Seaworld — Friend or Foe?
The dolphin rolls onto the ledge; out of the water, seemingly by choice. People flock to the edge and fight for position to reach out and touch the smooth skin and take pictures. The dolphin lays on the ledge for a moment — it’s labored breathing makes it appear distressed. I hurry to the edge of the tank to catch a glimpse and maybe be lucky enough to touch it but as I watch the animal in distress, I recoil and step away. I’d rather see the dolphin in the ocean from the beach than from the concrete sidewalk at the edge of a tank. This was my very first time visiting Seaworld, I was eight years old and I was amazed seeing these creatures up close. As I have grown, I’ve become aware that Seaworld has been very controversial to many people. I’ve come to realize that Seaworld as a corporation exploits these marine animals for profit therefore, Seaworld should shut down.
Behind the Scenes
To examine Seaworld a little closer, one can look at their treatment of marine animals and orcas specifically. Orcas have been known to dive down over 1000 feet deep in the wild. The tanks at Seaworld only reach 50 feet. The tanks are simply too shallow. In the wild, orcas spend 95 percent of their time deep down in the ocean. At Seaworld, orcas get sunburnt due to living in shallower waters and Seaworld covers their burns with zinc oxide to disguise their burns to the public. In response to public criticism regarding their treatment of orcas, Seaworld has banned orca shows and breeding. However, Dolphins are still being breed. According to an ex-seaworld employee said “They breed dolphins like you breed guinea pigs. The second they can breed them, they breed them,” she said. “A young female dolphin isn’t supposed to be having babies back to back to back.”Captivity at Seaworld causes physical damage to animals and it also causes emotional stress. Orcas and dolphins navigate with echolocation, using sounds reflected by objects in order to determine their location. But in the tanks the reverberations from their sonar bounces off the walls. This misdirection drives dolphins and orcas crazy. Additionally, captive orcas show signs of depression and anxiety by chewing on metal cage bars, concrete — anything within their reach.
“The other mechanism [of tooth damage]… is a very acute event, happening in literally seconds (not over the lifetime of the animal). This happens when captive killer whales do ‘threat displays’ at each other, usually when vying for dominance. The whales will snap their jaws at each other, usually when a steel gate is between them.” While this aggressive chewing may not sound like a big deal, if they destroy their teeth, the whales can die from tooth disease.
The enclosures at SeaWorld are very unsanitary. The USDA states that Seaworld parks violate several parts of the Animal Welfare Act. Dolphin and orca tanks are in horrible condition. Examples of the poor condition include sides of the tanks are cracked, beams are rusty, and concrete is crumbling off the sides of the tanks.
Controversy Regarding the Parks
Seaworld has sparked controversy, getting celebrities attention such as Pink. She is a famous singer and an animal rights activist and has weighed in on the polarizing debate involving Seaworld and its housing of killer whales. According to Pink, she emailed the company: “When will Seaworld transfer its orcas and other marine mammals to seaside sanctuaries to save them — and itself?” Jane Goodall, a respected scientist and advocate for the world’s primates opposes Seaworld and states “It’s not only that they’re really big, highly intelligent and social animals so that the capture and confinement in itself is cruel,” she said, but also that “they have emotions like ours.”
People argue that Seaworld should release their animals into the wild but it is complicated because some of these animals were born in captivity their entire life. They wouldn’t know how to hunt or how to survive. Instead Ocas, dolphins, belugas, etc could be released into sea sanctuaries where they have more freedom to swim and live more naturally.
Should Seaworld remain open?
Seaworld isn’t entirely evil. There are many benefits of Seaworld. Each year they have rescued and rehabilitated an estimated 23,000 marine animals. A specific example includes Chhouk the elephant. Chhouk was found starving in the wilderness of Cambodia with his foot caught in a trap. After Chhouk was rescued by the wildlife alliance, Seaworld was asked to build a prosthetic limb for Chhouk and to help teach him how to use the prosthetic leg. After training Chhouk is now thriving in the royal wildlife sanctuary in Cambodia. Additionally, in 1965 Shamu was the first ever born orca whale in captivity. This birth gave scientists data on killer whales that they were not able to gain in the wild. They learned about the gestation period, nursing, growth rate of Shamu and have been able to apply this information to wild whale populations. Seaworld also has a program called “Happy Tails” which has helped over 30,000 cats and dogs find homes. The percentage of funds earned from admission tickets and donations go toward the park animals, saving other species and restoring natural habitats.
New changes to Seaworld Parks
Due to the controversial film Blackfish, Seaworld has decided to end it’s orca shows where orcas perform tricks. Instead Seaworld has debuted a new show called “orca encounter” this includes a film about the animals’ behavior, and displays important information about the marine predators. While the orcas do splash the audience, the show is very different from the parks’ long-running spectacle of the past, where the whales would perform tricks, and trainers would ride the whales and swim with them underwater. These changes help balance the evil perceptions of Seaworld and replace them with things that benefit the animals.
Lindy Donahue, an animal behaviorist at Seaworld, told ABC News that “the animals are happy,” and the work the park has done in recent years to accommodate the animals “is absolutely enough.”Donahue added that she believed the whales at Seaworld were living a happy, full life.”People need to learn about the animals otherwise they won’t learn to protect them,” she added.
Seaworld CEO Joe Manby also announced the end of the captive breeding program at Seaworld, though he claimed Seaworld would not be releasing the born-in-captivity whales back into the wild, as it’s “not a wise option.” “Most of our orcas were born at Seaworld, and those that were born in the wild have been in our parks for the majority of their lives. If we release them into the ocean, they will likely die,” wrote Manby. With response to public outcry, the parks have made changes to their treatment of animals. Rather than closing the parks completely or keeping them open while continuing their mistreatment of animals, maybe there is a compromise that could be reached. The benefits that Seaworld provides in rehabilitation, research and treatment of wounded animals could continue while the cruel and unnatural treatment of the mammals would discontinue.
In the end, Seaworld allows many people to view these magnificent creatures up close when they would never encounter in any other part of their lives. The best of Seaworld should continue. The evil activities of Seaworld need to stop. If the barbaric treatment of animals ceases, a new and improved Seaworld can be born.
