Seaworld should go out with a splash

Holding orcas in captivity for long periods of time should be illegal.  SeaWorld is widely known for keeping orcas in captivity. Many in the beginning were captured in the wild, others were being forced to breed which causes many cases of stillborn and miscarriages. Keeping orcas in captivity is causing an increase in premature deaths. The lifespan of a killer whale is similar to a human. When a human or a whale dies at 30, it is not normal. The normal lifespan of a killer whale is anywhere between 50-90, though many are dying before that time because they’re not being taken care of correctly.  No one would want to live in a pool the rest of their lives and that is basically what some orcas are forced to do when being held in captivity by SeaWorld.

Often places that keep orcas in captivity get upset when an orca has aggression issues and lashes out at the trainer. Imagine you were taken away from your family at a young age and tell me you wouldn’t lash out.  When they notice a whale with aggression issues they often turn to medications to make them calm down. If something has to be given an actual chill pill, then they’re obviously not meant to be kept as a pet. When an orca is in the wild they will often swim up to 100 miles a day, When they’re living in small tanks there is nowhere for them to swim and they often end up just running into walls in the small circle. No matter how large the pool is it will never be equal to the ocean at the end of the day.

In an effort to catch the orcas, they end up killing other whales including the family of the whales right in front of them.  SeaWorld noticed a lot of backlash in 2017, so they stopped making the orcas do tricks and decided they would do a more natural approach. Even though the killer whale is still forced to live in an unnatural state causing unneeded stress. “A growing catalog of ‘accidents’, illnesses, failed pregnancies and premature deaths that have helped to show up this industry for the cruel circus that it really is.” said uswhales.org. Though I do understand when orcas are kept for rehabilitation ,but anything besides that is cruel. 156 killer whales have been taken into captivity since 1961, 129 of them are now dead. 48 orcas have died at SeaWorld alone; it currently holds 20 killer whales across their 3 parks. The most recent Orca death was on January 29th “Kayla, one of the remaining orca whales at SeaWorld died suddenly in Orlando on Monday, the company said in a statement. She was 30 years old.” as USA Today put it.

SeaWorld is aware what they’re doing is wrong this is seen when they constantly try to make excuses for their actions. Just because they banned breeding and showing doesn’t mean they’re not still mistreating the whales. Living in a pool is not normal or natural for any creature especially not a 20 ft killer whale. Even though they changed there ethics orcas are still dying prematurely. Killer Whales shouldn’t be kept in captivity for a long period of times without serious consequences.