The ocean's magnificent giants have been fighting a battle with the human race for over fifty years with little recognition of the war that has been waging on some the greatest creatures on this planet. As a kid, I dreamed of having the opportunity to be taken to SeaWorld to experience the crazy whale shows where the whole crowd would joyfully get soaked and beam in amazement the whole way through. A large part of the amazement came from the curiosity within the crowd that wanted to know how such a large creature that lived in the ocean was in a pool, listening to a trainer and doing tricks right in front of their very eyes. Little did people realize, these massive animals were not as enthralled with the idea of their captivity and domesticated ways. It is interesting that something that once brought people so much joy and entertainment is now being recognized as something negative. The topic of whales in captivity, specifically at SeaWorld, has finally recently become an extremely controversial topic in the media after the release of the 2013 film Blackfish. Society is changing and people are now realizing that creatures as large and as wild as whales do not deserve to be held unwillingly in captivity for the rest of their lives where they only experience negative consequences and have to suffer for the rest of their lives. The captivity of whales is not only diminishing the species of killer whales itself but it is also damaging the ecosystem in the oceans.

Throughout the years, there have been people that were somewhat ahead of their time and began researching how captivity effects whale's way before it was such a controversial topic. These people have published what they discovered, making them available to the public to view and educate themselves. Some of the research has shown that keeping killer whales is very destructive to the creatures and also the trainers and employees at SeaWorld. When a whale is brought in to the theme park, they experience a multitude of treatments that are not only unfair but they show that there is little to no care for what these animals naturally need. Orca whales are huge and need a lot of space to swim around and there is no tank that is large enough to properly fit them. These whales are moved from a place where they, "could swim up to 100 miles a day in the wild, to tanks that, to them, are the size of a bathtub. They would need to swim 1,208 laps (around the perimeter of the tank) or 3,105 lengths (back and forth at the longest part of the tank) in the park's largest tank to equal what they'd swim in the wild" (8 Reasons Orcas Don't Belong at SeaWorld, par. 1). They also are not fed the proper diet that an orca whale would have to opportunity to obtain in their natural setting. Because of their confinement, "orcas are unable to hunt and obtain water from their prey, so SeaWorld gives them gelatin, a substance that is not natural for them, in an attempt to keep them hydrated" which only causes more damage to their already weakened bodies (8 Reasons Orcas Don't Belong at SeaWorld, par. 6). Due to the facts laid out it is clear that the negative effects of captivity far surpass the positive effects. 

Considering the facts of the effects of what captivity does to whales, it is important to recognize that they are poorly treated and there are many other negative attributes to keeping killer whales in captivity. The typical life expectancy in the wild is much greater, giving these whales a longer and more fruitful life, "male orcas live to an average of 30 years (maximum 50-60 years) and 46 years for females (maximum 80-90 years)" whereas in captivity, "the average age of death for orcas who have died at SeaWorld is 13 years old" taking away many precious years that animals deserve (The Fate of Captive Orcas, par. 2) (8 Reasons Orcas Don't Belong at SeaWorld, par. 1). Due to the lack of nutrients and care that cause these premature deaths in captivity, the whole species even outside of captivity are being effected. Over time it is only natural for a species to evolve and if humans keep causing harm to orca whales then eventually the life expectancy of the species will be almost nonexistent, most likely completely killing off this already endangered species completely. Not only are the whales that are actually being held in captivity are suffering but it is having an effect on the rest of the species itself because it takes away from the natural order throwing everything out of control, including the environment.

When the natural order of such a large and important species in the ocean is disturbed, it disturbs the ecosystem within the ocean making not only the species out of order, but the rest of the ocean. Creatures as central as orca whales, "are vital to sustaining healthy marine life by regulating the food flow of the ocean. They are a key part of the ocean and play a key part the energy flow and biological pump of the overall marine life" (How Whaling Affects the Ecosystem, par. 2). Whales are at the top of the food chain and their only predators are humans because they are such strong animals and, "hunting a top predator of the food chain to endangerment has great consequences and will affect all the creatures below it" showing that, "removing these members can lead to the entire group dispersing as their natural cohesion is turned upside down, leaving them struggling to find food and becoming more vulnerable to predation" which is unethical and harmful to the rest of the ecosystem that depends on the nutrients from these animals (How Whaling Affects the Ecosystem, par. 5) (McCormick, par.5). As humans it is important that we are doing our part to care of the world around us and, "we need the scientific background to know when whale populations are in trouble and what might be done to help them. Humans, despite a poor record of respecting the rights of other humans, as well as whales in general, or orcas in particular, are now in the position of helping or hurting all life on Earth" giving us as a population a large responsibility to be careful with the way that we treat our surroundings (Hoyt, par. 3). The earth is three-fourths water and within the last 100 years, there has been a lot of damage done to our Earth, specifically the ocean, and now as humans we are doing a lot to reverse that damage but, "marine ecosystems have been absolutely desecrated by human interference, to a point where scientists are now telling us that we may be sitting on the precipice of a major extinction event" and it is unfortunate that there are people and organizations that choose to add more strain to an already struggling ecosystem that has such an effect on all parts of the natural world (McCormick, par. 3). 

