Less than one month ago, the infamous killer whale Tilikum, died from health issues. Studies have discovered that orcas in their natural habitat live a life span as long as humans. Tilikum perished in captivity at less than half of this age. During his restraint, he had been responsible for the death of three people. SeaLand and SeaWorld did not place the blame on the whale, but instead labeled all incidents as the trainer’s error. In reality, the blame should have been placed on the parks. They are the ones responsible for capturing the whales and not properly informing trainers of the dangers they may encounter. Scientific information on these animals is beneficial to have, but not at the expense of the animals and the people working with them lives. While The Guardian believes that zoos are entitled to confining animals to cages in zoos, I do not believe they should be showcased for mere entertainment and revenue.
With our modern day technology, there are so many …show more content…
The issue is that they are not only used for scientific information but as displays to generate money. While knowing the “oestrous cycle of an animal or their breeding rates,” may be fascinating and a big contribution to scientists and their studies, the detriment to these orcas and other animals health is not worth it. Tilikum has been kept in captivity since he was a calf. He swims through a pool with other whales, not nearly big enough to contain them. Specifically, Tilikum is said to be kept in a tank that has approximately .0001% of the water that he would swim through one day in the ocean. The scientists believe that this is what led to his and other whale’s erratic behavior. There is no documentation of orca attacks in the wild, but there is an extensive list of attacks in captivity. This should signal to these zoos and parks that they have no business detaining these animals and using them for their own
With our modern day technology, there are so many …show more content…
The issue is that they are not only used for scientific information but as displays to generate money. While knowing the “oestrous cycle of an animal or their breeding rates,” may be fascinating and a big contribution to scientists and their studies, the detriment to these orcas and other animals health is not worth it. Tilikum has been kept in captivity since he was a calf. He swims through a pool with other whales, not nearly big enough to contain them. Specifically, Tilikum is said to be kept in a tank that has approximately .0001% of the water that he would swim through one day in the ocean. The scientists believe that this is what led to his and other whale’s erratic behavior. There is no documentation of orca attacks in the wild, but there is an extensive list of attacks in captivity. This should signal to these zoos and parks that they have no business detaining these animals and using them for their own