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Gage Vass

Argumentative Essay Final Draft

21 March 2017

The Corruption of Sea World:

Although SeaWorld has been a huge public attraction for many years, it has been feeding

the public lies about the quality of life they are providing for their animals. The main victim in

these cases are Orca or Killer Whales, these animals have the ability to swim for hundreds of

miles a day and are being subjected to overcrowding which results in shorter life expectancies

than those in the wild. These animals are too large and too important to our marine ecosystems to

be subject to imprisonment by mankind.

The Killer Whale has been an iconic symbol of the ocean for hundreds of years; they

inhabit every single ocean and are the most widespread species of animal on the planet other than

humans. They can reach lengths of over thirty feet long and can weigh as much as twenty two

thousand pounds are one of the most kinetic and dynamic hunters ever witnessed and can swim

at speeds of up to thirty miles per hour (Killer Whales). These animals can swim over one

hundred miles per day and are being confined to small pools that barely span over a quarter mile

in length; these conditions are not suitable for animals with such jaw-wrenching physical

capabilities. In the wild Orcas typically hunt in groups of ranging from five to forty strong using

the craft of teamwork inherited and taught through multiple generations to capture a various

differentiation of prey such as fish, seabirds, seals and sharks (Killer Whales).

The first main issue I would like to shed light upon is the issue of life expectancy, wild

Killer Whales live lifespans equivalent to humans. On the contrary, the whales at SeaWorlds
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parks have an average life expectancy of only twenty five to thirty years. SeaWorld has been

lying to the public in telling that the whales in SeaWorld live longer because of the veterinary

care they are given, but countless scientists have disproved this. Orca Whales are much like

humans in that they live very complex social lives and each contains a unique sense of self and

social bond. A recurring issue with keeping whales in captivity is that they have been captured

and bred all over the world, this would be like trying to make people from two different

continents and who speak different languages interact and live together in close proximity with

no choice or fair warning. In result of this, there is much more whale on whale aggression in

captivity then is displayed within the wild. Multiple whales have died in captivity as a result of

aggression to each other. No animal with the ability to develop conscious thought should be

forced to live and perform for the entertainment of human, it is inhumane and should be

considered a form of enslavement.

Perhaps the biggest hazard resulting in the captivity of Orca Whales is the risk that they

pose to human life, multiple human lives have been lost as a result of whales attacking trainers

either out of aggression or confusion. Although the court system has set new regulations

regarding how SeaWorld can display Orcas they still are holding twenty-nine whales in

captivity today. Although only a few lives have been lost, all of these accounts of death by either

whale or human could have been completely avoided if they had not been taken into captivity in

the first place. The most immediate solution would be to send all captive whales back into

captivity, but the issue within that is that many of these whales have never lived independently in

the wild and would not have the means to care for themselves without the help of humans. This

is a sad fact that we have corrupted these whales lives for the worst and have stolen these
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animals chances of living a life of freedom in the open ocean, where they could live out their

natural existence with other whales of the same origin and family.

As portrayed in the Blackfish movie the whale that has accounted for the highest number

of human deaths is the largest whale held in captivity, Tilikum. Tilikum was first captured from

the wild in the year 1983 by a hired group of whalers and brought to the amusement park

Sealand of the Pacific(Blackfish). After Tilikum was responsible for the death of one of their

trainers the park was closed down and the whale was sold to SeaWorld, the trainers were never

informed that Tilikum was the whale who killed the Sealand employee much to their own

surprise (Blackfish). SeaWorld was so interested in Tilikum because they were in need of a male

breeder for the female whales in captivity, now over fifty percent of the captive whales in

SeaWorlds collection contain Tilikums DNA. One of the SeaWorld trainers (Samantha Berg)

brought up the interesting point that If other animal had showed signs of aggression towards

humans, it would never be used for breeding purposes. Such as a pit-bull, that animal would have

likely been put down (Blackfish). This provides an interesting spectacle for those who may be

less informed, SeaWorld has chosen to breed an aggressive Orca Whale for the precipitous

purpose of profit. Rather than having their trainers and the general public in their best interest the

corporation chose to seek money rather than focus on what should be the main aspect when

working with wild animals, safety for both human and animal.

