An Essay About Whales In Captivity

When you are the one seeing the whale perform tricks its fun to watch but when the whale doesn't do the trick right it's punished. According to Blackfish when a whale did not perform a trick like the trainers wanted they would not be fed (Cowperthwaite). The opposition may also believe that keeping them in captivity also helps to learn about the whales but they are wrong because we've learned worse things about the whales than good. In the documentary Blackfish when a baby whale was taken from the mom the whale made sounds no one else heard before. These sounds were caused by SeaWorld taking away its child. Marine biologist have also found out that the bent dorsal Finn means its unhealthy (Cowperthwaite). Keeping whales in captivity has told us many things but none are

At least 164 Orcas, Killer whales, have died in captivity all of them being premature deaths. Orcas should not have to suffer in captivity and should be left alone and stay in the wild. All Orcas in captivity will die at half there age. They must live in tiny tanks equaling to us living in a bathtub. They are captured from the wild when they are young and are taken from their family and then forced to interact with other whales from different whale pods which also speak a different language then them.

It’s also highly morally and ethically wrong to keep killer whales in captivity because of their intelligence. Killer whales “have the second-largest brains of all ocean mammals, and are believed to be one of the smartest animals on the planet.” (Independent) They are not able to use their intelligence their natural way in captivity. Whales in the wild “build complex family lives as well as sophisticated hunting techniques” (Independent) but captive whales are suppressed

The process of imprisoning the animals begins when the aquarium hires private contractors to capture young animals from the wild. One of SeaWorld’s most well-known attractions, Shamu, was captured in this way by Ted Griffin. Griffin recalls that in order to capture the whales, his team would use explosives to force them into coves, where they would net the entire pod, which would often result in the drowning of 3-5 whales every trip (Blackfish). In order to cover up the killings, the team would then split open the whales, stuff them with rocks, and sink them in the ocean. Once the calves are captured, they are shipped to any aquarium around the world that pays the highest price for them, which causes an enormous amount of distress for both the mother and her calf, due to the fact that in the wild the calf will never leave its mothers side. This extreme act to capture the orca whales is not only wreaking havoc amongst the orca whales but also proves to be an tremendously

Orca captivity is also dangerous for human beings. For example, Tilikum was the cause of the death of 3 people as shown in Blackfish. First, he and 2 other whales drowned Keltie Byrne, who had slipped into the pool. She was screaming and tried to escape, but the whales pulled her back and drowned her. Then, a

In November of 1983 Tilikum was taken away from his family at approximately two years of age. Once he was in America he didn't go straight to Seaworld, he actually started at a small marine park in Florida called Sealand. While he was there the trainer used the female orcas to teach Tilikum all the tricks, but if he did not perform it the correct way there would be a punishment. This meant that neither of the orcas would get a reward which was food.the females became mad at tilikum and would rake him, meaning they would scrape their teeth across the length of his body. The conditions at the very small marine park were awful for such large animals, the tank that all three of them were put into was only 100-foot-by-50-foot pool that was just 35 feet deep. Now you would think after being trapped in such a small space would make you go a little crazy, and in Tilikum’s case it did. While he was at Sealand he was the cause of a trainer's death, he had drowned her, this was the first humane killed. Eventually Sealand shutdown, and “on January 3, 1992 SeaWorld applied for an emergency permit authorizing immediate importation of Tilikum for medical reasons.”- PBS, Frontline. Once he was at Seaworld he was put straight to work learning all the routines, but his living conditions didn’t get much better the other whales at Seaworld raked him too. The trainers soon put Tilikum into his own

In the article “Wild vs Captivity” the author tries to emphasize all the damage in every aspect of the Cetaceans’ life which are constantly in danger while on captivity contrasting it to their natural wildlife. The article informs about the differences that those whales in captivity present when comparing to other whales that live in the ocean, including aspects like feeding, behavior, life cycle, calf’s characteristics, appearance between others. The article is fully complete with information and reliable facts which can be trusted because of the naming the organization have. Using the information given by Animal Welfare Institution I would prove that captivity have side effects in these mammals and the keeping of them in SeaWorld in not only

