Should Orcas/Killer Whales be in captivity?

Discussion in 'Debate Corner' started by Sara, Oct 24, 2013.

  1. Sara Tea Drinker

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    Alright, I've been reading/watching articles and videos about this recently. This comes up after a documentary called: "Black Fish" was made. Talking about how the death of a Sea World trainer was going to happen and why.

    If no one doesn't know, in 2010, a Sea World Orca/Killer Whale trainer slipped on concrete into the water around one of the killer whales tanks. This one had a 12,000 pound killer whale in it called Kilikum who has had a past of killing people and/or ending up with dead people in the tank with him. One being a trainer in his old marine park, and another being someone who stayed past hours and somehow got into his tank where they found his body the next day. His death is unknown whether or not the whale participated in it, though he did die of pneumonia. Kilikum unfortunately grabbed her and dragged her to the bottom where she drowned. Ever since then, a lot of outrage has been going out about the whales being in captivity and the cruelty of Sea World's practices.

    So, with all this aside, do you think Killer Whales/Orcas should be in captivity and/or caught or not? Do you think the ones that are captive should be released?

    I got a pretty nasty reaction by animal rights activists when I said no, they shouldn't be released. As far as I can tell, and I've seen calves with their mothers before the Sea World shows playing in the tanks, that there's a huge breeding program going on at Sea World. At the very least, there's no more capture of Orca's in most major U.S. theme parks. I don't know about the rest of the world, but if there is, I don't agree with capturing them. Especially since the methods of capture are severely brutal from videos shown about it. Including dropping bombs in the water, boats, aircraft and trapping the orcas with nets and taking the babies. Not including I think it goes under the Endangered Species Act that it's not allowed. I'm not sure, I haven't studied Environmental Science in a decade.

    As for the tame ones, the major problem is, even when they show their hunting instincts. They have been around people too long, they associate people with food, shelter and safety. The Orca who was in Free Willy, Keiko, spent two years trying to get oriented towards the fact that he was in the wild. When he got loose, he was still going to shallow areas and letting kids play with him. There's a home video shown where two little tourist girls are playing with him in the water. He unfortunately died shortly after he was found in the wild, about three weeks or so. And the death is unknown there was no autopsy. His association with humans could've easily lead to his death because he wouldn't know not to stay away from some people. That some people can and will hurt and kill animals. This isn't just orcas, most animals, whether it be cat, dog, bear, tiger, etc... Once they get imprinted with humans=free food and nothing will happen, they can never be released into the wild.

    It's a sad fact.