...Orca captors and their supporters argue that captive orcas receive adequate physical and mental stimulation, allowing the orcas to be content and healthy in their habitats. To support these claims, SeaWorld’s website states: “Our whales show every sign of physical fitness including healthy weight, muscle tone, respiratory efficiency, strength and heart rate. While our whales do not live the same lifestyle as their wild counterparts, this difference does not translate to negative welfare of these animals” (SeaWorld 1) Many visitors witness the captive orcas interacting with trainers and performing tricks and feel as though the orcas live active and healthy lives. They believe that captive orcas are as content as their wild counterparts, despite...
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...do tricks multiple times a day, seven days a week? This is a daily struggle for many orcas in captivity. Many people feel that Orcas being held in captivity is affecting them. First, their capturing is bitter. One orca, named Shamu, was captured and watched her mother die. SeaWorld of Hurt states, “During Shamu’s capture, her mother was shot with a harpoon and killed before the young orca’s very eyes by a marine ‘cowboy’ named Ted Griffin.” Many orcas at SeaWorld were taken from their homes. SeaWorld of Hurt also states, “Five orcas currently at SeaWorld were kidnapped from their ocean homes, as others who have since died. For example, Tilikum… was captured at the age...
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...Orcas are kept in captivity their whole life. They are captured with big nets and bombs that are thrown into the water to make the parents abandon their young and allow the capturing of the baby orcas easier. when orcas are young around 2 or 3 years old they are taken from their mother’s side. Orcas should not be kept in captivity because their life expectancy decreases, they are treated poorly and leads them to becoming more aggressive. Instead of supporting orca captivity people should stop attending the orcas water show at seaworld so they are released back into their natural habitat the wild. From the time, they are captured at 2 years of age until they grow into their 20s and die the orcas live in a pool that is very small. Adults should not...
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...kept in a tiny cage in the back of the park that made his swimming abilities at an all-time low, he no longer got to communicate with other orcas or people anymore. In this tank, his nose and tail touched both sides of the cage at the same time. After a year he was put...
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...Mark Trevino Silvia Herrera English 1301.S99 9 November 2015 The Triumphs of Orcas Kept in Captivity Through the decades of the recent past, orca whales have been taken from their original homes in the wild and forced to live and perform in various amusement facilities spanning the United States. The business revolving around these killer whales has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry; this is an industry which possesses many flaws in the way these animals live and thrive together with each other. Orca whales kept in captivity in various amusement parks should be released back into their natural habitat due to the improper conditions in the parks, increased death rates in captivity, and the higher risk of attacks on humans inside...
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...The capturing of orca whales for entertaining and performing purposes originated in 1964 when the first SeaWorld park was opened in San Diego, California. The exploitation of these animals in amusement parks quickly grew into a widespread phenomenon in the United States. America quickly fell in love with “Shamu”, the Killer Whale that became the face of Sea World. These wild creatures live their entire lives in captivity. In order to take a stand, parks like SeaWorld need to be shut down and forced to release their orcas into the wild, where they can live freely the way they were intend to. When orca whales are held in an unnatural environment for their entire lives, it causes a variety of problems for them. The wild animals become increasingly aggressive, suffer health issues and are ripped away from their families in the ocean....
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...Orca whales that are kept in captivity tend to have more problems than in the wild. Imagine an individual being taken away from the home they live in and being put into a small a tank, forced to perform for food and medical care. Whales that are kept in captivity have a greater risk for medical and emotional problems. Orcas kept in captivity have a higher amount of social anxiety compared to orcas in the wild. Whales should be banned from public entertainment because it causes the whales to have greater amounts of problems compared to those in the wild. Health and emotional risks generally occur more in whales who are kept in captivity.Whales whom are kept in captivity have higher emotional struggle, which causes the whales to go insane because of this whales have killed three trainers at Seaworld (Whales and Dolphin Conservation) This proves that whales who are kept in captivity have a greater emotional problems than they do in the wild. Ninety two percent of whales in captivity do not live past the age of twenty-five while in the wild they can live up to be between eighty to ninety years in age (WDC). This means whales have better health which allows them to live longer.Whales obtain a greater stress when they are kept in captivity....
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...“Captivity Kills Orcas” by Naomi Rose Naomi Rose shows the harmful effects that orcas are faced with by living in captivity in her essay, “Captivity Kills Orcas”. She discusses that captivity is not only bad for the orcas but also for the trainers. Three trainers were killed by the most famous orca at seaworld, Tilikum. Rose does a good job at explaining why orcas should not be held in captivity but fails to discuss how orcas got there or why Seaworld is now not forcing orcas to bread. The astonishing documentary, “Blackfish” is mentioned in Rose’s essay because it was the start to the outstanding media attention on how Seaworld handled the orcas. The documentary shows Seaworld workers stealing orca babies from their mothers and separating...
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...whales; also known as the orca, (Orcinus orca) first to put in a cage for the world to see. The view of the killer whale has shifted from a dangerous killer to a cuddly animal. Theses whales have gone from a sea creature shot at by humans, to the star money maker at theme parks. Both images become one-sided, putting the creature into stereotypes. Orcas resemble humans, very complex, intelligent, and also taken advantage of. As of today, they stand as the largest animal and predator to be put in the smallest captivity. The killer whales beauty has mesmerized humans for years, but captivity not only breaks down the physical and mental health of these creatures, and also puts others in danger. Studies have shown the life expectancies of an orca in captivity remain well below the life of a wild counterparts. Industries claim that the achievements in veterinary care and nutrition have made a life of orca far better, but studies prove that the whales act much better in the wild. In 2007, SeaWorld responded to questions asked by KGTV and stated “We have often said that 30 years is a good estimate of average killer whale lifespan as we can exceed that age, as evidence by one of ours, Corky. She is at least 40 and perhaps as old as 42. Biology of Marine Mammals said that female killer whales in their studies group had a mean life expectancy of 31 years and males just 19 years”(Rose). The average whale can live up to 100 years old in the wild. In captivity the average whales life will...
