How many orcas have to die to end captivity?
The latest death at SeaWorld is just another tragic waste of an orca’s life
There have been three orca deaths this year at SeaWorld and we’re still trying to hide from the truth that captivity is no place for whales. Kasatka was euthanised by SeaWorld after a battle with a lung disease. Her death comes amid months of speculation about her health, with photos circulating online supposedly showing evidence of skin infections. At least her miserable time in captivity is now over.
The superb documentary Blackfish brought to light the damage captivity does to orcas, as well as the practices that went into capturing orcas in the first place. Tilikum’s story went global. Tilikum was taken from captivity as a young orca. His time in the tanks saw him linked to the death of three people. He died in January this year but the miserable years of captivity he endured have left campaigners fighting for all orcas to be free.
The documentary has been blamed for declining visits to SeaWorld but while orca shows plunge in popularity in the West, their demand is growing in the East with China and Russia looking to showcase their own orcas. Just what more has to be done for the world to understand we have no right to kidnap orcas? When will we see it’s wrong to force them to live in tiny tanks for our own amusement?
Just what more has to be done for the world to understand we have no right to kidnap orcas?
SeaWorld owned orca, Morgan, was videoed in 2016 in what onlookers claimed was an attempt at suicide. Research shows that animals can experience mental ill health, and this has been recorded in animals in captivity, including orcas.
Back in the early days of orca captivity, Seaquarium’s Hugo was witnessed repeatedly bashing his head against the walls of his tank over the years. After 12 years of captivity, in 1980, Hugo died of a brain aneurysm.
Orcas are highly sociable creatures. They depend on their freedom and on their pods. Being put in a small tank is the worst form of emotional abuse for them. It would be the equivalent of leaving a human being to live in a small room for the rest of their life. Although while there may be a case that animal abusers deserve exactly that, orcas certainly do not.
The deaths of these beautiful creatures are the result of two things: capitalism and human entitlement. For cheap tickets, people believe they have a divine right to experience nature – it’s educational, of course. We’ll just put aside the fact that SeaWorld hasn’t given accurate information on orcas natural lives vs their lives in captivity. We act as though we have the right to see, touch and swim with any creature we want. Evidence suggests that swimming with dolphins causes them significant stress and yet we still go. Because dolphins are cute and we just want to see them.
We don’t have the right. The planet is not ours. We share it with other creatures. We destroy habitats because we want to, we take creatures from their families, we inflict abuse and think nothing of it. Our world depends on biodiversity. It depends on us all coexisting but all that’s happened is that humans have taken what they’ve wanted with little thought for anything else.
The planet is not ours
The orcas that have perished at SeaWorld deserved full and proper lives at sea. Some may well have gotten infections in the ocean – but they would have been in their proper homes. They would have been free.
We might get a kick out of seeing orcas up close in their miniscule tanks but they don’t. They experience trauma. If you want to see an orca, go to an ocean where they reside and get on a damn boat. Instead of flying to SeaWorld, spend money whale watching in Scotland and donate to those going out of their way to try to save these majestic creatures from extinction. I’m not sorry Kasatka is at peace now. I’m just sorry she was ever forced to endure captivity to begin with.
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