The agony of a killer whale

Why marine parks shouldn’t keep cetaceans in captivity

There are three main reasons marine park’s owners adduce to justify the exhibition of captive cetaceans and none of them makes any sense. The first one is the conservation of species at risk and the rescue of animals in danger. However, there is not anymore a need to put cetaceans in captivity to preserve endangered species. In fact, nowadays, there are many alternative solutions, such as marine sanctuaries, in which the animals can be monitored but are still living in the ocean and have wider spaces to swim around. Furthermore, marine parks do not save animals: mainly the cetaceans at the parks come from hunts, during which perfectly healthy and usually young animals are brutally separated from their families. Otherwise, they are second generation animals, being born in captivity, who will spend their lives in concrete tanks and could never be released because they wouldn’t be able to survive in the wild.

The second reason often used as an excuse to keep cetaceans captive is the need to study them. However, almost the totality of research on cetaceans in captivity focuses on how to make their lives longer and possibly better while in captivity and is therefore of no use for populations in the wild. The minority of the research that could have repercussions on the animal populations in the oceans does not seem to be relevant nowadays. Researchers predict that the results could turn out useful in “5, 10, 20, or 50 years from now”. Nevertheless, orcas have been kept in zoos for more than 50 years and no single killer whale in the wild has received any benefit from this body of research so far.

Finally, cetaceans are held captive for educational purposes and this is, in my opinion, the most ridiculous excuse of the three. The behaviours shown by the animals during the shows at the marine parks are far from being natural to them. The only reason the animals perform the tricks is that they have no other choice if they want to be given the food. Therefore, kids are not learning anything about cetaceans per se by simply watching the shows. Furthermore, although it is evident that trainers genuinely care about the animals they work with, there is no proof of a reciprocity of this affection from the animal side. No evidence exists that shows that the orcas are committed for other reasons than the fact that the trainers give them the fish. In conclusion, there are better means than going to a marine park for kids to learn about the natural behaviours of orcas and other cetaceans. Amazing documentaries exist about them and if you really want to see a real whale it is a much better sight to spot one in the ocean. On the other hand, teaching our kids that it is okay to imprison highly intelligent and sociable animals in concrete tanks for their whole life exclusively for entertainment purposes is wrong. Of course, kids are going to adore the dolphins’ show and be thrilled at the sight of a killer whale but parents have the duty to go beyond the initial excitement and strive to educate their children to become ethical citizens and caring individuals.

Furthermore, it is not even true that the reasons illustrated above constitute the primary concern for marine parks as it can be easily deduced from their budget plans. For example, the Vancouver marine park reduced its percentage spendings in these three categories overall from 24 to 12 percent: a ridiculous slice to appoint to what should be their main focus. Nevertheless, marine parks exist where cetaceans are condemned to conduct a miserable life and often die due to psychological distress. There are several reasons why keeping cetaceans in captivity is particularly cruel.

First of all, cetaceans are, in general, strongly social animals. For orcas, social bonds are even more important than for humans. It is believed that a group of orcas is connected so deeply that they become a single entity. Each group of orcas even shares a complex language that is different from any other group. Orcas are, in fact, able to express different emotions using different sounds: their language could be as articulated as a human language. However, in captivity orcas are put together in groups that are not naturally assembled. Moreover, the members are coerced into a very small space without the possibility to move away. As a consequence, it often happens that bigger animals attack the more vulnerable ones, provoking wounds which can be very serious. There have even been episodes of adult males killing calves, a behaviour that is not shown in the wild.

As a further proof of the importance of social bonds for cetaceans, it can just be looked at their behaviour when hunted by humans. When a boat is chasing a group of orcas the adults separate from the others and attract the hunters on themselves to protect the more vulnerable members. Moreover, once a member of the group is captured the other orcas do not leave but they can stay and call the missing ones for hours. Capturing orcas to put them in marine parks is a barbarous act: as an ex-hunter admitted, “it is the most horrible thing I have done in my life”. Sometimes, cetaceans lose their lives during the hunting process.