In 2013, the film Blackfish was released, triggering all of the controversy about the negative effects of capturing whales for captivity.  The movie shows the conditions that these whales live in and how they are affected, going in depth to uncover the facts about the captivity of whales which encouraged, "the campaign that picked up steam in 2013 with the release of the documentary "Blackfish," which focuses on a captive killer whale, Tilikum, that was involved in the deaths of three people. The film argues that Tilikum's life in captivity had affected the orca's mental state" and it shows what awful circumstances these whales have to deal with and how the life of a whale in captivity differs from the life of a whale in the wild (Aleshire, par. 6). This extremely accurate and upsetting film, "was well-received by critics and continues to be rebroadcast regularly on CNN. Public reaction after the film's release was swift and strong; SeaWorld's popularity, attendance and revenues all plummeted" which has caused a lot of problems for the company since (Aleshire, par. 7). During part of the film, one of the whales, Tilikum, kills his trainer because he felt so much strain from living in the conditions that he was in and considering that these are extremely intelligent creatures, he knew that the trainer was one the people causing him so much pain. After all of the problems that SeaWorld was facing with this exposure, they decided to release Tilikum back into the wild causing more problems than it fixed, killing the whale and upsetting people more because SeaWorld did not do their research about whether or not a creature that was bred in captivity could handle being released into the wild, which it clearly could not. 

With the release of Blackfish and the disaster of putting Tilikum back into the wild, SeaWorld has suffered from a lot of criticism and are being hard-pressed to do something to change their ways. As of recently, "it has also been told to stop breeding orcas in captivity in a ruling from the California Coastal Commission. They gave the park permission to double the size of its orca enclosures on the condition that breeding and bringing in new whales stopped" SeaWorld has been slightly resistant to these requests and they are doing everything that they can to deny their wrong-doings, "after criticism of the way the whales are treated there, something SeaWorld has always rejected" (SeaWorld Banned from Breeding Orcas, par. 1). For as long as SeaWorld has been around, the company has denied the fact that harm was being done to their main attraction and even to this day, with all of the progressive movements that they are claiming to make, they are still denying the harm by stating, "For more than 50 years, SeaWorld has been one of the world's foremost zoological organizations, inspiring guests to protect animals and the natural world through personal, interactive and informative experiences. And, with its 1,500 animal care professionals, the company provides world class and humane care for all its animals, cared for thousands of wild animals in distress and rehabilitated them, and conducted a range of educational and scientific research programs" (HSUS Partnership, par. 2).  

Although there are many proven, negative facts concerning the captivity of whales, there are people that see this situation from a different point of view. SeaWorld believes that they do everything that they can to take care of their captive whales and have recently released many statements opposing the idea that keeping orca whales in captivity is not healthy or safe for the species or the whole ecosystem of the ocean. When the California Coastal Commission ruled that SeaWorld could not breed whales in captivity any longer, "SeaWorld sued the California Coastal Commission over its ruling that bans the company from breeding orcas at its San Diego theme park" making many statements in favor of the captivity of whales. Biologist Dawn Noren also has an opposing view to the issue at hand. For years she has been using the whales that are held in captivity to conduct her research concerning, "how female killer whales pass toxins to their calves through their milk" (Kay and Schneider, par. 1). Noren is not alone is her disappointment and disagreeance with the decision to end the breeding of whales in captivity considering, "it disappointed many marine scientists, who say they will gradually lose vital opportunities to learn things that could help killer whales in the wild" and with the loss of research opportunities, "researchers will lose chances to collect health data and make other observations, such as drawing blood, measuring their heart rates and lung capacity, and documenting their diets and their growth. As the animals age, scientists say, research will be limited to geriatric orcas" which will limit the knowledge that society could gain about whales in and out of captivity (Kay and Schneider, par. 3, 6). 

As a society, we have become more aware of the ways that we as humans effect the world around us as the most civilized creatures on the planet. With the use of the media and other mediums, researchers are able to share their findings with the world around them. As the negative effects of whales in captivity came to light, there is no exceptions in the majority of our societies minds that something needs to change. We can no longer sit back and ignore the fact that these giant creatures are being taken to a place where they lack the appropriate space to swim a healthy amount or are not given the nutrition that they need and deserve. Instead they are kept in a place that is destroying their species as a whole by diminishing their life expectancy now and eventually evolving these already endangered species to possible extinction. Since orca whales are so large, they are considered to be at the top of the food chain within the ecosystem of the ocean and by keeping them in captivity, it is not only hurting their species but it funnels down to cause harm to the smaller animals that depend on them to keep things in the proper order. An example of the research that has been released to the world that focuses on the damage that whale captivity causes is the film Blackfish. Our society reacted with great concern for the way that these animals were being treated causing a huge uproar that demanded change from SeaWorld to end the nonsense that is breeding whales in captivity. After about three years of fighting the state of California and the media all around the world, SeaWorld has finally begun to move towards making a change within their company to improve the lives of the whales that cannot be released back into the wild. Although there are many changes being made within SeaWorld, it does not reverse that damage that they have already done to the species of orca whales and the ecosystem of the ocean which is not only diminishing the species of killer whales itself but also the organisms that depend on them for nutrients within the natural ecosystem of the oceans.

