Killer Whales In Captivity Research Paper

Andre Cole

Ricardo Acosta G.

English 101

September 22, 2015

Do Killer Whales Actually Belong in Captivity?

Ever since wild animals such as Killer Whales have been captured and kept in theme parks and zoos as amusement, there have been issues on whether they should or shouldn’t be kept in captivity. Killer Whales, otherwise commonly referred to as Orcas, have regularly been taken away from the sea at a very young age so they can be trained, raised and kept in theme parks for exhibition. Although theme parks no longer capture whales from the wild, they are still bred in captivity for public display at marine parks such as Sea World (Gorman). Sea World and other theme parks confine whales to tanks that, for them, are about the same size as a

(Blackfish). Killer whales in the wild are aggressive towards each other just as they are to humans, in 1989 an accident involving two whales: Kandu and Corky resulted in Kandu bleeding to death. (Kirby 2) this would have never happened if the whales had the enough space they needed to separate from each other. Contrastingly, killer whales in the wild are more peaceful toward each other and humans. There is only one accident of an orca biting someone in the wild. It happened in Big Sur, California when it bit a surfer’s leg but quickly let go; It “probably confused” the surfer for a seal.

Starting from the way they are captured, these animals suffer all their life in confinement. Currently, 58 orcas are held captive in different marine parks around the world. (The fate of captive orcas). At the moment of their capture this animals are hurled in and the young ones are captured, leaving the parents in despair over their offspring’s. (blackfish). No living creature should be separated from their mothers at such young age. Sometimes, the whales that are not captured are harpooned and killed when they threaten to interfere with the others captivation. (10 things you didn’t