Seaworld

According to Voice of San Diego, a journalism website for San Diego citizens, 4.4 million people visited SeaWorld San Diego in 2012, and the park has 10 orcas. There are 2,500 to 4,500 staff members at the park. The visitors have their favorite park, but do they truly know what SeaWorld is like? Do they know how the whales they see and the trainers they meet are treated by SeaWorld? Visitors to SeaWorld should be able to know the truth to the park, which is why reading the book Beneath the Surface, written by John Hargrove, is the best decision to make.

Firstly, this book explains how whales actually act in the wild. Seaworld is, essentially, placing all of the whales in a prison. Hargrove writes, “The physical appearance of the parks is impressive…

It started an artificial insemination program to make more whales, and they force their whales to suffer through unnatural events. On page 156, Hargrove states that he saw one of his favorite whales, Takara (female) have to suffer through 18 month pregnancies one after another. “Seaworld saw Takara as a baby machine. Within one year of giving birth… we started preparing to artificially inseminate her again.” Another quote states that “... a study… put a price of about $15 million to $20 million on each of SeaWorld’s killer whales… little has been done to improve the facilities for the same whales that are worth tens of millions to the corporation… SeaWorld says it put back $70 million into the killer whale pools… Very little or nothing of which went toward improving the living conditions for the whales.” The whales are suffering, all because of SeaWorld’s greediness for money. What is even more horrifying is how SeaWorld treats its whale trainers. On page 164, Hargrove says that “On June 15, 1987, Joanne Webber had her neck broken after a 6,000-pound killer whale hit her… The force thrust Webber to the bottom of the 40-foot pool. There appeared to be more concern over SeaWorld property than over getting her immediate care. According to the she would file, she was made to walk 50 feet to an enclosure and was told to remove her wetsuit so that emergency workers wouldn’t have to

It explains how whales actually act in the wild, tells the reader that killer whales are actually very dangerous animals in the wild, not the fun ones on the surface, and shows how many harmful actions SeaWorld is willing to do to earn money. SeaWorld’s visitors need to know about the truth of the parks they love to visit, and this book is perfect for teaching fans of SeaWorld what their favorite theme park truly is like beneath the