
Although SeaWorld presents itself as a family establishment full of fun “educational” activities. However, these activities harm animals physically and emotionally.
Yet these people do not stop to consider what is going on behind the scenes when they are watching the dolphins and whales swim and dive through the water with their trainers. If one were to approach a trainer and ask about the abuse that these animals suffer every day in order for them to perform their shows and tricks, the trainer would say that it is an educational and necessary aspect to keep the animals in captivity. They would also defend these abusive acts by speaking of the information they are gaining of the animals and how they can use this information to help those in the wild. This is due to their own ignorance that they would say such terrible things about these intelligent yet helpless animals. These animals endure much more torture in captivity than most people would like to admit to themselves. Furthermore, the “facts” that the trainers tell the visitors of SeaWorld are untrue. For example, as one sees in the movie Blackfish, the trainers do not give accurate facts regarding life span in and out of captivity as well as the percentage of the collapsed fins
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 utilitarian foundation of argumentation indirectly taken by the producers of this film is one that focuses on the consequences as a means of determining what one ought to do. Utilitarianism argues one ought to commit acts that affects invoke more pleasure than pain or suffering. In the case of The Cove, Richard O’Barry and Louie Psihoyos , as well as other individuals chosen for the task of videotaping and creating the exposé, continually argue a few major points. One area where Richard O’Barry disagrees but the others seem to care little is the fact that dolphins are herded and initially chosen for performance purposes at water parks around the world. This showcases the manner in which many see the positives of entertaining individu...
As we cruised south, the water began to clear. More and more dolphins were swimming with us as every mile passed. We felt like we were getting mobbed there were so many of them. At one point we had a dozen or more swimming with us; a group on each side in the wake and a few on the bow. “Does it count as distracted driving if you’re watching dolphins” I mused at Bill. They seem like they were having loads of fun. Jumping out of the water, doing some barrel rolls,
Over 21 million people have seen the film (Brammer 74), and it is almost impossible to go onto a SeaWorld social media accounts without seeing countless number of comments and posts from people who are advocating the shutting down of SeaWorld and trying to end their practices of keeping animals in captivity. After the film had been released, a survey done by Born Free Foundation stated that “86 percent of travelers would not visit a marine mammal theme park” (77). This is a huge percentage of people, and while we may not know if this is a statistically sound sample and if it can be used to make predictions of the future, we do know that films such as Blackfish have shown to have had an effect on people and their attendance at marine theme parks such as SeaWorld. People were outraged with SeaWorld after viewing the film and many of them protested on social media accounts, and even outside of SeaWorld’s
An orca, more commonly known as a killer whale, is currently one of the largest marine animals held in captivity. Countless arguments are being made, supporting and opposing captivity of orcas to be exploited as circus animals in theme parks around the world. Throughout recent history, Sea World trainers have been injured and killed by the orcas and the whales, and the whales themselves have been observed as severely depressed. If Sea World releases the whales, they would undergo an immense economic downfall and the whales would be too weak to survive in the wild if they were freed. Since the first Sea World park opened in San Diego, California in 1964, common questions have arose concerning the well-being of orcas in captivity, the dangers of humans training them, the physical capability of whales theoretically being released, and the psychological differences between whales living in the wild versus whales living in Sea World's confinement.
If you have ever been to Sea World, you may have noticed the orcas’ collapsed dorsal fins. The trainers will tell you that this is normal. While it’s true that all captive adult male orcas have collapsed dorsal fins, in the wild, less than five percent of adult males have this condition. It is caused by their unnatural environment and is the sign of poor health (Rose). In the wild, orcas dive to depths of nearly 200 feet; however, their deepest tank at Sea World is only 40 feet deep. Spending so much time near the water’s surface causes the orcas to have constant sunburn (8 Reasons). Incompatibility among captive orcas leads to bullying and aggressive behavior. Aggressive orcas are known to “rake” their teeth down the side of other orcas causing open wounds. Captive females have been known to act aggressively or even reject their newborns. This behavior is not common in the wild. It may be caused by poor psychological development due to unnatural social grouping
The whale Tilicum who is responsible for multiple deaths of trainers is still in captivity and still performs in shows. He now has no life left in him and for hours will still sit in the same spot. This is no way to treat a living thing and in no way should wild animals like this be put into captivity. The bottom line is that these animals are living mammals and should not be put into situations where they are starved and kept in extremely small spaces to live out their lives. Companies like Sea World should no longer have whale shows and should release all of the whales that will be able to survive into the wild. Sea World would be able to survive without their whale show, and even though it is one of the biggest sources of revenue the park can make money in other endevures.
These dolphins are the type of dolphins common people would see at the Zoo or on a T.V. programed performance. Like the Common Dolphins, the Atlantic Bottle-Nosed Dolphins are highly skillful echolocators. They can produce a range of sounds, like a click, using it to analyze any object around them in the ocean (Whitfield 114). According to Whitfield on page 114, they can produce up to 100 clicks a second. They will use these clicks to also find food. They mainly eat Bottom-dwelling fish in inshore waters or surface swimming fish. They can do many other objects with their echolocation finder and using their
There are many reasons why dolphins are very intelligent animals, there are 33 different types of marine dolphins, 4 types of river dolphins, and 6 types of porpoises (dolphins are mammals). Some of the dolphinspeople may think they would be whales, because of their looks, but they are dolphins. Dolphins have a strong behavior; they are very social and travel in groups together. They commonly swim in groups of 2-15 . Severalof different groups of dolphins may temporarily join, for several minutes or hours. In the open waters of theocean, some dolphins will leave their group and change associates and adapt with different dolphins threw outtime (Dolphins communication). In the groups, some members will form a strong bond with one another in thepod. The sizes of the groups tend to increase with the water depth of the ocean and the openness of the habitat, this usually happens when protection with strong with each other and foraging st...