SeaWorld, a nautical-themed theme park located in five states across America, owns about half of the 56 orcas living in captivity. The orcas at SeaWorld are trained for entertainment and provide a fantasy-like experience for their visitors, but the terrible conditions at SeaWorld are no fantasy. Orcas are giant mammals that usually live in a vast ocean, but at SeaWorld they live in tanks and must perform for an audience everyday. SeaWorld claims that they use their orcas for important research and that their orcas inspire others to protect nature, but that is not the case. Is it humane for these magnificent mammals to be forced to work in awful conditions? SeaWorld should release their orcas from captivity into the wild and stop breeding orcas
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Tasneem Raja, an experienced reporter who writes for MotherJones, investigated the research that is actually done at SeaWorld. A veteran marine-mammal researcher who works at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, “If SeaWorld didn’t exist, would our understanding of wild killer whales be significantly reduced? I think the answer to that is no, it would not” (qtd. Raja). The veteran researcher interviewed by Raja claims that SeaWorld’s research of orcas has not contributed to the understanding of the behavior or the life of orcas. Their studies are irrelevant: “SeaWorld hasn’t contributed much to our understanding of the main threats to wild orcas: overfishing, pollution, and climate change” (Raja). Because their research has been unnecessary, SeaWorld does not have valid reasoning for keeping orcas in captivity. SeaWorld does not need to have captive orcas because of new technology: “Advances in technology, from satellite tagging to biopsy darts, have made it much easier to get detailed data on wild marine mammals” (Raja). Scientists have even trained animals, such as dogs, to assist them in studying wild orcas. Since researching wild orcas has become easier, there is less importance for captivity. Keeping orcas in captivity to use for research is unnecessary if the research that is found does not contribute to the well-being and safety of all
Tasneem Raja, an experienced reporter who writes for MotherJones, investigated the research that is actually done at SeaWorld. A veteran marine-mammal researcher who works at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, “If SeaWorld didn’t exist, would our understanding of wild killer whales be significantly reduced? I think the answer to that is no, it would not” (qtd. Raja). The veteran researcher interviewed by Raja claims that SeaWorld’s research of orcas has not contributed to the understanding of the behavior or the life of orcas. Their studies are irrelevant: “SeaWorld hasn’t contributed much to our understanding of the main threats to wild orcas: overfishing, pollution, and climate change” (Raja). Because their research has been unnecessary, SeaWorld does not have valid reasoning for keeping orcas in captivity. SeaWorld does not need to have captive orcas because of new technology: “Advances in technology, from satellite tagging to biopsy darts, have made it much easier to get detailed data on wild marine mammals” (Raja). Scientists have even trained animals, such as dogs, to assist them in studying wild orcas. Since researching wild orcas has become easier, there is less importance for captivity. Keeping orcas in captivity to use for research is unnecessary if the research that is found does not contribute to the well-being and safety of all