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...Free Orcas How much do you really know about whales in captivity? Do you think the whales at sea world enjoy being there? Imagine you're walking down the street with your family when out of nowhere you're trapped in a net and being taken away from them. This happens to young whales almost everyday and is very unnecessary. Orcas should not be kept in captivity because it causes premature death, anxiety, and violent behavior. Many people would consider these results to be animal abuse. It has been confirmed that whales in captivity have higher mortality rates than those in the wild and these rates have only worsened over the years. According to the report “Killer Controversy: Why Orcas Should No Longer Be Kept in Captivity,” "Captive female orcas give birth too young and too often, leading to both high adult and high infant mortality." Also, the chronic stress of being confined weakens their immune system which leads to infection. This is the most common cause of death for captive orcas. The average life expectancy of a wild orca is 30-50 years. Orcas who have died at Sea World have an average age of death of 13 years old. The shocking fact is that over 161 whales have died in captivity, and it can easily be prevented by leaving them in the wild where they belong. Another outcome of the confinement is anxiety. Orcas who are not compatible with one another are placed in relatively small tanks which results in anxiety and tension. This tension often leads to brutal fights...
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...aggressive" orca who has been linked to the deaths of three individuals while being kept in captivity. The film, told largely by five former SeaWorld trainers, uses highly emotional footage to portray Tilikum as an animal that has been negatively impacted by his life at SeaWorld. Blackfish is advertised as a documentary but, in reality, is little more than propaganda, and rather than providing impartial and balanced information, the film uses inaccurate and deceptive facts in a clear example of how bias is used in the media to portray a certain view to the audience. The film misrepresents the orca species as a whole by saying that "they're amazingly friendly and understanding and intuitively want to be your companion." This implies that killer whales are naturally amicable and respectful to humans. Blackfish shows footage of an orca interacting with a dog to justify this statement, but does not explain that the orca shown in that video was an abandoned juvenile named Luna who had been living in Nootka Sound for five years, where he was constantly exposed to human presence and activity. The interactions with Luna that are shown in the film are not an accurate representation of the average, well-adjusted, pod-dwelling orca. This footage is shown out of context and makes the false claim that killer whales, as a whole, are more wary of human presence and generally keep to themselves in natural conditions to skew the viewer's opinion and understanding of normal orca behavior in...
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...Dolphins Belong to the Wild-- Captivity Harms Them The essay “Orca Encounters” discusses how much humans can help the orcas when they are separated from their family and arrive at our coasts. Should we send them back their pods, or just let them interact with humans? In the text, some experts believe it’s better to let the orcas stay, because the social interaction that the orcas are seeking can be made up by humans, so they may not be interested in returning back. Many other experts believe that the solitary orcas belong to their family, and it’s improper to keep them from returning. Also, the text mentions more scientists agree that “any reunion of wayward cetacean with its pod should happen quickly”(Groc 162). However, there isn’t an example of other cetaceans, and the text doesn’t give any detailed information about what scientists have studied to reach the agreement above. For instance, solitary dolphins are even more common to see than solitary orcas, and many of them have been captured because their kindness and cleverness make people keep them, even though many studies show captivity does harm to the dolphins. Fitness of the dolphins is influenced the most during captivity. As the environment has changed after being captured, dolphins’ emotions have also changed. “[The captivity of dolphins] causes desperation because their basic instincts are obstructed, obviating millions of years of ingrained behavior”(Rivera). Rivera states that mother dolphins take care of...
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...world's view of whales. He has killed three people. Tilikum is a male Orca, more commonly referred to as a killer whale, with a complex background. In 1983 Tilikum was violently captured in Iceland and then illegally sold to 'Sealand of the Pacific' aquarium in Canada. He was two years old when this happened, ripped away from his family and cruelly sent to foreign waters. In the wild, Tilikum was used to swimming over 100 miles every day; in 'Sealand of the Pacific' Tilikum was used to floating in a concrete prison only ten feet longer than his body. When Tilikum was not confined in these small spaces, he was taken into a pool where he would perform tricks for audiences in order for him to receive food. The food was frozen fish which deprived the Orca of his necessary nutrients and food was withheld from Tilikum if he did not respond to the trainers' instructions. Tilikum was a highly intelligent whale and due to this he seems to have noticed his mistreatment. Tilikum began to become restless, frustrated with being trapped in a concrete box and performing tricks for slivers of food. The trainers registered Tilikum's agitation but they did not see it as being significant. It was too late when Sealand of the Pacific finally realised that Tilikum's emotions were important. In February of 1991 a part-time trainer at Sealand fell into the pool whilst Tilikum was performing with two female Orcas. Tilikum, along with the other whales, began to drag Keltie Byrne under the...
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...to provide an answer by asking whether “some…animals on the planet be kept in captivity by human beings?” To elucidate, he focuses on orcas, one of the most “social, intelligent, and charismatic” animals we know of. Although he does not provide a clear consensus or divergent scientific arguments to fully satisfy...
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...Ever since I was a little girl I have always had a love for marine animals. When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always answered with a SeaWorld trainer. Of course I never realized how controversial captivity was. This topic has raised some eyebrows of officials and even me. After seeing the “Blackfish” documentary, my opinion about Killer Whales and Sea World in general have completely flip flopped. I believe it is selfish for humans to keep killer whales in captivity where they don’t belong. There are many differences between Killer Whales in captivity compared to those in the wild. According to “Sea World of Hurt” Killer whales in captivity have shorter life spans and many complications. Killer Whales in the wild have a life...
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