Seaworld

Improved Essays
Based on the ethical, educational, and conservation values of SeaWorld, should it continue to operate?

Ethical, Educational, and Conservation Values of SeaWorld

Ferris Jabr’s “The Secret Life of Plants,” articulated heavy themes of survival of the fittest. Survival of captive versus. wild animals shares distinct similarities to those themes, especially because of SeaWorld’s recent announcement to end its orca breeding program. Life on a Medieval Barony, as well, discusses how peasants were bound to the land, much like how the whales are bound to the SeaWorld corporation. There is a clear connection between Blackfish, a documentary exposing SeaWorld of its treatment to its animals, and Frida Kahlo’s Self Portrait Between the Borderline of Mexico and the United States. Much like Kahlo felt homesickness and longing for her home country, the whales probably long to return to the ocean. Yet, SeaWorld offers an educational and fun experience that may inspire the public to participate in conserving animals and has done work that has been environmentally beneficial. Therefore, this should be examined before determining whether SeaWorld should continue to operate. Ethical Issues of SeaWorld In 1983, a group of men hunting whales threw explosives in the water to herd off the pod, so they could capture a young whale for what what would later become a multi-billion dollar company: SeaWorld. They ignored the cries from the rest of the whales, then killed the mother to make it easier to take her calf. John Crowe, one of those orca hunters, compared it to “kidnapping a kid from its mother” (Cowperthwaite, 2013). In fear of getting caught for their illegal activity, the hunters sunk three dead whales to the bottom of the ocean. Around the time of this incident, SeaWorld claimed that they do not split up mother and baby whales. However, John Hargrove, former Senior Orca Trainer of SeaWorld, recalls several instances of the corporation deciding to separate mothers and babies from each other (Chua-Eoan & Hargrove, 2015). For example, when a mother whale, Katsaka, was separated from her baby it was recorded that she made highly unusual noises long after they took her baby away from her. Senior research scientists from SeaWorld analyzed these vocalizations and determined that they were long range vocals, indicating that she was trying to locate her baby (Cowperthwaite, 2013). In the wild, orcas stay by their mothers long past the point of adulthood. While the tanks of orcas appear large to people, in comparison, they are the size that a bathtub is to a person. The Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and conserving whales and dolphins, states that because whales swim up to one hundred miles a day, their tanks at SeaWorld would have to be 1,400 times larger (WDC, 2015). Additionally, according to Dr. Naomi Rose, a marine mammal protection advocate at The Humane Society, who has studied several of the whales kept at SeaWorld, argues that because these tanks are not very deep, the orca’s dorsal fins suffer from one hundred percent collapse, compared to one to five percent in the wild (Rose, 2011). A side effect of this confined living space is the drastic
…show more content…
Moreover, SeaWorld has repeatedly placed the blame on the victims, rather than the whale, resulting in debate over which party should actually be held responsible. Because of these incidents, animal training poses serious threats. Even Howard Garrett, director and researcher of the nonprofit Orca Network, says "in their natural habitat, there is no record of any harm to a human anywhere,” but in captivity, there have been dozens of incidents involving injury from whales (Cowperthwaite, 2013; Rose, 2011). While orcas have been covered rather extensively by the media, other animals like sea lions and dolphins have also experienced the tolls of captivity. Hargrove, who used to work with the sea lions, explains that the chlorine was so strong in their water, that many of them went blind. Several of these mammals also developed arthritis from having to live and perform on concrete (Chua-Eoan & Hargrove, 2015). Moreover, both wild sea lions and dolphins swim an extensive amount of miles every day, like the orcas, but their pools prohibit them from doing

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Fallacies In Blackfish

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The propaganda piece Blackfish tried to turn it’s audience against the idea of whales held in captivity, yet the film was ineffective because it utilized emotional appeal, inappropriate diction, and contained many logical fallacies thus alienating those that viewed the piece. Blackfish, commissioned by CNN Films and directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, is a response to the, amongst other things, taking whales from the wild, separating whales from their mothers, and keeping them in a miniscule enclosures, and perhaps most recently the death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau. What Blackfish aims to accomplish is emotionally connecting with it’s audience, more likely than not being those who do not know much about orca whales in captivity. Where…

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The article “After SeaWorld, a ‘Blackfish effect’ on circuses and zoos?” by Kelly Wallace has gotten a lot of people feeling mixed emotions. In this article it says, “the public has completely changed its opinion on exploiting and killing animals for entertainment.” In SeaWorld animals are being killed and parents are not ok with this. This is no longer fun and educational for their kids. SeaWorld has banned the use of the bullhook which is a tool that helps handle and train the elephants.…

