
SeaWorld is an aquarium amusement park founded in 1964 by George Millay, Milt Shedd, Ken Norris, and David DeMott that is worth over two and half billion dollars. SeaWorld parks are located in three different cities in the United States: Orlando, San Antonio, and San Diego. The SeaWorld franchise has acquired over fifteen species of marine animals at their facilities. Their main attractions include: dolphins, sharks, beluga whales, and killer whales (History). Many people question whether killer whales should be allowed to held captive for human entertainment. Animal rights activists claim that SeaWorld mistreats their killer whales. However, SeaWorld and their visitors report that the killer whales are only treated with the best of care. Due to the overwhelming public dissent, SeaWorld had to announce they will no longer keep killer whales at their facilities. The franchise will keep the whales they have there now until they die, but after that, there will be no breeding or adopting of new whales. The issue is that the killer whales, who have adapted to life in captivity, could not survive in the wild. SeaWorld announced, “they will live long and healthy lives under love and care of our dedicated veterinary and other trained specialists where they can inspire this and future generations to be conservationists around the world through natural presentations that are fun, exiting and will educate guests about the plight of orcas in the wild” (SeaWorld to End Orca Breeding Program). The reason SeaWorld will not release the killer whales they have now is because the cooperation cannot afford to get rid of their highest earning exhibit. Although this is a step in the right direction, the killer whales should be released into the wild now for many reasons. Proof from numerous scores such as, scientific studies and reports from former employees justify why the killer whales captive at SeaWorld should be released now.

The killer whales that SeaWorld has in their care should not be kept at their facilities for the rest of the whales’ lives. Killer whales are not on the endangered species list, but their population is decreasing due to natural and unnatural threats. In the wild, killer whales are faced with commercial-hunting, habitat pollution, excessive noise, decreased prey, problems with fisherman, and climate change. These are all serious issues; however, their level of intelligence is the killer whales biggest threat. Their intelligence enables them to learn aerobatics easily, which makes them appealing to humans (Killer Whales Endangered). Killer whales are captured and transported to aquariums for entertainment exhibits. This is an issue that can be fixed by killer whale shows being eliminated from all aquarium amusement parks. The population of killer whales depends on how we as humans treat them.

The killer whales at SeaWorld have not been receiving the treatment they deserve. In

2013, a documentary, titled Blackfish, revealed the truth about what happens behind the closed doors of SeaWorld. This film showed evidence of how the killer whales in their care were not in proper health and were miserable. After this shocking news, more data started coming out about the mistreatment happening to the killer whales. A website called “SeaWorld of Hurt: Where Happiness Tanks” was created to inform the public of the injustice happening within SeaWorld. The website came out with an article called “8 Reasons Orcas Don’t Belong at SeaWorld” that demonstrated why the killer whales needed to be released. Many killer whales at SeaWorld experience premature deaths. Killer whales in the wild have a life span of around thirty to fifty years. However, killer whales living in captivity at SeaWorld are only estimated to live about thirteen years. By keeping killer whales in captivity, their life expectancy is cut in half. Killer whales also become more aggressive when they are brought to SeaWorld. There has only been one report of a killer whale harming a human in the wild, but in just twenty-five years, three humans have been killed and many injured by these animals at SeaWorld. Killer whales are also injuring one another. The tight quarters of the tanks cause tension to break out between the killer whales resulting in violent fights. Killer whales usually swim up to one hundred miles a day. Despite this, SeaWorld put the killer whales in tanks that they would need to swim over one thousand laps in a day, to achieve the normal amount killer whales swim in the wild. The tiny tanks do not allow the space the killer whales need to get from one another, resulting in the killer whales getting injured during fights. Putting killer whales in captivity strips them of anything that is natural to them, which produces a great deal of stress. Not only does captivity make killer whales aggressive, it also jeopardizes their health. All the adult male killer whales at SeaWorld have a collapsed dorsal fin. This is a sign that the killer whales do not have enough space to swim openly and are fed a diet of dead fish. SeaWorld insists that this condition is common among most killer whales. However, a collapsed dorsal fin is almost never seen in the wild. SeaWorld also gives their killer whales a protein called gelatin, to try to keep the whales hydrated. In captivity, killer whales cannot attain water from their food like they can in the wild. Gelatin is unnatural for the killer whales to ingest. Additionally, the killer whales are so bored and stressed that they are breaking their teeth by biting on the iron bars. This action causes the killer whales to have painful dental drilling done to their teeth. SeaWorld also makes killer whales suffer mentally. Killer whales are used to swimming in groups of up to fifteen individuals. Killer whales always stay with the mothers because each killer whale family has their own language that they all understand. However, killer whales brought to SeaWorld are separated from their family putting them with whales that speak a different language. This causes the whales to stress and become lonely (8 Reasons Orcas Don’t Belong at SeaWorld). This is just one of the many articles full of evidence about how killer whales should not be kept at SeaWorld. Eliana Dockterman, graduate of Yale University, wrote an article titled “This Whale Appeared to Beach Herself. Now Activists Say She Wants to Die.” Ms. Dockterman describes a killer whale named Morgan who lied motionless on a concrete slab for ten minutes during a show. Activists say this was her trying to beach herself, which indicates she was trying to commit suicide. If whales stay on land too long their organs and muscles will be crushed by their own weight. However, the amusement park company claimed that this was completely natural behavior (Dockterman). Amusement parks will say and do anything to keep the killer whale shows because they bring in the most profit. Sarah Fischbeck is a former SeaWorld employee that came forward about the mistreatments happening to the killer whales to “The Dodo”, a website committed to sharing animal videos and stories. Ms. Fischbeck worked for SeaWorld for six years throughout various departments. She left the company in 2013 due to all its injustices towards the animals. She reported shocking news about the killer whales’ violent fights. One morning, Ms. Fischbeck came to work and one of the killer whales was in a tank that had been locked. The killer whale had somehow hoisted herself over a metal grate with painful nubs on top and pushed into the locked pool. Ms. Fischbeck found large black pieces of skin on the bottom of the pool. The killer was being picked on so badly, she felt her only option was to force her way into the locked pool cutting up her stomach. Some of the workers even took the torn off pieces of her stomach home as souvenirs. The killer whales did not only pick on one another; they became very aggressive towards the birds. It was normal for Ms. Fischbeck to find pieces of massacred birds floating around in the pool. The birds were not the only ones unsafe from the killer whales, drivers were in jeopardy too. Ms. Fischbeck said, “the whales were aggressive toward us…they'd see us on the other side of the gate. I had more than one occasion where they got really angry and started ramming the gate… you couldn't get within arm's reach of the gate because they'd try to suck you in” (Schelling).  The divers were also never given any safety protocols about swimming with the killer whales. Ms. Fischbeck was not taught what to do if something went wrong with a whale while she was in the pool. Former SeaWorld staff members reported that the killer whales were being dosed with valium. Valium is a drug used to treat anxiety disorders, alcohol withdrawal symptoms, or muscle spasms. SeaWorld gave the whales this unnatural substance to keep them calm (Schelling). From all these various negative effects SeaWorld has on killer whales, one can clearly see why their killer whales should be released into the wild.

