Let Sea Worlds Orcas Out Now!

Since Sea World opened in 1964, over one hundred orcas have been kept captive and used for our personal purposes. The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society states that the majority of performing captive orcas are located at Seaworld. As of today there are 20 orcas that are confined in Seaworld theme parks. This number might not seem startling but when you begin to dig deeper into the situation you start to see even more startling statistics. In the 50 years that Seaworld has been open 31 orcas have lost their lives. These 31 deaths do not include any stillborn or miscarriages that might have happened. John S Jetts, a visiting researcher professor from Stetson University, states in his report “Keto and Tilikum Express the Stress of Orca Captivity” how the stress of being in captivity can make mother orcas deny their children and cause death. This report says that the stress that these orcas are put through causes mental breakdowns which only leads to them becoming insane. After having these breakdowns these orcas,who usually only use their ferocity on prey, begin to use it on their trainers. This is not the trainers fault, nor the orcas fault, but Seaworlds fault for putting them in a situation that damages their brain.
These orcas are put to work as entertainment and are often mistreated if they do not cooperate with trainers. Documentaries such as Blackfish tell tales of Orcas being separated from their family and mistreated by Seaworld. As well as being mentally and physically abusive towards these mammals, Sea World keeps them confined to a 190 ft by 80 ft pool. These majestic mammals can swim hundreds of miles a day but are contained in a pool of water that doesn't even compare to someones house. Seaworld San Diego has great plans to expand their orca exhibit, but that does not change a thing. Doubling the size of the containment does not put them back in the ocean with other orcas and their families. You can double the size of a prison cell, but it doesn't mean that that cell is any more home to a prisoner, it is still just a cell. The only thing that will give the beautiful creatures their sanity back is by releasing them into the wild where they are free to do whatever they please. In the wild they do not have to do backflips for their dinner or have to learn new choreography for a new show, they just have to live.
If we don't look at all the horrible effects that captivity has on orcas then lets take a look at how it affects us humans. There has been 5 deaths that have been a result of orca injuries. Four of which have been from one orca, Tilikum, and the other from an orca that was one of Seaworlds. 5 peoples lives are gone and their family devastated because we believe that getting in a pool and doing flips with “killer whales” will teach people something about our ocean. How many more families do we have to destroy before we realize that keeping orcas captive is not smart. Jetts report on Keto and Tilikum just give more reason as to why orcas in captivity are not only a danger to themselves but to us. Orcas are not our personal entertainers they are smart beings who deserve more that to be stuck in a pool doing shows for people who will never truly understand the beauty of them. And that needs to change now!