I do not think that there are anymore than 5 whales in captivity who were born in the ocean: they were all born in these parks. Send any of them back and they will die. They have all been fed and have never been trained to hunt: they'll all think that they have to do tricks for the whole world. Even those whales such as Tilikum - who was caught in Iceland in 1982 - would not last because he's been INSTITUTIONALISED! They would starve and die, it is as simple as that. If you put them in cordoned off parts of the ocean that are extremely large then that could work. Don't leave them in their horrible small pools but don't just shove them back in the ocean and expect them to fend for themselves and survive, either: they wouldn't see out the year. These people should have done something a long time ago!! Yes they're almost endangered and no, they shouldn't be because they're beautiful animals and belong in the wild but before long, they will be all extinct.
When it comes to the situation regarding captive animals I am extremely passionate; I hate anything to do with animals being taken from their homes and placed in pools 1/10 the size of their natural habitat and made to do tricks for the equally disgusting public.
Unlike a lot of people it was not the movie Blackfish that spurred my hatred for SeaWorld. It is my love for animals and sense of knowing that if I was placed in a cage and made to do tricks for the public, I would hate it.
However, Blackfish did give me a much clearer insight to how the captive whales at SeaWorld are treated. The death of three people was blamed on the victim but when investigations were led and it was revealed not to be their fault, the whale in question - Tilikum - was blamed. Yet how can he be blamed? Yes, he killed them but what we have to realise is this: all three victims died doing something he did not agree with.
Keltie Byrne
When Tilikum was first caught he was sent to Sealand of the Pacific. Here he was responsible for the death of a young girl named Keltie Byrne. Although he did kill her, he was reacting to a situation that he was not used to. He is placed in a pool exceptionally smaller that the ocean in which he was used to living in and made to entertain the public which he was not used to doing. He reacted to an unknown situation with violence and force: yes the girl died but can you really blame a kidnapped whale for acting on his distress?
Daniel P. Dukes
In 1999 at SeaWorld resort in Orlando, Daniel P. Dukes was found dead in the enclosure of Tilikum. Dukes had hidden from security the night before and made his way to the pool. He was naked with his clothes discovered on the side of the pool: he clearly had thought that he could swim with the whales and live to tell the tale.
Whether Tilikum had been responsible for the man's death, Dukes should not have taken it upon himself to enter Tilikum's home and invade his privacy: we wouldn't allow that to happen to us when an intruder attempts to enter our home without our permission. This was an act of defence from the whale and not an act of murder.
Dawn Brancheau
The death of Dawn Brancheau just proved that Tilikum had reached an unstable psychosis and that his involvement in the death of his trainer was simply him acting in violence after being given the opportunity to do so.
^^ As you can see in the above image, Dawn 'chilled' on the whale as though this was a natural occurrence. It was not and it was actions like these that most likely led to her death in 2010.
When Dawn died a horrific death in 2010 due to Tilikum attacking her, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) investigated her death and the events leading to it thoroughly at the request of Dawn's family and husband. SeaWorld claimed that Tilikum pulled her into the water by her ponytail and that he acted on this because he assumed the ponytail was a fish. However further investigating revealed that Tilikum actually dragged Dawn into the water by her foot and within minutes she was dead. Having been in captivity for 29 years, Tiliikum had reached a point where he no longer was rational and patient; he snapped and took it out on the one person he could at the time. He cannot be blamed for her death; it is his many years in captivity that have led him to his unstable psychotic state.
The point of this post is to outlay the facts; whales are not stable within captivity where they are being looked after. If they are released into the wild, they would not survive. Whales such as Tilikum may have been born in the wild but they have been raised in captivity for 80% of heir lives; they would not know how to hunt and would attack other whales. Those born in captivity would also die: their lives in 20ft by 30ft pools where they are fed and forced to perform tricks are the only lives they know and can comprehend.
I will never understand how people can justify stealing these beautiful, soon-to-be-endangered animals and putting them in the water-equivalent of a prison. It is beyond barbaric and before long these beautiful creatures will be extinct and a distant memory.
Growing up I adored films such as Free Willy but now and as I've got older, I just do not look at that film as a childhood memory. The whale who 'played' Willy was a male orca names Keiko. He was released into the wild after the making of the films and the scenes filmed in Free Willy and his life in captivity led to him 'beaching' himself on shores, allowing children to ride on his back and returning to harbours to be fed by stall owners and the general public. For a whale so beautiful, his life ended as a play-thing for those who just saw a whale who leaped over a rock wall to freedom. He should have spent his life in the ocean, having babies and spending his life with family. He should not have died a commodity.
I may sound as though I'm preaching or just whining about something 'inconsequential' but these WILD animals belong in the wild their whole lives: they don't belong in tiny pools, they don't deserve to be bred and raised in captivity and they certainly do not deserve to spend decades in captivity just to be released to die in the environment they were born to live in.
I know that not only Orcas are being captured and placed in captivity: Dolphins, polar bears, penguins and seals are a few of many other breeds of animals being kept in captivity. Yet is the Orca who makes he headlines and it is the Orca who is the most discussed: it is the Orca who causes the most worry due to their sheer size.
Unless an example is set regarding the abolition of captive orcas there will be no abolition of the capture and captivity of other water animals or any other animal!
I hope you enjoyed this and it made you think: how would you liked to be caught and put in a small enclosed space for the rest of your life?
You wouldn't.
Comments would be lovely: it'd be nice to hear what people think.
Lizzie
Xxxxx
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