Orcas are amazing, charismatic animals that are exploited by parks like Seaworld. They have social structures much like ours, also they have strong family ties. Most Orcas do not leave their mothers for the span of their lives. On SeaWorlds website they state that the Orcas have "lifespans equivilent to those in the wild", which is a flat-out lie. Most Orcas in the wild live to be older than 60 years old, so why does SeaWorld claim that 30 years is an average lifespan for an Orca in the wild?
Since the opening of SeaWorld parks 37 Orca whales have died while in captivity, all under the age of 60. It is known for an Orca to live up to 90 years old...in the wild. Due to the phycological and physical stress the whales go under while in captivity,the whales die very young.
In Seaworlds 'Open letter from SeaWorlds animal advocates' page they state that the killer whales in their care benefit those in the wild. How, in any way, is this true? How does sitting in a small concrete pool benefit the whale? How can floating around in a cage benefit any animal, let alone one with a highly evolved mind?
As you can see, SeaWorld may act like they are 'helping' the Orcas but they really are just giving them a death sentence.
http://saveorcawhalessocal.weebly.com/seaworld-tangled-in-lies.html
