Sea World Argue

Dobbs 1
Risa Dobbs Professor H English 114 November 5, 2013 Word Count: 904 Enclosed Animals are loved all over the world, to hurt them would be cruel and unusual. Sea World is a place where people can join together and watch as some of their adored animals swim freely and do back flips for entertainment. What most people do not realize is even though these animals look like they are having fun interacting with huge crowds of people and being touched by everyone, they are actually abused and confined into small tanks for hours on end. In 1965, the first-ever orca show was performed by an orca whale named Shamu at SeaWorld in San Diego. A lot of people get so into the shows that they do not take a moment to think about where these whales come from. Shamu was originally kidnapped before the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972. While obtaining Shamu her mother was killed, before her eyes, and then the young Shamu was transferred to a safe facility called Sea World. Sea World states that they have an amazing breeding program and that they have had more than 24,000 animals born throughout [their] parks. Since being around since the 1960s this rate seems quit high. Once the whales are in their new habitats the orca whales become irritated and are at an unease. Some orcas even begin to have a shortened life span. Scientist have observed over the years that the life expectancy (is estimated) for orcas in the wild is 60 to 70 years for females and 80 to 90 years of age for males. They also discovered that the life expectancy for orcas held in captivity is roughly about 9 years. The sad but
Dobbs 2
undeniable fact of the matter is that even though these beautiful and graceful creatures are amazing to watch, there comes a point when the line has been crossed from entertainment to blatant disregard for the animals well-being. Some orcas held in captivity even become so aggravated they turn against trainers and lash out by attacking. In turn humans blame the animals for what has happened and punish the orca whales, not remembering that orca whales also have another name, the Killer Whale. One case of orca whale aggression took place with Dawn Brancheau, a whale trainer at SeaWorld, who was killed in an accident with an orca whale at the SeaWorld Shamu Stadium. The whale had taken Dawn and dragged her to the bottom of the tank and drowned her. Being trapped in a small cage while being gawked at all day not only causes aggression in the orca whales, but in some cases also causes the whales to have physical damage. Orca or Killer whales have been reported to have collapsed dorsal fins while being held at Sea World. All of the male orcas have been said to have collapsed dorsal fins as adults, which means that the orca is unhealthy. SeaWorld has stated that this is common and natural for all orcas, collapsed dorsal fins hardly ever seen in the wild. In an article it states that, Only 1 to 5 percent of male orcas in some populations have a fully collapsed dorsal fin. In contrast to what Sea World is claiming, this seems highly unreasonable and extremely irresponsible to keep these animals locked away in watery cages that are only 30 to 36ft deep. SeaWorld restricts whales and other animals that would often swim up to 100 miles a day in the wild to tanks that are the size of a bathtub for these huge creatures. They only have a few options and that is to either swim back and forth or up and down. Some other people may argue the fact that Sea World is a harmless establishment and they do take care of their animals and even rescue many from death. If one ventures to read upon the rescue teams of Sea World and what they have done for the wildlife community, to judge them harshly in any way would seem cruel and unfitting. Sea
Dobbs 3
World has been known for doing so outstanding acts of kindness for sea life all around the world. With animal rescue ranging over 40 years and assisting more than 22,000 animals the animal rescuers seem like saints only doing what is right. Working in partnership with state, local, and federal agencies, most of the rescue teams are on call 24/7 helping animals that are injured, sick or need expert care. The topic of whales in captivity can be debated for years, because in the end some people desire to see something beautiful held before them with no desire to see the harmful future outcomes of the situations. Some also argue that there is not a problem and that there are just people who do not wish to see others happy and make a big deal of nothing. They also like to add that even though Sea World may do some messed up things towards animals they also save thousands upon thousands a year.
Dobbs 4
Works Cited Peta. "Ten Things You Didn't Know About SeaWorld." SeaWorld Of Hurt: Where Happiness Tanks. Peta, 2012. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. Haq, Husna. "Sea World Tragedy: How Common Are 'killer Whale' Attacks?" The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 25 Feb. 2010. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. "Animal Rescue SeaWorld Orlando." SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. Sea World, 2013. Web. 05 Nov. 2013.

Sea World Argue

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Sea World Argue

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Sea World Argue

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Dobbs 1

You might also like