We all get this exciting feeling when seeing any animal perform and show us their amazing skills. It is even more amazing to see an animal that is larger than us and in water doing flips and waving to crowds, like the famous killer whales. But one question remains, is it right to put these animals through pain and suffering so we can be entertained? Killer whales have been in captivity since the late 1960s and became popular at marine parks and aquariums due to their intelligence, astonishing appearance,  interactiveness with humans and ability to remember routines. The selected killer whales that perform for us, were taken away from their families as babies and put in a small swimming pool to entertain us humans so Seaworld can make money. I think it is completely inhumane to treat these animals any different than how we treat ourselves. Killer whales deserve to be able to live their life in the ocean with their family, just like how we live our life with our families at home.

As a kid, I always attended theme parks just to be splashed by the cold, responsive water after the killer whales did their flips. Every time I went to watch them perform, I was always bewildered by their ability to be able to do all these gimmicks.  After they were done performing I would always go down to the bottom level to see the whales behind the glass window. As the orcas swam past the window I was so blown away by their sheer bodies and versatile look, I later became obsessed and started doing researches on them like, reading books about them, watching documentaries and movies. I was generally impressed about all the positive things I saw in the documentary, Blackfish directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, about orcas and how they have a strong bond with their family. Only to find out, that that bond could be broken when the orcas are captured and taken into captivity by humans and put into a small “bath tub” for the rest of their lives. This is very inhuman because not only are we taking them away from their families but we are short terming their life span. They die a lot faster in captivity than they would if they were in the ocean, like they should be.  

In addition, I also read things about orcas that made me question society.These question that ran through my head were generally about orca captivity and why humans would even do that to them. Orcas “are more than three times as likely to die at any age in captivity as they are in the wild.” (CNN par. 2) I was often tricked by the people at the theme park who gave me information on these orcas. I thought they knew a lot about these orcas but it turned out to be false information. As a kid your mind is gullible to the information given to you by adults. It is always better to do research on your own to find more information about something you care about so you can later make a difference, if harm is being done to them. Killer whales, like Tilikum, have been in these small swimming pools for over 25 years just to come out of their small corner to perform 3 times out of the day and then be put behind metal bars again. If only these whales could go back into the wild to be with their families again, that would be a dream come true to those who believe that captivity of orcas for exhibition is wrong.

As stated before, I feel that it is very inhumane to capture such unique and intelligent animals for our own entertainment. I know I can not personally get orcas out of captivity but I would like to help spread the word either by social media or petitions for orca captivity so people will stop supporting Seaworld.