So let’s say that you were an orca or a dolphin and you were held in captivity against your will by another human being, How would you feel about this situation? Well, in the case of many unfortunate aquatic mammals in marine parks and zoos around the world, most of these magnificent animals are held captive in tanks with no room to roam around, or have to deal with being alone, which can trigger stress and aggression.
Over the years since the 1960s, the first marine mammals were put into display for entertainment shows in Marine Parks like Seaworld or any other marine parks that was on the globe; around the world, people wondered if captivity was a good or bad idea. By the time the 70s came and movies like “Free Willy” and “Blackfish” being released plus referencing or documenting the truth behind aquatic mammal captivity, people began to realize that captivity wasn’t the best idea for these type of animals (“WinWin Solution” 1).
Today, there are currently fifty six orca whales around the world that are held in captivity, most of them are under the care of Seaworld in the United States (O’Neill 1). In recent years, orcas, dolphins, and many other aquatic mammals, have been poorly kept captive in enclosures by Seaworld and many other marine parks; some people believe that these animals are professionally taken care of, but the reality is that marine mammals overtime will act aggressively towards humans and this can break family bonds or interaction with other marine mammals of their kind.
When the first marine mammals were placed in captivity in 1964, people wondered to themselves if captivity of sea mammals was a good or bad idea since it seemed cruel to keep an intelligent animal in confinement; ever since people wondered about it, people, books, and documentaries like “Blackfish,” have “compellingly describes many of the reasons why keeping orcas in captivity is — and always has been — a bad idea” and this can be seen from the number of incidents and issues that have went public in recent years.
The biggest issues with putting aquatic mammals in a small, water filled tanks include the following: these animals are rarely provided wide open space to roam around, no interaction with other mammals of their kind, and when they are not given any good amount of space, they will become aggressively dangerous towards humans. For example, a very small amount of captive orcas make it to their middle aged life, which is about 30 years for male whales and 45 for females. Studies also stated that not a single orca out of more than 200 that are put into a tank has even reached the age of 60 or 80 years old (“Win-Win Solution” 1).
Ever since the first captive marine mammals, mainly orcas, were put into marine parks for entertainment purposes, excessive accidents have occurred and many were covered up to avoid lawsuits. Former members or trainers of marine mammals would later reveal the truth behind the accidents that have occurred in a show and why it did happen (Hoyt 1). In addition, some of the staff has revealed that orcas, dolphins, and seals are increasing death rates under confinement of Seaworld.
In fact, a survey was conducted by the World Society of the Protection of Animals, which interprets that the mortality rates of dolphins in captivity were 3. percent higher than wild dolphins; orcas also had a high mortality rate as well, but they had death rates that were 4. 7 percent higher than wild killer whales (Farinato 51). As of now, the issues that occurred in aquatic parks are still present, despite some efforts from Seaworld to expand tanks for orcas or politicians debating if captivity of these animals should be illegal. Initially, People have panned Seaworld and many other marine parks for letting killer whales act aggressively towards humans due to lack of space, very little interaction with other cetaceans, and lack of items to interact with.
These animals can become dangerous because the biggest factor that triggers anger in marine mammals is stress. This is due to the amount of space they are offered and since it’s space is very lacking with interaction and no roaming-space, this can cause psychological damage and can damage the internal organs like the immune system. In the case of orcas, the damage of the immune system will leave them open to infections that they easily fight off in the wild (“Win-Win Solution” 1). Psychological damage can also increase misbehavior of marine mammals and can cause tragic accidents to occur.
For example, A survey from the university of California was conducted and the results that came out was there were 251 cases where more than half of marine mammal workers have been injured by these animals (Farinato 35). Some incidents that are notable include the infamous death of Dawn Brancheau, A Seaworld orca trainer, who was pulled into a tank by a killer whale named Tilikum during a Seaworld show; it is still considered controversial if Tilikum was playing or he was frustrated with being captive (Harmon 1).
It’s most likely that he was attacking due to frustration because orcas in the wild rarely attack humans, and they are usually extremely friendly with humans when they are encountered. They also have complex brains, and vocal communications like humans do (Gorman 1). When dolphins are captured from the wild, they experience traumatic stress because they never have been in an enclosed space before and they never have moved between two enclosures; thus, stress will increase the chance of a dolphin dying.
Even though marine mammals showing signs of aggression is a major controversy when it comes to marine confinement, there are more than one issue that people are against that cause people to boycott Seaworld or Sealand. Furthermore, Aquatic animals live in tanks that lack care, passion for letting animal companions interact, and the lack of copious space to roam in. Some would suffer from boredom due to lack of social interaction with other marine mammals of their kind or the tanks are polluted and never cleaned requently (Farinato 22).
For instance, bottlenose dolphins have to go through dolphin assisted therapy, which is when guests of a park interact with dolphins that are in captivity. Although people enjoy this type of interaction with animals up close, dolphins are having a tough time coping in isolation from other dolphins or aquatic creatures because they are very intelligent creatures that have complex minds like human, and they cooperate family traditions like passing hunting methods to one generation to the next.
When these critical elements are taken away from orcas, dolphins, and belugas, diseases like ulcerative gastritis, perforating ulcer, cardiogenic shock will put most intelligent marine mammals critically endangered. In addition, mortality rates will increase overtime if nothing is done about it (Marino 1). Over the years, there have been significant events that have proved what type of conditions aquatic animals have to live in under captivity. For instance, Two bottlenose dolphins named Tom and Misha were captured in the Aegean Sea in 2006.
Prior to their capture, conservation activists have heard about the the dolphins’ capture in 2010 and they were kept in a Turkish Resort where vacationers could swim with these two dolphins in a dirty, and not-so-deep swimming pool. A woman named Shirley Galligan, a representative of the Born Free Foundation, described the pool they lived in as, “Filthy with feces and dead fish and a layer of ‘sludge’ at the bottom” along with high bacterial counts and it was described as a major he s described as a major health hazard to not only to dolphins, but also to unexpected tourists unaware of the conditions when paying to swim with the dolphins ( Watson 1). Although the conditions of how these animals live in are still present, there is still a chance to think of a solution to give orcas, and dolphins an improved lifestyle while under the care of a marine zoo or an Marine amusement park.