Currently thirty-three whales in captivity were born there. Living in a giant tank is the only life they know. All though thirty-three whales survived being born in captivity, some were not as lucky. Female whales in the wild are sexually mature around the age of fifteen. They give birth to one calf every five years, until the no longer can around the age of forty-five. But in captivity, because their lives are so short, they have to reproduce earlier and more often. The whales, who are already under stress and other mental issues, reach many pregnancy complications. A majority of these complications lead to miscarriages and stillborn calves, which is the cause of thirty of the deaths in Seaworld’s whales.

Killer whales were not considered a threat to humans until one day in February 1991. Keltie Byrne, a marine biology and former killer whale trainer was killed by Tilikum. According to the reports, she slipped from the tank, where Tilikum was located, prevented her from surfacing and killed her. Sadly, another tragedy of a trainer who was killed by someone she knows

Therefore, all trainers that perform with the orcas have to complete a forty feet dive retrieving a five pound weight, then instantly performing a 250 feet freestyle swim, and finally showing their strength by grabbing a high ledge from the water and quickly pulling themselves onto land (Hargrove, 2015). These strenuous tasks reveal that the flawless harmony between man and animal could be undone. Tilikum is a 12,000 pound example of the constant threat trainers are in every time they get into a tank with an orca. In 1991, capturing of wild orca laws became more solemn, so SeaWorld bought Tilikum from a failing park despite his past of killing a trainer, due to the necessity of breeding him with their other whales (J.V, 2012). As a result, his aggressive genes were distributed to all of his offspring. An example of trainer death and the guy who snuck in- even after they still let Tilikum continue

The multibillion-dollar company that is SeaWorld, regularly has Orca shows in an Olympic size pool, 9 times that. Orcas in the wild need space to move around, and shouldn’t be kept in small spaces for health problems. Many health issues this causes are collapse fins, and dying at a premature age. In the wild, we hardly see Orcas with collapsed fins, only 1% of Orca population have collapse fins. Because of the lack of space man fins get in the way of play. There aren’t bones in their fins, so it can easily bend. Bending in the fin can be passed down in offspring. Even though whale shows bring in a lot of tourism, which helps the economy grow, it doesn’t justify the conditions these whales have to endure in captivity. Orcas in the wild have

Whales are largely known as the most elegant of the massive sea creatures in the ocean with Blue Whale being the largest of all whales. People all over the world spend large amounts of money to travel on boats and watch these ocean giants fly through the water. Most people don't realize that whales were not always like this. In fact, they were very different from the enormous mammals we experience today.

It is bad enough that most of the whales can not have a successful pregnancy, but what about when a mother whale actually has a successful birth with a healthy baby? One would think that because whales are supposed to stay in their pods their whole life that the parks would keep the two together, right? No, after about six months and the calves don't need the mother anymore, the two are separated. This is extremely stressful and sad for both of the whales. Babies are sold for money and taken to other parks or transferred because they disrupt a routine in a show. When the two are separated it has been shown that both call for each other for a long time. The calls are long and loud, heartbreaking if you must. After the separation, the mother

In nature, whales act much differently than when held in captivity. They are very family oriented creatures. They travel in groups that can range anywhere from 10 to 40 whales, these groups are called “pods” and are very similar to wolf packs . The whales hunt cooperatively together and teach each other and take care of their young. The mothers in the pods lead to entire group of whales and teach younger whales how to hunt, feed, parent, etc. Female whales usually give birth about every 3 to 10 years, and after they give birth they watch over their young for the rest of their lives. Female whales (like humans) go through a

The main reason whales should not be in captivity is because when in captivity it negatively affects the whales emotions. Just picture waking up ready to start your day, but wait…. Your suddenly confused. You are lost and surrounded by millions of strangers with no family in sight. Have you imagined this yet? Do you have a sick feeling in your stomach? For whales in captivity they don’t have to imagine it if it is really happening to them because it is. Yes, whales in captivity is good for