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The effects of captivity on whales
The effects of captivity on whales
The effects of captivity on whales
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In Blackfish, one of the most critically acclaimed documentaries of 2013, director Gabriela Cowperthwaite asserts that the inhumane practice of keeping killer whales in captivity is not the right thing to do. They are animals and they like to be open and free. Keeping killer whales in captivity is dangerous to the animals themselves, it makes them more aggressive, and also has the potential to harm and even kill the humans who work with them. Orcas are simply not meant for confinement. They are very calm and happy when they are in the ocean.
I believe keeping orcas in captivities is not humane .To keep orcas in a zoo for display is acceptable, but it is morally unacceptable to use them for entertainment at SeaWorld. I saw the film Blackfish and now, I resent SeaWorld. They care more about profit than animal welfare. Keeping these sentient animals in captivity for an extended period of time causes them severe psychological damage, as evidenced by several killer whale attacks on trainers.
Orcas’ Behind Closed Tanks Imagine you are a four to eight year old child and you are on vacation with your family entering into a SeaWorld. The excitement has been built up from the commercials that show you these huge and majestic animals that are not like the everyday animal you see on a daily basis. The commercials have a way of taking your imagination to another level, and any child even an adult is at awe with the level of performance these orcas’ are putting on. Amongst the magic, laughter, and adrenaline that you feel you don’t question whether or not these wild animals should be contained like they are.
For example, when an orca gets hungry it no longer has the ability to swim and search for it's own food. In captivity orcas must learn to rely completely on their trainers, an instinct that does not naturally exist in an orcas brain. Due to the fact that the trainers need the orcas to trust them, they make sure to only give the orcas food after they have performed a task, or have just completed a show. While watching the orcas perform, it can be noted that most of the orcas dorsal fins manage to not stand up straight. In the wild, less than five percent of the orca population struggles with a collapsed dorsal fin.
The people of the Ethical Treatment of Animals have filed lawsuits on SeaWorld (PETA), PETA claimed that SeaWorld captured 5 orcas from the wild and they are seeking a declaration that those five orcas are slaves and subjected to involuntary servitude. Different rhetorical devices such as extreme exaggeration, ethos, are used to persuade and inform the audience about animals that are being held at SeaWorld in articles Orcas Aren't the Only Ones Being Mistreated at SeaWorld, The Guardian, and As SeaWorld stops breeding orcas, what are the impacts of research?. As seen in the movie Blackfish several orcas at SeaWorld have a collapsed dorsal fin that has the public concerned.
I believe that SeaWorld should close down because, animals are kept in captivity which is harmful to the orcas. True SeaWorld is a wonderful place to visit, it’s a great place to go and get entertained, but what you might not know is that it is hurting the animals. Keeping the orcas in tanks and cages is very dangerous because when they are let out, their could be very dangerous and can be very grumpy and aggressive. The truth is that the orcas are taken from the pod from the wild and are brought to the SeaWorld. Therefore, when they arrive at SeaWorld, they are expected to make friends with other orcas and become a pod.
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).
The target audience of this documentary is the general public that includes a big emphasis on the customers of SeaWorld. The filmmakers are trying to inform the public of the inhumane treatment and the conditions that the orcas face while at amusements parks such as SeaWorld. As described in the film, orcas are seen as intellectual animals that are aware of their surroundings. Because of their intellect, orcas don’t belong in a place SeaWorld and should be released.
On top of all of this, they are not being bred naturally. In SeaWorld, Orcas naturally breed at the age of 15, but in SeaWorld they are bred at the age of 8 or 9 (thetoptens). This shows that the company only wants more animals for more shows and more money, even though it is not right. You might be saying, “well they have rehabilitation center inside the parks to help the animals when needed.” This is true, but no matter how much medicine you give them cannot cure their animal nature of wanting to be free in the ocean and stop their sadness of being enclosed.
Since then, SeaWorld no longer takes orcas from the sea, because they have enough whales at SeaWorld to birth their own. This just adds to the fact that SeaWorld is
Imagine you are stuck in a jail cell, blindfolded. You are forced to do ever anyone says, and you do tricks for other amusement. That’s how a whale in captivity feels all the time. Whales shouldn’t be held captive because whales are taken from their families, whales are forced to do shows, and most importantly whales have to live in to small tanks which can be harmful to the whale. One thing Seaworld isn’t telling us is that they take whales from their families in the wild.
Each animal enclosure needs to be updated to meet the specific necessities of each animal. One risk posed by the current habitat for killer whales, is how long these animals spend at the surface in captivity. The whales can become sun burned and two killer whales have died from being bitten by a mosquito (Lewis, 2013). This is unheard of in the wild because the killer whales are able to swim away from pests such as mosquitos. By having larger and deeper habitats, killer whales could swim away or dive deep to
Territories border a specific species’ personal space, the Orinus orca is no stranger to this as any other living thing. What makes the whale’s reputation “killer” is its compliance to territories. Killer whales are innocent, but immature. Their actions prove them to be “killer” as witnesses say, but do they really think on the Orinus orca’s perception of the situations of violence they are involved in? Killer whale’s do what any other wild animal does, and when captive it is no surprise they would do the same.
As you can see there has been many deaths at Seaworld because the animals, such as Orca whales, can not adapt to the small warm environment after being in the huge ocean with their family for their whole life. As said on “Live Science”“A 3-month-old orca calf
In my opinion, I believe that marine mammals should not be held in captivity for many reasons. To start, they are taking away the animals from their natural habitat. Secondly, captivity causes both major and minor health problems. Another significant reason is that the poor marine creatures do not have enough space to swim resulting in severe boredom and causing them to do harm to themselves Captivity causes many health problems for the innocent marine mammals. There was an incident when Six of Marineland 's seals were blinded, or got serious eye problems because of the unclean water.