The heartbreaking truth
In this article I will be talking about the documentary blackfish which is about killer whales in the famous park Sea World in Orlando, USA. This park was often visited by 24,391 persons in 2012, this number has been decreasing since the release of this documentary in 2013 and because of campaigns. But why?
Dawn Therese Brancheau (April 16, 1969 – February 24, 2010) was an American senior animal trainer at SeaWorld. She worked with orcas at SeaWorld Orlando for fifteen years, including a leading role in the Shamushow. She was killed by an orca, Tilikum, and many other trainers have been seriously injured by orcas. How come there hasn’t been any report on deaths caused by killer whales in the willed but there has been 2 deaths in sea world. The trainers that have been working in Sea World for or 15 years or more say that orcas live 30 to 45 years (scientifically this isn’t true, orcas live 80 to 90 years) and that they live better captive than in the willed because they have all the resources, they have all de medical attentions, food, and they can swim enough in the tanks.
I don’t agree with this, well yeah the orcas can have all the attention they need but there not free there trapped in a small tank for 30 or 45 years, I think they get depressed or just go crazy sometimes because there tiered of being in the same place doing the same thing every day of their lives and they don’t have any way to escape so the only option the whales have is to attack the people that are kipping them trapped. Whales have emotions and thoughts so to me the whales are like prisoners that are forced to do tricks to entertain people.
The captures of killer whales stated in 1970, 275 to 307 whales were captured from their ocean homes. Some of the whales died during the capture operations. John Crowe was the diver of the boat and he said that “help capturing a killer whale was one of the worst things I have every done in my life”. The way they capture these whales is by surrounding nets around them and pulling them up onto the boat, a lot of whales get injured, they get scares or even die in this process. Not only they get injured but they also get separated from their families, the worst part of it is that they capture the younger ones so that they last longer in the park, these whales are separated from their mother´s, so it more traumatizing for the little orcas.
When the whales arrive to Sea World they put them in small tanks. In my opinion it is a huge difference from the ocean because they aren´t any other animals to interact with, sand, a coral reef, and because of the space, they’re just not in their natural habitat. To me the whales are like prisoners that are forced to do tricks to entertain people.
The first "Baby Shamu" was named Kalina. She was the first surviving orca born in captivity on September 26, 1985. Baby Shamu was separated from her mother when she was little, Shamu was kept in a cage and her mother was kept in another. The mother of Baby Shamu tried to break the grid to be with her daughter, the mother injured her face many times. The reason why they separated them was because they were going to take Baby Shamu to the Miami sea aquarium.
This documentary has helped me realize that no animal should be captive, separated from their families or their habitat, that the only reason Sea World is doing this is to gain money. In March 2016, SeaWorld announced they are ending their orca breeding programs making their current orcas, "the last generation of orcas in SeaWorld's care." SeaWorld also announced they will be phasing out their theatrical orca whale shows and will introduce, "new, inspiring, natural orca encounters rather than theatrical shows, focusing on orca enrichment, exercise and overall health". I am very glad that they finally take this decision and hopefully aquariums in the world do the same.