The people that choose to support SeaWorld using killer whales for marine shows, only see this species as something to entertain or humor them. People do not realize how important whales are to the environment. Whales stabilize the aquatic food chain and reproduction of other species. Whales have a huge appetite and consume a lot of their pray. It may seem like the other species is benefiting if they no longer having to face predators such as a whale, but eventually these animals will overpopulate. This could destroy the population of the other species that it feeds on. Without whales, there would be no way to keep the food chain balanced and prevent overpopulating. Whale waste also plays a role in balancing carbon emissions, which is crucial to have a healthy environment for land and marine life. The nutrients in whale waste sparks the growth of phytoplankton, which push carbon from the atmosphere. Additionally, the growth of phytoplankton also helps feed other species, such as fish, that depend on phytoplankton for their survival. This allows the fish to thrive and reproduce. Whales also help the global economy through tourism attractions such as whale watching. Tourists bring in billions of dollars by trying to get a glimpse of these fascinating mammals in their natural habitat (Why Are Whales Important?). If whales keep being put in captivity, the ecosystem and economy will suffer immensely.

Now people know what advantages killer whales bring to our lives, but back then this was not the case. A book called Killer Whales: The Natural History and Genealogy of Orcinus Orca in British Columbia and Washington State by John K.B. Ford, Graeme M. Ellis, and Kenneth C. Balcomb, explains the difference in opinions on killer whales back then to now. There was a widespread fear and hatred for the mammal for many years; they were even described as “an enormous mass of flesh armed with savage” (Ford 11). As late as the 1970’s many thought they would “attack human beings at every opportunity” (Ford 11). In some parts of the world, people poached killer whales for their oil and meat, resulting in their population decreasing drastically. The attitudes surrounding killer whales did not change until when they began being displayed in aquariums around the world, in places like SeaWorld (Ford). Amusement parks like SeaWorld made killer whales loveable and desired to many through their killer whale stuffed animals and entertaining marine shows. In 1986, laws were made against executing killer whales in order to help their population rise. Without SeaWorld introducing killer whales to the public as friendly creatures, these laws might have never been made. Despite SeaWorld’s efforts to promote killer whales, accusations have been made against them resulting in a rebuttal articles like, “Why Blackfish is Propaganda, Not a Documentary.”  SeaWorld points out that if they did not have killer whales, scientists would not be as knowledgeable about them as they are today. The animals are monitored all hours of the day with the highest quality of care. This is not only beneficial to the killer whales at SeaWorld, but to marine science everywhere. SeaWorld is constantly discovering new things about these complex mammals. SeaWorld also claims they have changed the direction of their killer whale shows by making them educational rather than for entertainment (Why Blackfish is Propaganda, Not a Documentary). 

Although SeaWorld has done some beneficial things for the image of killer whales and marine science, it does not make up for all the negative impacts their cooperation has had on this species. The most stunning story told about the injustices done at SeaWorld is shown in the film Blackfish. One of the killer whales, Katina had a baby named Kalina. Kalina often disrupted shows and did not want to cooperate to learn the tricks performed in the shows. SeaWorld decided to move Kalina, at four years old to another park to improve Katina’s perform ability. However, in the wild, babies never leave their mother. Once Kalina was transferred Katina started making noises that no scientists could decipher. Katina was making a new language because she was so desperate to find her baby Kalina. The noises Katina made in the film were heart breaking (Blackfish). This horrid act proves that SeaWorld’s number one priority is to make money, not the well-being of their whales. 


Although SeaWorld has acquired a negative reputation for mistreating their whales. The company had a great mission. Because of SeaWorld, mankind has grown to love these giant mammals. However, the SeaWorld’s mission to make people love whales resulted in the injury of several killer whales. Whales simply cannot live in the shallow pools that SeaWorld. 

In conclusion, SeaWorld should release all of their killer whales. 
