As if SeaWorld has not gotten enough criticism over the years, an act by one of their own animals is causing people to ask even more questions. A SeaWorld-owned killer whale beached herself at Tenerife Loro Parque in Spain’s Canary Islands.
Daily Mail reported that the killer whale, named Morgan, was filmed lying motionless on a concrete slab by the side of the pool for more than 10 minutes after its performance. She was out of the water from the time the show ended till after the videographers were asked to leave, but that didn’t stop them from getting some footage.
It is suspected that the orca may be trying to commit suicide. One viewer of the video wrote, “Looks to me as if she’s trying to take her own life, I don’t blame her.” According to Time, the amusement park company argued that she was just showing “natural behavior.” The Daily Mail explains that if whales are beached for too long their weight can crush their internal organs and muscles because they no longer have the support of the water’s buoyancy.
Loro Parque released a statement stating, “It is absolutely illogical and absurd to assume that the length and the quality of such video would be sufficient to make a conclusion and declaration of such nature.”
“A voluntary stranding is a natural behavior of orcas living in the wild. … The orcas at Loro Parque are trained to leave the water on their own accord. This behavior is used for manifold purposes, for example, for presenting the animals to the public, for conducting corporal check-ups, for inspecting their blowholes, as well as for testing hearing abilities of the orcas.” They do not have any concerns with Morgan sliding out of the water because they say that whales do this regularly sometimes.
According to the Scientific American, in the wild, whales will beach themselves after experiencing traumatizing events such as a “ship strike,” diseases, or shark attacks. Sometimes, they will do it for a short amount of time for hunting purposes.
This incident comes weeks after Morgan was filmed repeatedly banging her head into a metal fence in her habitat. The park responded to this incident by arguing that the video was a manipulation using exaggeration and dramatization of a normal situation.
Time provides us with some insight for PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the foundation director of Animal Law, Jared Goodman said, “Morgan was captured from the sea six years ago and has been fighting hard against the trials of her captivity ever since. Her behavior shows that she is frantic to get back to the ocean home that she remembers and misses.”
It seems like this ongoing battle between SeaWorld and the people will never end, so many videos and pictures have been released, but still no change has come. It takes a mass group of people to step up and make a change, to stop attending these parks and spread awareness, but when will this shift finally happen?
Videos from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3626374/Vi...
