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The Pros And Cons Of Orca Captivity

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Recommended: An argument on why orcas shouldnt be in captivity

When someone thinks about SeaWorld, they think of a tranquil place where humans and marine animals live in harmony and perform fun shows for families to enjoy. However, this is far from the truth. In reality, SeaWorld is hiding a dark secret. Within all those marine shows, there are voluminous amounts of lies. “It’s safe for trainers to be in the water with Orcas,” and “Captive Orcas’ life spans are equivalent to those in the wild,” are one of many lies about Orca captivity told by SeaWorld. Orca captivity needs to be stopped for human and trainer safety, Orca safety, and because of the Orcas’ happiness and their vile living conditions. To begin with, trainers and humans are putting themselves in the face of danger when they are with these …show more content…

Many argue keeping Orcas in these vile conditions is considered barbaric. All whales in captivity have a bad life (Cowperthwaite, 2013). Jeffrey Ventre states that SeaWorld is a multi-billion dollar company that makes money through the exploitation of Orcas (Cowperthwaite, 2013). The reason their living conditions are considered barbaric is because of two main reasons. One reason is that their tanks are way too small for them. According to Tierney (2010) “In captivity they have access to less than one ten-thousandth of 1 percent of the space available to them in their natural environment” (para. 7). The Orcas won’t get enough exercise in a small tank like the ones at SeaWorld which will cause them to have health problems. Daly (2019) states “You put [orcas] in a box that is 150 feet long by 90 feet wide by 30 feet deep and you’re basically turning them into a couch potato” (para. 7). Next, the Orcas do not get along with each other. Tilikum has been described to have bite and teeth marks on his skin from the other Orcas (Cowperthwaite, 2013). Orcas live in tight-knit family bonds (Tierney, 2010, para. 8). All the bonds between the Orcas at SeaWorld are artificial (Cowperthwaite, 2013). Most captive Orcas are taken young from their pods, a group of Orcas. The loss of social ties may cause that Orca to be sad or lonely (Tierney, 2010, para. 8). Most of these

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Once these orcas are brought into the amusement parks like SeaWorld, they get harassed by other whales which makes them much more aggressive than they would have otherwise been if they had remained in the wild. For example, in the movie one whale bashed in the jaw of another whale and in the process slashed its jugular causing the whale to bleed out. This is all due to the confinement which makes the whales more aggressive. Orcas turn surly and unpredictable when they are penned into small pools. The only time they get out in the bigger

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The first reason why I think should not be in captivity is of what happens in their tank. The first piece of evidence from the PETA practical “Aquariums and Marine Parks” is that since the tanks for the orcas are usually small for them, they get insane because of the echolocation they use. This makes me think that since their fin sometimes curves, that they would get injured while swimming. In addition, this might make the whale die faster than what they are supposed to live to. Other people might say it might non’t affect it

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Numerous people agree that SeaWorld should be shut down so that the breeding of the orcas will end and stop the parks from growing. Blackfish exposes SeaWorld during the documentary for separating a young orca from its mother because it was not performing the way SeaWorld desired it to. The audience was present when the mother orca separated herself and cried for her baby. This is one of many cons that Blackfish reveals about Whales in captivity. These whales are repeatedly at risk as they are being put and stuck inside small tanks for long hours, and being punished or starved if they do not perform tasks or tricks a certain way.

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The film Blackfish by Gabriela Cowperthwaite employs rhetorical strategies to convey the alarming misfortune that orca whales experience in captivity. The film follows the appalling story of the bull orca whale Tilikum and the three human fatalities he is responsible for. Ms. Cowperthwaite uses interviews with dismayed former trainers and whale experts as a vehicle to explore the gap between the conglomerate SeaWorld’s public image and its palpable reality. The wild orcas that researchers describe as highly socialized, gentle animals are juxtaposed with the creatures portrayed in footage from SeaWorld’s marine parks. The latter are abused, confined to dark cages, and live in small concrete pools that are nothing in comparison to the one

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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.

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That’s so crazy! Some people like to think that if SeaWorld has to close down, then so should the zoo. But that is really different, at the zoo no know has been hurt by an animal (at least I don’t think so), but at SeaWorld they have been many death occurred, because kids think it is safe for them to touch the animals, plus while training the orcas killed the trainers. “Orcas in the wild have an average life expectancy of 30 to 50 years—their estimated maximum lifespan is 60 to 70 years for males and 80 to over 100 for females. The average age of death for orcas who have died at SeaWorld is 13 years old,” by SeaWorldog Hunt.

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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).

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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.

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These incidents have ranged from lunging at control trainers to full on attacks. This raises the question, “Is it safe for people to be in the water with these animals?” The evidence clearly says no. Parks with orcas have been dealing with this ever since they started keeping orcas captive, and the intensity of these incidents have been increasing. Whenever these events would occur at a SeaWorld park, the orca trainers at other parks would be given very little information about the incident, or they were not told at all.

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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.

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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

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The development of steam-powered machines and the process of mass production in England was when the Industrial Revolution began. This was a great time of powerful growth. I gave many people jobs and products to buy. The economy grew tremendously. The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain for many reasons.

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In particular, animals need to be in their natural environment in order to survive. “In the absence of that, they are permanently stressed to the point where their immune systems are compromised, and they have no defense against the kind of infections that are common to orcas who spend their lives in concrete tanks” (Marino 1). Animals in a human environment can be an endangerment since they are supposed to be adapted to their environment. “Even at the very best of human care and medicine cannot fill the void since, if they are to thrive orcas need ‘orca care’ in an orca environment, not a human one” (Marino 2). Animals used for breeding can be dangerous and result in serious disorders.

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Animals do not belong in tanks, cages, or exhibits and should not be treated with such poor care and neglect. People should not visit zoos, aquariums, or circuses. Wild orcas and dolphins spend their life swimming far distances every day and when in captivity, they are only allowed to swim in tiny circles (Aquariums and Marine Parks). The two mammals communicate and

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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.

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