Remember when you were six years old and your dad put you on his shoulders so you could have a better view of the seals in their enclosure? Remember when you put your hand up to the glass and watched the manatee inspect it with confusion? Remember when your slimy fingers ran across the back of a stingray and you pretended to be disgusted but inside you knew it was the coolest thing your little heart ever could imagine? At that young age you knew three things: you were basically under the sea except you still could breathe, you were seeing animals that had a uniqueness about them that the squirrels and deer back home don't have, and you wanted to spend the rest of your life surrounded by these magnificent creatures. You were young, naive and didn't understand that the animals doing tricks were more unhappy than when you weren't allowed a cookie before dinner. But now you are grown and you understand that what you loved as a child needs to change.

I have a huge problem with Sea World for obvious reasons, but let me tell you why I understand that it still exists. As a little girl, my parents took me to Sea World and countless aquariums and that's how I got introduced to my passion. I watched Orca's swim with grace and elegance that I could only dream of being a part of. I hoped that one day I would grow up to be like those trainers. Sea World made me fall in love with marine life. I became scuba certified by 12 years old, spent all my high school spring breaks volunteering with en ecology program in Key Largo, Florida and I am now studying marine science and biology in college. I owe my passion to Sea World. It sounds stupid to say, I know. Sea World is the reason I know what I want to study for the rest of my life and I know for a fact I would be lost if I never visited the aquariums.

Sea World has also inspired me to shut down Sea World and places like it. Marine entertainment is so engraved in our society that it's going to be decades before all animals are finally out of aquariums. I love watching whales up close and having dolphins kiss my cheek but I know how selfish I am. Who am I to make this dolphin feel trapped just so he or she can give me a cute Instagram picture? Why is it fair that Shamu's life is in a bathtub while tens of thousands of us just sit back and pay money to let it happen? How dare humans justify invading the ocean, a part of the world we barely know anything about, and just keep taking from it?

I want my kids to see a dolphin up close and personal, but here's a story Sea World tries to hide. Dolphins, whales and fish are actually in the wild. They're more beautiful in the wild, too. I have encountered many wild dolphins and each time has been more magical than when I payed a trainer to make one splash me. Wild dolphins are out there and it is something you can experience, probably at a lower price. Scuba diving will open you to the world you want to be a part of, but you are the minority, you are the guest in their world. You will see hundreds of corals and fish, maybe run into a turtle, and see a stingray in the distance. I promise you, go out on a boat and watch the water. The world is out there and you should submerge into it, not take out what already belongs there.

The thing is, no we shouldn't release TIlikum or any other Orca's in captivity. You're fighting a dumb fight if that's your position. Say we just dump Tilikum back in the Atlantic Ocean. This whale doesn't know how to catch food or fend for himself. Releasing the animals is a death wish. We should enlarge their habitats or make open sea cages. There's also the rehabilitation stand point which organizations like Dolphin Plus and Island Dolphin Care handle well. They rescue and tend to animals who can no longer fend for themselves in the wild. We should be helping these animals potentially get back to the wild, the be-all end-all point. No, we can't save every animal but the ones we can shouldn't be kept so places can gain a profit.

As much as I would love to understand more about these amazing animals, I am appalled to see that people in the field I'm pursuing could possibly be "disappointed" by Sea Worlds choice to discontinue breeding the whales. These animals are not for our enjoyment or behavioral analysis. These animals owe us nothing and it's sickening that people who dedicate their lives to helping the world could possibly see something good coming out of keeping a whale captive. We do not need to study whales by keeping them in a tank for their entire life. What is the point of documenting their growth when they aren't even in their natural habitat? We can't collect correct data from animals when we put them in environments that they aren't accustomed to. If whales aren't in captivity, why do we need to know their lung capacity? Why do we need to know their diet? Humans are so incredibly selfish, thinking that their salary is worth the lives of one of the most magnificent species on the planet. As much as I would love to interact and learn more about Orca's and other marine life, I think it's best to do from a research boat in the open water. We have the technology to be able to collect from a distance.

So, thank you Sea World. Thank you for showing me the magnificent animals that we share our planet with. Thank you for giving me something that I dedicate my life to. Thank you, but I'm shutting you down.

Don't become captivated by captivity. There is no beauty in stolen freedom.