Every year, millions of people flock from all around the world to experience the wonder and awe of the magnificent creatures at SeaWorld’s well-publicized killer whale shows.  The experience is nothing short of breathtaking as audiences witness these massive animals bring excitement and joy right in front of their eyes.  It only takes a brief moment, however, for the killer whales, or orcas, to show their true wild nature and desperate want to get out of captivity.  Rather often, killer whales have been seen lashing out and, in turn, hurting themselves and/or others in the process.  With the inherent risk to these animals out weighing the rewards gained by keeping them in captivity, why does SeaWorld insist on keeping these animals and what can be done to stop this massive company?  It is true that SeaWorld is moving towards a platform that no longer involves the theatrics of their original shows; instead they are focusing on educational shows that do not involve as high a demand for these animals to perform.  However, this does not solve the problem of orcas being held in captivity.  This promotional move simply removes the interaction between orca and trainer, thus providing safety for those who work at SeaWorld but not for the killer whales themselves.  In deciding what should be done to solve the problem of keeping killer whales in captivity, one must look in depth at the questionable motives of SeaWorld phasing out the killer whale exhibit, the truths about how captivity effects killer whales, and the solutions to this never-ending torture for these whales that will not be implemented by SeaWorld. 

SeaWorld has been around for many years and has profited off of the human-animal interactions that are unmatched and that are known around the world.  SeaWorld has always been able to do whatever they want simply because they are the first to do it, so rules and regulations were never put into place beforehand.  They make claims such that their goal is not to provide entertainment but instead to provide a unique circumstance to do “crucial research” that cannot be done outside of captivity (Raja).  This claim simply redirects away from SeaWorld’s true purpose of making money off of the entertainment that they provide by making it seem as though their shows are necessary to the understanding of this orca species.  As orca researcher and founder of the Center for Whale Research, Ken Balcomb stated, “It’s a bit like having Walt Disney tell us about mouse biology” (Raja).  This statement is rather over the top but not too far off the mark. To understand where he is coming from, it is necessary to understand that orcas do not perform in the wild the way that they are trained to perform for SeaWorld shows, just as a mouse does not talk and walk upright in the wild as Mickey Mouse does at Disney World.  SeaWorld is currently making a new change for the betterment of both the animals in their tanks and the conservation of orcas worldwide, or so they claim.  SeaWorld has promised that they are “phasing out the…orca act” in order to bring a new type of show that provides a more natural and informative viewing of these animals without all the bells and whistles that their shows used to utilize (Howard).  According to Brian Howard, a journalist for National Geographic, the decision to end the theatric killer whale shows was decided upon by SeaWorld in light of a substantial decrease in attendance and share prices (Howard).  The decision to make this change once profits started to drop shows that they are changing their operations out of economic, not ethical concerns.  A company, who is as driven to make money and keep shareholders happy as SeaWorld is, cannot possibly also make decisions based on the best interests of the animals that they are using to make a profit.  One could argue that SeaWorld spends massive amounts of money on adequate care for these animals every year so they are looking out for the health and well-being of the killer whales.  This counterargument is validated as SeaWorld accounts that they spend “millions of dollars in habitat maintenance and improvement” to provide the best conditions for these animals (“Health”).  This idea of spending a lot of money to take care of the killer whales is in SeaWorld’s favor and that is exactly why they brag about how much they spend on the caretaking of the killer whales in their parks.  With millions of dollars spent every year on taking care of killer whales in captivity, no one can argue that they do not take care of the animals, but ask this question: if you had something that you were using in order to make money, whether it be an animal or even a machine, would you spend money to take care of this thing so that it could continue to work properly in order to make you more money?  Of course you would!  No one in their right mind would allow the source of great income to deteriorate by simply not taking care of their tools and SeaWorld feels the exact same way.  The phasing out of the killer whale shows is simply a way for SeaWorld to increase profits while catering to those people who disagree that the animals should be forced to do tricks.  The claim that SeaWorld makes is that they are changing the shows to be a “more educational experience”, however, this may not be totally accurate (Dwyer).  Taking into account that SeaWorld is a for profit company, their motives for the change aren’t directed towards the orcas prosperity, like they are leading the public to believe.  The new shows will certainly be more educational as they claim, but there is only a certain amount of accurate information that can be learned about a species based on how that animal acts in captivity. 

Captivity has many negative effects on the behavior and fitness of the killer whales.  As Professor Andrew Linzey states, “To deny liberty to a wild animal involves the diminishing of that animal's life” and therefore, takes away the animals natural tendencies and wild urges.  Orcas are much like humans in a social sense; they live in close nit family groups and they “hunt, play, [and] socialize” together (Smith).  This is a highly intelligent species whose natural tendencies are to socialize and interact with each other.  In captivity, the orcas that have been taken out of the wild are separated from the whales that they grew up with and learned behavioral traits from, while the orcas that were bred in captivity have never grown up with the same type of up bringing, all they know are the concrete walls in which they are bound.  As whales age, away from the ones they are close to and without any proper guidance in how to behave, they begin to change and act differently than how they might in the wild.  In 1991, an orca died from ramming his head into the wall of the tank repeatedly (Smith).  The behavior shown by this orca is nothing short of a desperate attempt to escape from the segregation and torture brought on by the SeaWorld organization.  Professor Linzey also claims that “the denial of this inherent characteristic involves stress, frustration, anxiety and even aggression” which has been experienced on several occasions in SeaWorld’s history (Smith).  One of the most wide spread and tragic incidents at SeaWorld was the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau, which drove the making of the documentary Blackfish.  Brancheau was said to have had a great relationship with Tilikum, the orca that dragged her to her death, however, the unpredictable nature of an animal experiencing “stress, frustration, anxiety and… aggression” from being trapped in captivity is revealed through this fatal incident (Blackfish; Smith).  Thankfully, SeaWorld does not allow trainers in the pool with orcas anymore; however, this incident does show a glimpse into the skewed behavioral characteristics of killer whales in captivity, which only worsens with time.  The state of mental health that these captive orcas now have to live with causes them to be discredited subjects to learn about a species from.  The educational shows that SeaWorld plans to put in place will not produce credible information on how orcas live and behave in the wild for the reason that these orcas do not behave as their wild ancestors do in the wild.  Therefore, a solution must be put into place to alleviate these animals of the prison that they are trapped in at SeaWorld.

Researchers around the world have been thinking and collaborating in efforts to provide a realistic solution that will allow the killer whales to be moved from SeaWorld into the natural ocean.  This task is heavy handed as orcas in captivity have now lost their instinctual tendencies on how to survive in the wild, so simply releasing them into the ocean is not a plausible solution.  Some researchers have come up with interesting designs named sea pens that are the forefront solution to the problem as of now.  A video from a conservation group called TakePart provides an interesting take on the sea pen that would allow for captive orcas to be slowly transitioned into the sea (“How”).  Their idea allows for orcas to obtain treatment if needed as well as be fed until they learn to hunt while being enclosed in a large cove or around an island, giving them plenty of space to stretch their legs on the somewhat open ocean (“How”).  The area around the pen could possibly have attractions for tourists where they can view these animals in their natural habitat and learn their natural behaviors as the orcas learn how to live in the wild again.  What is more educational than that?  This idea could be a self-maintaining place where people pay to visit and profits go to keeping the orcas safe and happy.  The important thing to do now is to join the discussion on what the next step should be to providing these mistreated killer whales with a place to call home and bring an end to captivity for orcas once and for all.