As quoted in this article, Confined to unnatural social groups for the convenience of

their owners, bored and restless, forced to perform tricks for food that trainers withheld as

punishment, they occasionally slipped (into the dark side),(Adler, 2015). During this interview

of a SeaWorld trainer, the trainer was clear about how the animals were expressing outward
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signs of unhappiness and were being treated rather inhumanely for an animal with such a high

degree of intelligence. SeaWorld has now acknowledged these issues and has completely

stopped all use of captive Orcas in their daily performances. This is a slight admission to guilt

some would say and as quoted by Ben Guarino With that, after a half-century of tail splashes

and orca acrobatics, the marine mammal park closed its final Shamu show(Guarino, 2015).

Although this may be perceived as a step in the right direction to some, there are still dozens of

innocent Killer Whales remaining their last few short years of life floating lifeless in an aquatic

imprisonment, with no quality of life to life for.

One of the main reasons that SeaWorld has been able to carry out this charade of

manipulating these animals is that they have gone to extreme measures to keep the public in the

dark. First of all, video evidence shown in the film Blackfish proves that the employees of

SeaWorld have been instructed or falsely informed about the species of whales and their natural

history. An employee was taped stating that fifty perfect of all wild male Orca Whales have a

collapsed dorsal fin, this was proven untrue by numerous scientists which stated that there has

never been a sighting of any Orca Whales with collapsed dorsal fins in the wild (Blackfish).

Trainers and employees are instructed to sell these lies to the public, because every single one of

the captive adult male whales at SeaWorld have a collapsed dorsal fin. Scientists who were

featured in the movie claim that these whales experience dorsal collapse primarily because they

dont receive enough stimulation or physical activity, rendering the fin useless until it eventually

loses all muscular use and collapses to one side (Blackfish). This fact not Killer Whale

population and the concept of preserving our marine ecosystems as a whole only disproves
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SeaWorlds statements that the whales have adequate living conditions, but also proves their

incompetence to give the truth about their harmful acts.

Many of the trainers who are no longer employed or have quit working for SeaWorld

spoke out against the multi-billion dollar industry that they have created. Stating I only stayed

with SeaWorld for the sake of the whales, you form a very close bond to your assigned animal

and after witnessing some of the corrupt activities I couldnt bring myself to leave and stop

caring for the whale that I have been taking care of for so long. I wanted to take care of them

myself to make sure that they were treated as humanely as possible, (Blackfish). This goes to

show that the trainers are not solely to blame, rather the corporation itself for misinforming the

public and its employees about the true harm they are performing on an innocent species. For

instance; Killer Whales are the oceans top predatory animal, when humans take them captive

and force them to perform we are observing acts that could only be described as slavery. In

comparison, when trainers enter the water with a whale capable of easily taking a human life

they are placing themselves in the same amount of danger as entering the cage of a lion or tiger

held in captivity.

In conclusion, the Killer Whale is a highly evolved species both physically and

intellectually. These animals (along with dolphins and ape species) are considered to be the

smartest animals on the planet, their complex social structures and highly elaborated emotional

lives gives evidence that they are filled with conscious thought. Although SeaWorld has

outwardly taken steps to try and right their injustices, they still need to be put to justice for their

barbaric and righteous acts upon a species that should remain unhampered with in their

respective ecosystems. I am hopeful that the evidence presented by many has foreshadowed a
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growing concern that will one day benefit the Orca Whale species as well as all marine life and

ecosystems.
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Works Cited:

Adler, Jerry. "Why Killer Whales Belong in the Ocean, Not SeaWorld." Smithsonian.com.

Smithsonian Institution, 01 Mar. 2015. Web. 19 Feb. 2017.

Guarino, Ben. "Curtains Close on SeaWorld San Diegos Killer Whale Theatrics." The

Washington Post. WP Company, 09 Jan. 2017. Web. 19 Feb. 2017.

Home. Dogwoof, 2013. Blackfish. Web. 10 Mar. 2017.

"Killer Whale." Oceana. Oceana, Web. 14 Mar. 2017.