Animal Captivity- Melanie Mailhot (Edison)

We all love going to amusement parks such as Sea World and Busch Gardens. The last time I went to Sea World was in the 4^th grade. I was completely infatuated with the place. I loved the atmosphere and the people. I wanted to become a whale or dolphin trainer. How amazing would it be to be up close and personal with these beautiful and intelligent sea mammals? However, as I got older, I started questioning these places such as Sea World. I have not gone to Sea World since my 4^th grade experience. You may ask why? Well, I do not agree with animal captivity. Recently, the death of Dawn Brancheau, the Sea World trainer who was drowned by Tilikum the Orca whale has brought many questions back up in the air. Do animals belong in captivity?

Many people may not see this as a ‘social problem’, but I do. Though I do not agree with any animal captivity, I am only speaking on behalf of Orcas in this blog. Dawn Brancheau was a 12 year veteran working for Sea World. She spent those years with Tilikum. She had a very good relationship with the orca whale. Whales are one of the most intelligent animals on the planet; which makes it a little hard to comprehend the attack of his trainer. There have been more reports of attacks by dolphins and whales in captivity more than attacks in the wild. Research has indicated that animals do not flourish while in captivity. Whales and dolphins can travel up to 200 miles daily. While in captivity, they are limited wall to wall. They have to room to do the things they could do in the wild. Tilikum has been in captivity since 1983. He was captured off the coast of Iceland. The hunt for these animals can turn out badly. People who capture the animals can damage their fins and sometimes, even kill them. To capture them, a person jumps on the back of a whale to tire them so it is easier for the person to capture them. It is a very dirty business. Without Orca whales or dolphins, Sea World would be nothing. Because of them, they are a million dollar business. They are only in it for the money, not the well being of the animal. Yes, it is an educational for students who are learning about sea life, but the only way to learn about such a large animal is to go see it in the wild. It is a rewarding experience seeing a whale or dolphin in its natural environment, not in a fake tank.

“Male orcas can live up to 30 years in the wild, and 50 years for female orcas. In captivity, they are lucky if they live 20 years. 194 orca whales have been captured since 1964 and 2/3 did not make it past 10 years. Less than 30 orcas survived more than 20 years in captivity.” (http://www.orcahome.de/lifeexpectancy.htm)

Though the age expectancy in captivity is rising slowly close to the expectancy of those in natural environment, it is still not healthy.

I see this as a social problem because people are taking these animals for human entertainment and it is not right. If you take a perfectly sane person, put them in a padded white room with no explanation to as why you put them in that room, they are going to go insane, no matter what. You think these animals love getting treats thrown at them for good behavior, they don’t. Just like a human getting food at them as their meal when they are good. These animals have such strong bonds with their pods, which is their family and once you rip them of that, it is tragic. The family bond between families is much stronger than a human’s family bond. There have been reports of dolphins actually suffocating themselves. They close their blow hole and it constricts their breathing.  Sea World claims they are for educational purposes, but please enlighten me with the circumstances you take to capture these animals. They don’t care about education, they care about MONEY. And that is it! If you want to see the real animals and their true dignity, take a boat off the coast of Washington to see them live where they belong.

This entry was posted on 28. April 2010 at 20:58 and is filed under Social Problems. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.