Orca Captivity Essay
Tanks. Collapsed dorsal fins. Fights. Stress. Depression. Abuse. Death. This is captivity. Orcas, or commonly known as killer whales, have been held in captivity since 1961. Marine parks, like SeaWorld and Marineland, tear orca families apart by plucking whales from the ocean and selling them for millions of dollars or trapping them in tanks for entertainment. Most of the times, there are orcas that are sometimes aggressive towards the other orcas in the tanks and are forced to do tricks and entertain an audience in order to get food. Captivity is flat out cruel and it needs to be brought to an end. Wild orcas have an average lifespan of 30 to 50 years, and females can live to be 80 to 100 years old (males live 60 to 70 years). The average
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In the wild, they live in complex social groups called pods. Pods can range from 2 individuals to 40 members, and the pod members are usually family and are very close to one another. What marine parks do? Tear the orca families apart by stealing a member of the pod and basically putting them in jail and holding them hostage. Usually, all the other orcas in the tanks at marine parks are from different groups and they don’t even speak the same language! Yes, each pod has its own language. There is sometimes violence that breaks out between the whales in the tanks, and they hurt each other. Of February 24th, 2010, SeaWorld orca trainer Dawn Brancheau was beginning a show with Tilikum, the largest orca in captivity. The performance began as usual, and Dawn was petting him. Tilikum wasn’t showing any signs of aggression, but all of a sudden, Tilikum attacked her.
She was later declared dead, and SeaWorld claimed that it had nothing to do with Tilikum being in captivity. “OSHA ( Occupational Safety and Health Administration) found that in the 20 years leading up to Brancheau’s death, the park generated 100 reports of aggression and precursors to aggression—including 12 incidents resulting in the injury or death of a trainer…” Says https://www.seaworldofhurt.com, who believes it was the result of being in captivity. There have been no reports of human death caused by orcas in the wild, and only a few reports of
In the wild, they live in complex social groups called pods. Pods can range from 2 individuals to 40 members, and the pod members are usually family and are very close to one another. What marine parks do? Tear the orca families apart by stealing a member of the pod and basically putting them in jail and holding them hostage. Usually, all the other orcas in the tanks at marine parks are from different groups and they don’t even speak the same language! Yes, each pod has its own language. There is sometimes violence that breaks out between the whales in the tanks, and they hurt each other. Of February 24th, 2010, SeaWorld orca trainer Dawn Brancheau was beginning a show with Tilikum, the largest orca in captivity. The performance began as usual, and Dawn was petting him. Tilikum wasn’t showing any signs of aggression, but all of a sudden, Tilikum attacked her.
She was later declared dead, and SeaWorld claimed that it had nothing to do with Tilikum being in captivity. “OSHA ( Occupational Safety and Health Administration) found that in the 20 years leading up to Brancheau’s death, the park generated 100 reports of aggression and precursors to aggression—including 12 incidents resulting in the injury or death of a trainer…” Says https://www.seaworldofhurt.com, who believes it was the result of being in captivity. There have been no reports of human death caused by orcas in the wild, and only a few reports of