A second reason why cetaceans suffer particularly in captivity is due to the maternal bond that exists between a mother and her calf. In the wild, calves remain with their mothers for their whole life, while in captivity they are usually separated and sold to other marine parks within three years after their birth. Mothers can mourn the loss of their offspring for weeks, during which they barely eat, they stay immobile at the bottom of the tanks, coming to the surface only to breathe, and they produce sounds that have been associated with a state of strong distress. Marine park workers agree that the view of a female orca after her calf was brought away is one of the most miserable spectacles to witness.

Finally, boredom and lack of stimuli are the main problem for cetaceans spending their lives between the walls of the concrete tanks. Orcas in the wild swim over 100,000 kilometres daily, every single day. Cetaceans, in general, are able to swim at very high speeds and, through evolution, they developed a biological need to continuously swim. Furthermore, animals like dolphins are highly intelligent and curious. In the tanks, animals are coerced in spaces that are too small for them and the ponds do not provide them with any stimuli. As a consequence, captive cetaceans often engage in repetitive behaviours that sometimes escalate in self-harm. During the shows with the trainers, they seem very active, energetic and happy but a completely different aspect emerges once the lights are turned off. Sometimes animals swim in identical circles for hours and hours or they even hit the walls of the pools multiple times ending up harming their muzzles.

Another sign of distress is the collapsed dorsal fin of male orcas in captivity, which happens extremely rarely in the wild. Moreover, a horizontal black line can also be seen on the upper portion of the body of numerous dolphins in captivity, which is due to the fact that they have to maintain an unnatural vertical position for too long during the training and the shows. Animals are constantly kept on drugs in order to hide their psychological condition and make them look happy to spectators and maintain the calm during the shows. Finally, it is proved that cetaceans live shorter lifespans in captivity. Female orcas naturally live up to 100 years old while males usually reach 70-80 years old, a lifespan similar to that of humans. However, orcas in captivity live from 20 to 30 years only. Given the fact that cetaceans in marine parks do not have to hunt for food, have no predators to escape, and are provided with 24/7 medical care, it is odd that they live shorter lives. The only possible reason to justify the numbers is that the captive animals live in a condition of permanent anxiety and distress so damaging that it actually kills them in the long run.

In my opinion, the only reason why cetaceans are currently kept in marine parks is that they are profitable. Males, in particular, are often kept only for breeding purposes. They are constantly sexually stimulated to obtain their sperm to be used for artificial insemination. Moreover, due to the breeding process, males can be moved in parks around the world many times, accumulating thousands of air miles. Furthermore, the infant mortality rate of calves born in captivity is substantially higher than in the natural environment. At the Vancouver marine park 80/90% of the belugas’ offspring dies within three years after their birth: a rate three times higher than in the wild. The females that grew up in captivity did not have the chance to learn from others how to take care of their calves. As a consequence, calves often die of starvation because their mothers are incapable of making them suckle. Orcas exhibit extreme levels of grief when they lose a calf, which only heightens their desolation.

By digging into these matters, I came to the realization that marine parks are mainly if not exclusively interested in the financial aspects of their business and see the animals as mere money-making objects. It is enough to say that the organizations in charge of supervising the treatment of animals in zoos and marine parks are essentially private organizations managed by the same individuals who own the parks or are somehow related to them. Nevertheless, some steps have been made against what can be called as the enslavement of cetaceans. It is ironic and frustrating to see that shows have been terminated by law in many countries only after the death of a number of trainers caused by the orcas. There is no single episode documented of a killer whale attacking a human in the wild. Orcas seem to engage in aggressive behaviours against humans only in captivity, which again makes me think about the psychological condition of these animals. Other countries, such as India, are also banning cetaceans’ captivity altogether. In May 2017, France introduced a legislation that prohibits captive breeding. The new laws also ended all swim-with-dolphins programs and required pools and tanks to be made significantly larger. Canada is also on its way to terminate all breeding programs and stop holding cetaceans in captivity. However, the US Sea World, the king of marine parks, is not giving up on its cetaceans. While after the release of the CNN documentary Blackfish in  2013, the outrage of the public forced the park to stop orcas’ shows, Sea World has refused so far to end its dolphins and belugas shows too. Furthermore, they announced the termination of orcas’ breeding programs but not for dolphins and belugas. Since it is obviously similarly cruel and abusive to hold any species of cetaceans in concrete tanks, it is clear that Sea World just made a move to please the public opinion.

You can help the cause against Sea World by signing this petition. Thank you!