Should killer whales be kept in captivity?

[Lace Neil Singer]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wil...of-deaths.html

Killer whales, or orcas, are not meant to suffer alone in solitary confinement. In the wild, they go around in pods or family groups and have the entire ocean to roam in. In Seaworld and other places like it, they're confined to a single pool, often by themselves. Does this latest tragedy show that perhaps these creatures shouldn't be treated as entertainment? Their owners claim they use the whales to educate. That's a load of crap, in my opinion. A whale leaping thru a hoop is as educational as an elephant balancing on a ball.

[Boozy]

For the most part, animals shouldn't be kept in captivity unless they were bred for it, such as dogs. (And even then, I'm disgusted by the number of people that don't recognize their dog's needs and walk them every day.)

I also question the educational value of marinas and zoos. The average visitor doesn't leave and become a crusader for environmental conservation or an animal activist. The captive animals are there for amusement, not to change hearts and minds.

[elsporko]

Going to see a whale show isn't going to make a person want to become a marine biologist but it can make them like whales enough to say "Hey, maybe we should make sure these things don't go extinct."

To say we shouldn't keep whales in captivity because one trainer got killed in a moment of negligence is wacked out. Its like saying cars should be banned because people have accidents or hunting should be banned because somebody accidentally shoots other people sometimes.

This is the first time I've ever heard of something like this happening. I don't know how long whales have been kept in places like Seaworld but it seems like the number of deaths is very low. The news however won't say anything about that because the headline "Everything is Okay" doesn't sell.

I'm reminded of the time this wierd right wing newspaper was delivered to my house. It was mostly about how reintroducing wolves to Michigan will be the downfall of humanity, complete with eye witness accounts of brutal wolf attacks. It was convincing until I noticed the most recent attack was in the 50s, two were in the 30s and the other one was in the 1900s. I decided I'm kill with four wolf attacks every 100 years.

[AdminAssistant]

I think the only time an orca should be brought into captivity is when they find one that's been injured and abandoned by its pod (which has happened, I think). Even then, it should be given as much room as possible and used for research, NOT put on display and made to do demeaning tricks.

[HYHYBT]

For the most part, animals shouldn't be kept in captivity unless they were bred for it, such as dogs. (And even then, I'm disgusted by the number of people that don't recognize their dog's needs and walk them every day.)

I also question the educational value of marinas and zoos. The average visitor doesn't leave and become a crusader for environmental conservation or an animal activist. The captive animals are there for amusement, not to change hearts and minds.

They do both. No, most people who go to the zoo or aquarium or whatever don't come out as "activists," but they do come out thinking more about the animals as real, not just something you might see on TV or in a book. So when the less nutty varieties of activists come along wanting funding, they're more likely to donate. Maybe they're less likely to side with the next person to come along saying we ought to get rid of the EPA or whatever. I'd at least like to see studies done before assuming they *don't* have that kind of effect. And educational value can be really, really simple too: the last time I was in a zoo, I was astonished at how large the bald eagle was; if I'd ever seen one that close before, I'd forgotten it. And, living near a swamp as they do, I'm glad my niece and nephew saw things such as just how invisible an alligator can be even if you know you're looking right at it. It may be that whales are simply too big for captivity; I don't know...

[the_std]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't marinas and zoos help fund research and rescue programs? I know the animals inside the zoo might not be the greatest help to society, but the admission people are charged to get in and the profit the zoos make can go towards foundations and societies for helping these animals, or so I've been told.

With that being said, I don't agree with keeping killer whales in captivity, mainly due to size. Animals that massive require huge amounts of territory to wander, and I firmly believe that taking away that space can be, if not harmful, then... Perhaps depressing, to them.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I'm not saying that whales shouldn't be kept in captivity cuz of that one incident; just using it as an example of a tormented whale, kept in solitary confinement, striking out. People are saying now the whale should be killed. Why? He was acting out of instinct. It wasn't done out of maliciousness.

And I really doubt that the vast majority of visitors to Seaworld see the whales as anything more than entertainment. If the truth was otherwise, they wouldn't be throwing crap into the tanks on a regular basis.

When I used to work at a Shire horse centre, half my time was spent preventing visitors from either feeding the animals with rubbish, or tormenting them. The owls especially suffered; people would try and poke them with sticks cuz they thought the nocturnal birds shouldn't be sleeping during the day, but doing tricks for their amusement.

I think the only time an orca should be brought into captivity is when they find one that's been injured and abandoned by its pod (which has happened, I think). Even then, it should be given as much room as possible and used for research, NOT put on display and made to do demeaning tricks.

Agreed. The same people who think it's fine for orcas to do tricks are probably the same people who clapped when the laws outlawing elephants and lions in circuses were passed. But it's pretty much the same thing.

[Nyoibo]

NOT put on display and made to do demeaning tricks.

I'm going to take exception to one word there "made" when an animal is that size you don't make it do anything, it either wants to do it or it doesn't.

Having said that if they are going to keep animals like this in captivity then they need to dramatically increase the size of the enclosures.

[LewisLegion]

From what I understand, however, Tillicum was never kept isolated from the other whales...so he wasn't in solitary.

[Vagabond]

I kinda like zoos and marinas, they make animals a lot more 'real' to me than a picture in a book or on the net. For example, I've seen pictures and vids of ostrichs, but until I saw one in real life, I didn't think they could actually be that tall or ugly, or mean. Had me a nice ostrich omelet to celebrate. But that's beside the point.
I don't think a few instances should condemn the whole practice of zoos and marinas. Maybe look a little closer at that particular whale, yes. A bigger pool, quite possibly and with a pod of other whales, sure.

[draggar]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't marinas and zoos help fund research and rescue programs? I know the animals inside the zoo might not be the greatest help to society, but the admission people are charged to get in and the profit the zoos make can go towards foundations and societies for helping these animals, or so I've been told.

With that being said, I don't agree with keeping killer whales in captivity, mainly due to size. Animals that massive require huge amounts of territory to wander, and I firmly believe that taking away that space can be, if not harmful, then... Perhaps depressing, to them.

Yes they do - Seaworld has a HUGE rescue program. We did the "adventure express" tour once and we got to see their rescue program first hand. Many of the animals in their exhibits were injured and/or abandoned and taken in by the park. In the Orlando park - just look at their manatees, I think they're all injured and now have a safe home in the park.

Also - most of the killer whales used today in Seaworld (I can't speak for other similar parks) were bred in captivity. They were never taken from the wild.

The one in the recent "attack" was from the wild, though (he's one of the very few). He also shows the "wild" temperament (which is why the trainers are not supposed to go into the water with him - he can be a real @$$hole to them and we've seen it first hand (at the shows we've been to).

Also, every domesticated animal in the planet either came from the wild, or from a former relative who was in the wild.

[elsporko]

I saw a newstory and they were saying that the trainer had a ponytail that wasn't entirely tied down and the whale grabbed it which is how she got dragged in. I wonder if the whale has an instinct to bite at things dangling in front of them, like how my cat can't resist chasing after something moving quickly even when I throw it at my fiancee and the cat has to scramble over her to get to it. Whether the whale is an asshole or not may be a valid question but in this instance it may have simply been instict to grab the ponytail and then it got stuck.

[Bright Star]

Kind of funny how nobody was bothered with captive killer whales till one of them killed a human. The hypocrisy is staggering.

[Cat]

Kind of funny how nobody was bothered with captive killer whales till one of them killed a human. The hypocrisy is staggering.

People have been protesting/against orcas in captivity way before this event happened