Time for SeaWorld to Throw in the Towel
How would you like to live your whole life in a bathtub? Well, that is how the orcas at SeaWorld live. SeaWorld has been wrongfully containing and mistreating animals since the early 1960’s. Orcas are natural predators and do not belong in captivity (National Geographic 1). Yet, SeaWorld chooses to keep twenty-three of them in their three parks in the United States (Whale and Dolphin Conservation 2). SeaWorld does not only wrongfully contain orcas, they also have beluga whales, dolphins, flamingos, manatees, sharks, sea lions, penguins, seals, otters, stingrays, sea turtles and walruses (SeaWorld 1-19). The people of SeaWorld have taken all of those animals out of their natural habitats and enclosed …show more content…
The website SeaWorldofHurt, a campaign against SeaWorld created by PETA, tells the story of one of the most notorious whale captures. “In 1970, more than 90 orcas were stalked and herded into a three-acre net by deafening explosives, speedboats and airplanes at Puget Sound, a deep inlet of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Washington.”(1). It is sickening the things that they did to those animals in their natural habitat. Going to such extreme measures just to capture animals and have them live a miserable life in captivity is absurd. Most zoos and animal parks only have animals that were not able to survive in the wild or are endangered. Never is it okay to take happy, healthy animals out of their home just to make money off of them. When they captured those orcas there was also some blood shed from those in the way. Most orcas will stay with their pod even if it puts them in danger. That loyalty cost many orcas their lives. When the fisherman were trying to capture orcas they harpooned and killed the other family members that they did not want and that were in their way. The charity WDC, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, has posted a report on their website about orcas in captivity. In the world, there are currently 56 orcas in captivity and 23 of those have been captured from the wild (2). Most of the other 33 orcas that …show more content…
They claim that having orcas educates the public about the species and raises awareness on how to protect them. SeaWorld’s mission statement on their website is, ”To apply basic physiological research efforts and state-of-the-art reproductive technologies toward wildlife species management and conservation” (1). Even though they claim that they wish to spread animal conservation, the way they spend their money says otherwise. Despite what they say, SeaWorld donates a tiny amount of their money to conservation, “ SeaWorld averages a total revenue of $1.4 billion every year. The SeaWorld Busch Garden’s Conservation fund totals $900,000 on average, just .0006% of their annual revenue.”(One Green Planet 18). If SeaWorld really cares so much about conservation, then why do they give such a little amount of their money to it? Perhaps it is because they actually do not care about conservation at all and just want to make people think so in order for them to make more
How would you like to live your whole life in a bathtub? Well, that is how the orcas at SeaWorld live. SeaWorld has been wrongfully containing and mistreating animals since the early 1960’s. Orcas are natural predators and do not belong in captivity (National Geographic 1). Yet, SeaWorld chooses to keep twenty-three of them in their three parks in the United States (Whale and Dolphin Conservation 2). SeaWorld does not only wrongfully contain orcas, they also have beluga whales, dolphins, flamingos, manatees, sharks, sea lions, penguins, seals, otters, stingrays, sea turtles and walruses (SeaWorld 1-19). The people of SeaWorld have taken all of those animals out of their natural habitats and enclosed …show more content…
The website SeaWorldofHurt, a campaign against SeaWorld created by PETA, tells the story of one of the most notorious whale captures. “In 1970, more than 90 orcas were stalked and herded into a three-acre net by deafening explosives, speedboats and airplanes at Puget Sound, a deep inlet of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Washington.”(1). It is sickening the things that they did to those animals in their natural habitat. Going to such extreme measures just to capture animals and have them live a miserable life in captivity is absurd. Most zoos and animal parks only have animals that were not able to survive in the wild or are endangered. Never is it okay to take happy, healthy animals out of their home just to make money off of them. When they captured those orcas there was also some blood shed from those in the way. Most orcas will stay with their pod even if it puts them in danger. That loyalty cost many orcas their lives. When the fisherman were trying to capture orcas they harpooned and killed the other family members that they did not want and that were in their way. The charity WDC, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, has posted a report on their website about orcas in captivity. In the world, there are currently 56 orcas in captivity and 23 of those have been captured from the wild (2). Most of the other 33 orcas that …show more content…
They claim that having orcas educates the public about the species and raises awareness on how to protect them. SeaWorld’s mission statement on their website is, ”To apply basic physiological research efforts and state-of-the-art reproductive technologies toward wildlife species management and conservation” (1). Even though they claim that they wish to spread animal conservation, the way they spend their money says otherwise. Despite what they say, SeaWorld donates a tiny amount of their money to conservation, “ SeaWorld averages a total revenue of $1.4 billion every year. The SeaWorld Busch Garden’s Conservation fund totals $900,000 on average, just .0006% of their annual revenue.”(One Green Planet 18). If SeaWorld really cares so much about conservation, then why do they give such a little amount of their money to it? Perhaps it is because they actually do not care about conservation at all and just want to make people think so in order for them to make more