Summary: Tilikum Kill A Seaworld Aquarium

Improved Essays
Aquariums are million-dollar businesses that run on the suffering of marine animals. Wild orcas and dolphins are supposed to swim large distances everyday. In tanks these animals can only swim in circles or short lines. They are told to do tricks that have no meaning and are being taken away from family members when they’re taken to different tanks or parks. Most animals in aquariums die way before they’re supposed to.
The vast majority of sea animals are ripped away from their families and put into separate tanks. This can make them angry and sad. Just because they’re animals doesn’t mean they’re not intelligent enough to feel the pain of losing someone in their family and not seeing them in years. An orca named Tilikum killed a SeaWorld
…show more content…
While aquariums teach us about underwater species while still keeping it fun, we do not take the time to realize that the animals behind the glass are living like us and are being kept in cages. Aquariums may be more fun than cracking open a marine life book, but we still wonder why people would rather see them in cages than watch a video of them in their natural habitats where they enjoy the company of their own species and swim freely in places they recognize and enjoy. It’s as if they’re objects of mating and additions of already horrible collections. Scientists even say that most children that go to aquariums don’t learn half of what they’re telling them about. You might think the animals are living good, healthy lives but if you need to think about it. Would an animal rather be in captivity or out in the ocean where it belongs? Would an animal rather be ripped away from it’s family and with other species that they don’t even know or would they rather live with species they recognize and understand? They only call themselves educational for money and popularity. I doubt any child has been to an aquarium to read the little description panels of the animals. There is no evidence to show that aquariums promote education or change views of animals in any way. Wild sharks were taken away from the ocean to stock Ripley’s Aquarium. Rare Sand Tiger sharks, who are starting to go extinct, were taken of the coast of South Carolina. These animals will never be set free. They will live their lives behind glass

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Blackfish is a film about the life of Tilikum, an orca captured at 2 years old and raised in captivity. While Tilikum lived in Seaworld he showed signs of frustration, and aggression leading to the deaths of three people. It appears his behavior stemmed from his experiences. For instance, at Sealand of the Pacific Tilikum and an older more experienced whale was placed in the same tank as Tilikum so that Tilikum would learn the tricks.…

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Making a Splash: The Practice of Profiting from Whales Based on what we know today about the effects of holding and breeding whales in captivity for the sole purpose of making a profit, it is no longer acceptable in today’s society to allow this archaic practice to continue at places like SeaWorld under false pretenses. The release of the documentary “Blackfish” has raised questions on the treatment of Orca whales in particular, illustrating the inhumane conditions and treatment of these animals, which are exploited for their intelligence and used in performances for thousands of spectators annually. One of the most concerning indicators of this mistreatment has been the death of a number of the Orca trainers at SeaWorld in recent years. Taking…

    • 2129 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Why don’t you ask the 150 orcas that have been taken into captivity from the wild? In fact, 127 of them are now dead due to the cruelty by humans. Tillikum, a very well-known orca, is known for being a bad behaved orca because of a few incidents. But why is it that we blame Tillikum rather than SeaWorld or these incidents?…

    • 227 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Seaworld Research Paper

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Many American families believe that SeaWorld is the best family vacation spot with its many parks all over the country. A typical visit to SeaWorld includes petting dolphins, visiting the aquarium, and being splashed by a majestic Orca. While SeaWorld may seem family-friendly, it definitely is not animal friendly. The tourist attraction, also known as SeaWorld, tortures its animals by ripping them from their homes and families, placing them in pools that might as well be bathtubs. Although families enjoy taking a trip to SeaWorld, they would feel a lot differently if they knew about the constant pain and torture inflicted on SeaWorld’s animals.…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Why Orcas Should Not Be Kept in Captivity For many years killer whales have been brutally used in the entertainment industry. These mammals are not only being used for public display, but are being treated unfairly. Instead of being left alone in the wild as they should be, they are being taken away not only from their homes but from their family. Many people may not know this, but behind closed doors at the various Seaworld's, located all over the country, these creatures are being held and “cared for” in unsafe barbarous water tanks.…

