Do you remember when you were younger and a lot of the cool places you wanted to go during breaks or vacations were amusement parks, SeaWorld, aquariums, zoos, etc? Some of my fondest memories are at some of these places. I always had the greatest time and knew I would remember it forever. But as I got older something just didn't right with me when it came to SeaWorld.
While SeaWorld does do amazing things but their main goal is gain money for entertainment purposes. To be specific SeaWorld and their treatment (and captivity) of Orcas. This has been a huge controversy for a number of years with animal rights activists, PETA, and more. SeaWorld claims to treat their Orcas with care and respect but that doesn't seem to be the case. Here are some things that SeaWorld does which as lead me and many others to believe that SeaWorld needs to change its ways with its treatment, care, and captivity of its orca whales or be shut down entirely.
1. Their burns from the sun are covered with Black Zinc Oxide.
Orcas actually spend a lot of time in very deep parts of the ocean water to avoid a lot of sun's harmful rays. Orcas who live in the tanks at SeaWorld don't get that luxury due to the chemicals in the water, the shallow tanks, and constantly performing in the hot sun. The black zinc oxide covers all burns on the whales not as a sun block but as a way to make sure none of the individuals there to see the shows see how hurt they really are.
2. SeaWorld used to force breed the orcas.
And while the orcas are no longer force bred and SeaWorld's breeding program has ended due to a lot of pressure from activist groups but the fact that the practice was still in play is disheartening and disappointing from a former SeaWorld fan! I listened to their message(s) about rescuing and treating these animals so much better than others and I had felt so betrayed by them and what their "rescue mission" involved.
3. Some of the orcas were kidnapped and THEN sent to SeaWorld.
And for those who couldn't be accurately taken from their families in the ocean, they were killed in the process which is even worse.
4. It is very unsafe for their trainers.
Not only are a lot of these trainers not heavily educated in Orca behavior or even marine animal behavior in general. But they are paid strictly to entertain not to really care properly for these beautiful creatures. Let's take the late trainer Dawn for example. She was killed by Tilikum during one of SeaWorld's dinner shows. And she isn't the only trainer that Tilikum has killed from being in captivity for so long. The orcas are stressed, depressed and in terrible conditions when comparing to how they live in the wild. When Dawn was killed SeaWorld blamed her for not following protocol instead of taking responsibility for the way they let their orcas live which lead to abnormal aggressive behavior from them.
5. Orcas have a shorter lifespan in captivity
6. These orcas aren't healthy or happy
And while it may seem during the shows that the whales are the happiest they can be but it just the glam and excitement from the audience members during the show. Audience members don't usually see how agitated, upset, or distressed the whales actually are. Take for example, the orca whales curved or folded over fins. This is a sign of distress for the killer whales and isn't "normal or healthy" like SeaWorld would like you to believe.
