The Horror of Orcas in Captivity

Orcas, the killer whales

Orcas, also known as killer whales, are large, powerful predators.  Killer whales are mammals that can be found in all of the oceans in the world.  They were first captured live and displayed in exhibitions in the 1960s and soon became popular attractions at public aquariums and aquatic theme parks due to their intelligence, trainability, striking appearance, playfulness in captivity, and sheer size.

However, the issue of keeping these majestic creatures in captivity raises a lot of controversies.  Organizations such as the World Society for the Protection of Animals and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society are against the captivity of killer whales.  This is because they say that killer whales in captivity live a stressful and hard life due to the lack of swimming space, chemically altered water, and the fact that they are being starved in order for them to perform.

Killer whales suffer reduced lifespan in captivity since they are forced to live in unnatural living conditions for a long period of time.  Female orcas normally live up to 50 years in the wild; however, in captivity, they mostly only live up to 20-30 years.   Male orcas usually live up to 30 years in the wild, but in captivity, most of them live up to only 20 years.  The amount of stress that killer whales suffer from in captivity is also much larger than the amount of stress that they experience in the wild.  This stress causes their nervous system to break down easily which could be the cause of their death.  Pneumonia is also a common illness of killer whales in captivity, which also leads to their death.

Almost all male captive orcas suffer from having a collapsed dorsal fin.  Scientists from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) say that collapsed dorsal fins result from an irreversible structural change in the fin’s collagen over time.  This can be due to alterations in water balance caused by stresses of the captive whale’s dietary changes (this is because the fish being fed to the orcas is not fresh unlike the fish in the wild, but only frozen), lowered blood pressure due to lack of physical activity (the tiny space that the killer whales live in in captivity does not give them much room to swim in), and overheating of the collagen since the captive whales spend too much time on the surface of the water.

Lastly, some killer whales in captivity have attacked human beings (look at the page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_whale_attacks_on_humans for more details).   An example of this is the orca Tilikum, who killed his trainer Dawn Brancheau at the end of a show at SeaWorld Orlando.  Witnesses say that Tilikum grabbed Dawn by the left arm and pulled her into the water, drowning her.

The story of Tilikum and Dawn Brancheau’s death is the main point of ‘Blackfish’, a documentary that exposes SeaWorld and the horrible truths behind the death of Dawn.  According to this documentary, Tilikum killed Dawn because of the stress and frustration he has felt because of his being separated from his family and ocean home, and spending over the past 20 years in intense confinement and isolation lacking emotional and intellectual stimulation.

All of these points are tackled in the film ‘Blackfish’, and quite prove that orcas should be set free since they have no place in theme parks.  It is just simply inhumane to keep wild animals in captivity and train them to perform tricks for food.  It is also gruesome to think that these amazing creatures are forced to swim in tiny circles to amuse tourists and spend the majority of their lives virtually motionless in concrete tanks that are the human equivalent of a bathtub.  Their important matriarchal bonds are broken when babies are taken from their mothers and sold or transferred to other parks, and captive orcas live only a fraction of their average life span.

Blogpost by: Elaine Lee Ramos


References:

PETA. 'Blackfish': The Documentary That Exposes SeaWorld. Last Updated: January 2014 Retrieved from: http://www.seaworldofhurt.com/blackfish.aspx

Breeanna Hare. 'Blackfish': A chilling doc on captive killer whales. Last Updated: October 29, 2013 Retrieved from: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/12/showbiz/movies/blackfish-documentary-exclusive-clip/index.html

Wikipedia.org. Killer whale attacks on humans Killer whale attacks on humans. Last Updated: January 24, 2014 Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_whale_attacks_on_humans

Wikipedia.org. Captive Killer Whales. Last Updated: January 21, 2014 Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captive_killer_whales

Wikipedia.org. Killer Whale. Last Updated: January 12, 2014 Retrieved From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captive_killer_whales