Killer Whale Abuse at Seaworld
By Nuha Talukder, Period 2, 1-6-15
Introduction
Killer whales are very gentle animals, and have never killed humans in the wild. When they were brought into captivity they become aggressive and took out the aggression on their trainers. Many of the whales at seaworld show signs of depression and unhealthiness. My driving question is, How can i create a presentation that will stop people from going to seaworld? I selected this topic because i watched the film Blackish and i thought it was very interesting.
More Information
Sea world abuses there killer whales, they separate children and their mother's, seaworld kidnapped there whales from the ocean and killed many whales in the process. In the wild killer whales have a lifespan of 60-70 years but at sea world they only live to 10-20 years. All the male whales have collapsed dorsal fins which is a sign of depression. A method of training at sea world is withholding food so the whales act as they want. Sea world whales are kept in tiny tanks so they dont have enough space to move around, this leads to aggression towards each other, so many of the whales have rake marks.
Opinion
Sea world has had many health code violations, OSHA is trying to shut down killer whale performances forever at sea world. I think this quote from the film Black fish is very important "All whales in captivity have a bad life. They're all emotionally destroyed. They're psychologically traumatized. So they're ticking time bombs. " I believe that killer whales deserve to live in there wild with there family. They should be released from captivity, not just at sea world but everywhere. It should be illegal to pluck whales from the ocean just for our entertainment.
Training Session With Morgan, The Rescued Killer Whale | SeaWorld®
Response to Video
As seen in the video, when the whale correctly responds to the trainer she gets food. She is forced to do these things without an option, if she didn't it correctly then she would not have gotten the food. From this video i learned from this video that the whales are clearly way to small for the tanks. You can see in the video that the whale is moving around but there is not space for swimming freely.
Tilikum the Whale
Tilikum was one of the first whales at sea world. He has a record of aggression towards humans, he has injured many trainers and killed 3. Dawn brancheau was a trainer at sea world, she was feeding Tilikum during a show when when suddenly the whale grasped her ponytail and pulled her into the tank. Her arm was eaten and her scalp was ripped off. A couple years earlier Keltie Byrn slipped into the tank and Tilikum dragged her by the ankle to the bottom of the pool, she then drowned. Anonymous was found naked and draped over Tilikum's back he snuck in after dark and was covered with bite marks in the morning.
Tilikums Breeding
Tilikum has relation to almost every whale at seaworld, many people believe that his aggression will pass on to children and so on.
Comparison
This is the largest orca tank compared to the ocean. Killer whales are meant to swim hundreds of miles every day! But instead they are sitting in little tanks.
Tanks size
This whale is clearly way too small for their tank. They have no swimming place much less space to move around.