Why Seaworld’s Orcas Should Remain In Captivity
Many people may argue that it is wrong for Seaworld to take orcas from the ocean and their families, but seaworld hasn’t captured a wild orca since the late 1970s for anything other than for rehabilitation purposes! The controversy over Seaworld’s captive orcas has been going on for decades. Seaworld ended its iconic orca shows due to the massive outcry of the public. Many feel that these animals have a right to be free, but others believe that releasing the orcas would mean certain death. Captive orcas should not be freed despite the outcry of the public; if they were to be freed, they would be socially isolated, they would not know how to survive on their own, and they wouldn’t be used to the ocean’s environment. Orcas live in groups, or pods; if Seaworld’s orcas were to be freed, they would not have a pod. According to “5 Arguments For Keeping Captive Cetaceans,” “Those who do not have a pod cannot join another at random.” The orcas, if they were to be released from captivity, would become isolated from the orca social structure; orca social structure is one of the …show more content…
Yes they live in these conditions, but that is the trade off for having such clean tanks and easy access to medical treatment. According to “5 Arguments For Keeping Captive Cetaceans,” “The temperature and salinity of the water is controlled. After decades of this, plunging these animals back into the oceans could likely be a death sentence.” The orcas are used to the clean regulated water of their tanks, not the polluted water of the ocean; it might take months of slowly making the water less regulated to get the whales used to ocean water before they could be released. Seaworld is also expanding the orcas’ living condition - increasing the size of the habitats, and adding more enrichment programs for the
Many people may argue that it is wrong for Seaworld to take orcas from the ocean and their families, but seaworld hasn’t captured a wild orca since the late 1970s for anything other than for rehabilitation purposes! The controversy over Seaworld’s captive orcas has been going on for decades. Seaworld ended its iconic orca shows due to the massive outcry of the public. Many feel that these animals have a right to be free, but others believe that releasing the orcas would mean certain death. Captive orcas should not be freed despite the outcry of the public; if they were to be freed, they would be socially isolated, they would not know how to survive on their own, and they wouldn’t be used to the ocean’s environment. Orcas live in groups, or pods; if Seaworld’s orcas were to be freed, they would not have a pod. According to “5 Arguments For Keeping Captive Cetaceans,” “Those who do not have a pod cannot join another at random.” The orcas, if they were to be released from captivity, would become isolated from the orca social structure; orca social structure is one of the …show more content…
Yes they live in these conditions, but that is the trade off for having such clean tanks and easy access to medical treatment. According to “5 Arguments For Keeping Captive Cetaceans,” “The temperature and salinity of the water is controlled. After decades of this, plunging these animals back into the oceans could likely be a death sentence.” The orcas are used to the clean regulated water of their tanks, not the polluted water of the ocean; it might take months of slowly making the water less regulated to get the whales used to ocean water before they could be released. Seaworld is also expanding the orcas’ living condition - increasing the size of the habitats, and adding more enrichment programs for the