    • 247 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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.…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    At least 161 orcas have died in captivity at Seaworld due to the small enclosures and dangerous training. Seaworld is a marine resort that captives water related animals such as orcas, dolphins, and flamingos. They train the animals to put on shows and do tricks that they would never naturally do. Tilikum, a 22 foot, 12,500 pound orca, was captured in November of 1983 when he was just a calf. Trainer Keltie Byrne was pulled to the bottom of a tank by Tilikum and drowned.…

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Did you know there are about 17,000 individual animals in the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium located in Omaha, Nebraska? This is America’s largest zoo, yet this is only one the 142 accredited zoos across America, this may seem like a lot, but America only has a handful of zoos compared to the 414 zoos located in Germany. One of the many positives that zoos and aquaria provide is there revenue and job opportunity. Just in America the annual zoo revenue averages at about $5,136,250,000 and they offer about 142,000 jobs (Statistic Brain Research Institution, 2015). The economic factors of the zoo are huge.…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is not humane to keep large mammals in zoos or theme parks. Dolphins, orcas, elephants and other mammals are very intelligent mammals with complex social constructs in which scientists studied for decades and yet are not fully understood (Laidlaw, 2016). They are being trapped in cages and are being taken out of their natural environment and climate. These animals are obligated to live in climate they never have come across (Harrison, 2014). The polar bear for example normally lives in cold and icy temperatures and they are being placed in humid areas such as San Diego California (Ruiz, 2016).…

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Orcas swim up to one-hundred miles a day in the wild, but in captivity they have to swim the circumference of the tank 1,900 times just to equal that. Life in a cramped tank also leads to stress, boredom, and depression. These traits can cause orcas to demonstrate repetitive harmful behavior, such as banging their head on landing platforms. The tanks weren’t just a bad fit for orcas at Sealand; they’re also a bad fit for orcas at SeaWorld. “Orcas in captivity gnaw at iron bars and concrete from stress, anxiety, and boredom, sometimes breaking their teeth and resulting in painful dental drilling without anesthesia.”…

    • 1603 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Animal cruelty shouldn’t be entertainment for anyone. Seaworld tends to capture the Orcas from the ocean to put them in tanks that aren’t the right size, separating them from their family. The Orcas get trained to look happy in front of the audience daily, even though they live a miserable life. Being held in a tight place can cause a person or animal to go crazy. There was an Orca named Tilikum who was captured in Iceland in 1983.…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While growing up in America, I have always been brought to zoos and aquariums. These animal holding locations give people an opportunity to see animals up close and personal. But to what expense on the animals does this bring? Blackfish is a documentary about Orca whales being held in captivity around the world and the effect it brings to the animals. This documentary provides the real information on how an animals can lose their natural abilities to live.…

    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As with advancing global changes, degradation and diseases, a responsive agenda needs to be proposed that encompasses understanding of what these changes can do on species. This will require establishing the priorities of zoos and aquariums so that they can stand in a position in conservation science. As seen throughout the essay the divide between mission and practice displays challenges. The issue of captivity is that it has the presumption…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Orcas’ Behind Closed Tanks Imagine you are a four to eight year old child and you are on vacation with your family entering into a SeaWorld. The excitement has been building up from the commercials that show you these huge and majestic animals that are not like the everyday animal you see on a daily basis. The commercials have a way of taking your imagination to another level, and any child even an adult is at awe with the level of performance these orcas’ are putting on. Amongst the magic, laughter, and adrenaline that you feel you don’t question whether or not these wild animals should be contained like they are.…

    • 1278 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    From zoos, to aquariums, to petting zoos, and even our own pets, humans have always been fascinated by animals, and have gone to certain extents to use them for learning purposes, preservation, survival, companionship, and occasionally entertainment. Menageries allow people to learn about animals from a safe distance and see some animals which they would never have seen if it were not for wildlife parks. Many argue that captive animals are not happy in their environment, and should be set free from zoos in their natural habitat. Although many find captivity cruel and unnecessary, having animals in captivity is beneficial to our society as well as to captive animals because when done right, endangered species are protected and well taken care of, people are able to experience beautiful wildlife,…

    • 1172 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays