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SeaWorld Is Making A Huge (and Welcome) Change

 

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This past St. Patrick’s Day, animal rights activists and generally decent humans had more to celebrate than just the holiday/excuse to get hammered in the name of Ireland- because Sea World announced it would be ending both its orca breeding program as well as its shows featuring the whales.

This means that the current generation of Sea World orcas- 23 in its American parks- will be the amusement park’s last.

This decision has almost certainly come after experiencing steady declines in visitor attendance as the issue of aquatic mammals in captivity has become more prominent to the public eye. With animal rights organizations like PETA widely publicizing the issue, and the CNN-produced documentary Blackfish becoming a relative box office success, more people have grown concerned about the ethics of raising of whales and dolphins in captivity.

Some of the concerns include the fact that orcas at Sea World and similar theme parks live in small spaces that they would never be confined to in the wild- in fact, even the largest tanks occupy less than 1% of the space an orca in the wild would travel in a single day. Other concerns regard the emotional and physical health of the whales- orcas only live 25-30 years in captivity but can live 60-80 in the wild, and many whales showcase signs of isolation and aggression.

One of the most prominent concerns is spectator safety. Three deaths have been linked to Sea World’s whales, and while one could be explained as a drowning related to alcohol consumption, animal rights activists fear at least two deaths were linked to aggressive behaviour from the orcas, including the high-publicized death of Dawn Brancheau, one of Sea World’s own trainers.

Sea World’s breeding program has also brought on controversy- half of Sea World’s whales now have a genetic link to Tilikum, the largest whale in captivity and the animal linked to all three of the above deaths. Some fear that breeding using Tilikum’s sperm could lead to a future generation of aggressive animals, and others say that forced breeding is abusive, plain and simple.

While the end of shows that endanger human lives and use living creatures as entertainment, and a controversial breeding program is being celebrated, some believe this action is not enough. While Sea World is by far the most well-known and profitable American theme park to have orcas, similar parks operate across the world, so this accomplishment is in no way an end to aquatic mammals in captivity on a global scale.

Additionally, Sea World has made it clear that they will not be releasing any whales into the wild, citing that there has never been a successful case of re-integration, and the whales will likely be unable to survive in the new environment.

Regardless, this announcement is not only a major step forward for animal rights, but also a glowing example of public power- without the socially conscious minds deciding not to give their time and money to an unethical company, it is likely these changes would never have been made.

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