    • 373 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This inhumane treatment of orcas in captivity is what leads these animals to become unstable and irate, which is why they attack the trainers, themselves, and other whales near…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    An article counteracting the renowned film, Blackfish, a documentary about the inhumane treatment and situation of orcas in captivity, was released by Seaworld Cares. Seaworld Cares is a foundation for animals supported by Seaworld. The article was the company’s retort against the film’s “ultimately false and misleading points”. The main purpose of the article is to persuade the reader, while providing some information to support their points. They wish to urge the reader to believe that not everything in the film, Blackfish, was true nor trustworthy.…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Seaworld Research Paper

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Orcas endure so much emotional and physical trauma, that they chew on bars to escape. This says a lot about their living conditions without having to say anything at all. The Orcas end up breaking their teeth and have to go through a gruesome procedure without anesthesia to fix it. Seaworld is located in very hot places like Texas and Florida, so imagine being outside in the hot blazing sun day in and day out. Their Tanks are so shallow that they develop these painful and blistering sunburns.…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    SeaWorld has made several online statements about the inaccuracy of Blackfish. The most impressive of these statements was a 32-page document outlining many of Blackfish’s inaccuracies with cited evidence. For example, SeaWorld points out how most of the “SeaWorld trainers” interviewed in the film never worked with Tilikum, and how the film uses outdated information and footage to ignore SeaWorld’s modern facilities and protocol. News outlets still unfairly consider SeaWorld a target anyway, because Blackfish appeals to emotion while SeaWorld fights back with facts. Blackfish in news articles is often framed as if the film’s producers are underdogs stepping up against the soulless corporate entity that is SeaWorld.…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Dr. Visser is also an outspoken opponent of killer whale captivity. For example, Dr. Visser was an active participant in the effort to release Morgan, an orca situated at Loro Parque, into the wild. But this information does not deter SeaWorld from citing Dr. Visser’s paper four times, which is more than any other paper mentioned in the rebuttal. SeaWorld’s rhetoric is thus weakened by its own…

    • 1493 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Blackfish Research Paper

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The inadequate living conditions for the orcas affect them physically and mentally. Sea World, the amusement park, has been profiting off of the giant mammal since 1965. Even though abnormal behavior from the orcas has been witnessed and there have been deaths to trainers - the show must go on. Should SeaWorld be able to continue their shows despite new information about how these mammals are living?…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He dismembered her.” (Worrall, Simon, "Former Trainer Slams SeaWorld…”) As we can see in the chart to the right, Dawn was not alone. This chart shows the number of incidents involving orcas at SeaWorld per year from 1965 to 2009 (Bekoff, Marc, "Do Orcas Go Crazy because…”) which in this graph is fairly large, but as we approach the year of 2016,…

    • 1300 Words
    • 6 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

    The Effects of Orcas in Captivity Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes of the killer whale shows at SeaWorld? So much preparation goes into the shows at SeaWorld. This causes frustration within the whales that can result in whales acting out on other whales and SeaWorld trainers.…

    • 1603 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In 2013 the documentary “Blackfish” premiered at the Sundance festival, but was later spread to a larger community with the help of CNN. The film “Blackfish” questions the treatment and imprisonment of Orca Whales and proposes the idea that being held in small enclosures is detrimental to the health of these intelligent beings. After the documentary aired, “Seaworld’s profits dropped 84%” (Rhodan), but there are some visitors who still choose to attend the amusement park. What is the amoral history behind Seaworld? Are Seaworld visitors an accomplice to the abuse of Orca Whales?…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s film, Blackfish (2013), Cowperthwaite captures the psychological torture killer whales, specifically Tilikum and Kasatka, face at Sea World after being brutally separated from their families. The film takes us through the journey of captured killer whales becoming mentally unstable and being used for entertainment purposes. This film displays archival footage and interviews with former trainers who had close experiences with killer whales at Sea World. The attacks at Sea World stem from the whales’ separation from their families, the trainer’s demand for the whales to do tricks in solitary confinement, and the punishment done to the whales when their tricks are not properly executed. All major accounts of killer whale attacks on trainers develop through the distress of the whales outside of their natural habitat.…

    • 1022 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Orca Captivity

    • 1484 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Animal captivity is not a particularly new issue in modern American society. In American culture, most people do not view animals captivity is an immoral issue because they grew up watching animals being caged. The creation of zoos and oceanariums rationalize animal captivity since they produce entertainment for the society and it is being argued that they are made for conservation and education purposes. However, it raises concern in society when the issue involves the threat to human. In 2010, a top female SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau was killed by one of the oldest captive male orca named Tilikum at SeaWorld during a performance.…

    • 1484 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The documentary Blackfish brings to the public attention the aggressive behaviors displayed by killer whales in captivity. In particular, they focus on an orca by the name of Tilikum held in captivity, by Sealand and later SeaWorld, for close to three decades. Tilikum has caused the death of three people, during his time in captivity--- the most recent being that of Dawn Brancheau, an expert trainer for SeaWorld Orlando. Dawn’s death has sparked increased controversy for the popular entertainment park, most of it revolves around the conditions that the orcas live in.…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays