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Monique BiancoArgumentative Writing

Professor WeaverFinal Paper

Beautiful Creatures

Orcas are beautiful, intelligent creatures of the sea. There is still an endless

amount of information that we don’t know about Orcas even after years of research.

For years now we’ve had the privilege of getting up close and personal with being

within an arms reach of them. SeaWorld San Diego received its first Orca in the

1960’s from the waters of Seattle. The female Orca was housed with a young male

named Namu. The female version of Namu is now a common name everyone

associates with SeaWorld, which is now Shamu. SeaWorld first opened its gates in

1964 with a goal to become an educational facility for the communities and to

provide a research facility to help both animals in captivity and in the wild. It’s been

recorded that Orca’s can live up to fifty years in the wild where a males max lifespan

can range all the way up to eighty years. A female Orca can live up to one hundred

years. SeaWorld was a place for learning and research the intent to make a better

life for sea creatures. Over the years SeaWorld has taken a different path and has

lost sight of their main goal. One of the most famous wales currently of SeaWorld is

Tilikum. He was captured in 1983 as a 2 year old. He eventually was transferred

from Iceland to Sealand in British Columbia, Canada. It was here that the tale of

Tilikum began and where the now famous movie Blackfish comes into play.

To begin with, Tilikum one of the most famous whales is a perfect example of

why SeaWorld needs to revamp itself. Tilikum meets almost every aspect of what’s

wrong with present day SeaWorld. From being taken from the wild at a young age,

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having his dorsal fin collapse over, being used for breeding and entertainment

purposes and further more in his life has been involved with the death of 3 trainers,

it’s whales like Tilikum that need rehabilitation centers and love instead of being

used for show. Captured at the age of two, Tilikum first artificial home was a place

called Sealand. When Tilikum was at Sealand he was held with two other Orca’s he

didn’t get along with. Just like humans have tribes and tribes they don’t get along

with, Orca’s have natural tribes they don’t get along with either. Those Orcas were

Haida and Nootka. Although a lot of speculation has arose about the movie Blackfish,

it does hold some truth to it. Whenever Tilikum didn’t perform a trick properly

trainers would withhold food from him, which only frustrated him because half the

time he simply didn’t hear their commands. After not receiving his food and being

paired with two other Orcas’ who would violently attack him when they were locked

in the holding pool at night, Tilikum became very aggravated. On February 21, 1991

Sealand trainer Keltie Byrne fell into the pool where she was enclosed by Tilikum.

After this Sealand closed its doors and Tilikum went up for sale where he was

bought by SeaWorld for breeding purposes despite his violent past. Today, 54% of

SeaWorld’s Orca’s have Tilikum’s genes.

Throughout Tilikum’s time at SeaWorld he has been involved in multiple

aggression incidents, yet he was still used for breeding and entertainment.

SeaWorld ignores signs of distress like when Tilikum chews on metal or concrete.

These are all points Blackfish touches on that we need to consider. Due to Tilikum’s

frustration and aggression the lives of two more trainers were lost. Daniel P. Dukes

in 1999 and Dawn Brancheau in 2001 where he crushed and dismembered her body

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before he drowned her, and this is the DNA that more then 50% of SeaWorld’s

Orca’s currently have. One must ask if more attention was paid to the overall well

being of Tilikum could these events have been prevented? Yes, these tragic events

could have been prevented and future events can prevent. SeaWorld once was an

ethical place and they can be once more, they just need to be guided in the right

direction again. SeaWorld forces their animals to perform unnatural tasks as a form

of entertainment for profit. As a result of these animals are living in artificial

conditions and their lives are dramatically affected both mentally and physically.

SeaWorld needs to stop breeding animals for entertainment purposes and use their

facilities for good. SeaWorld should just take in animals that truly cannot survive

with human interference and then from there educate people about these creatures

without causing harm to the whales.

Furthermore, the life of an Orca held in captivity compared to the life of an

Orca in the wild drastically different. In SeaWorld captivities, Orca’s have been

recorded to live up to only nine years. SeaWorld has an abundance of resources to

provide medical assistance and all the necessities these animals need to live long,

fulfilling lives. SeaWorld neglects the most basic needs of the animals. Orcas for

instance are incredibly smart, sensitive creatures. Take an Orca trying to

communicate for example. When Orca’s or even dolphins try to communicate they

send off sound frequencies that are meant to travel long distances through the deep

sea. However, in captivity these frequencies bounce off the walls and eventually

drive them crazy. To continue, when baby orcas were originally taken from the wild,

their pods would desperately try to protect the infants and further more swim vast

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distances after them. The mothers would frantically let out calls to their babies

trying to locate them in order to be reunited. In captivity, calves are taken away

from their mothers and they let out the same cries of distress a mother in the wild

would. That kind distress can cause not only emotional harm but physical harm as

well. Being distressed about trying to find your infant will drain the orcas physically,

weakening them and their ability to survive both in the wild and in captivity.

Blackfish the documentary, despite its negative connotation about being

propaganda brought up this argument even showing a female orca that was

separated from her infant. The cries one particular female Orca let out when her

baby was taken were tones care takers and researchers had never heard from this

particular orca before. One would think that with all the resources SeaWorld can

provide for their animals, these animals would leave pleasant lives. On the contrary

they in fact lead unfortunate lives. Also, Orcas in particularly male Orca’s,

experience dorsal fin collapse that is caused by unnatural living conditions. It’s

unethical to keep the animals in essentially swimming pools when they were meant

to roam the vast sea. SeaWorld once focused on being a humane place for animals

but now they have become more concerned with profit and breeding.

Many people argue that without SeaWorld generations after generations

wouldn’t be able to learn about these brilliant animals. They wouldn’t be able to see

them and all their glory. While yes, SeaWorld does provide you undeniable

convenience of seeing these animals, that doesn’t mean the way we’ve been

accustomed to educating our children about these creatures is the right and only

way. Scientific and technological advances have provided our society with so many

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great opportunities we’ve sadly forgotten what true beauty and freedom looks like.

We shouldn’t be familiar with seeing Orca’s behind a glass shield or performing

tricks. An Orca shouldn’t spend night after night fighting off other Orca’s and a

mother shouldn’t have her heart broken when her child is taken. We should be

familiar with seeing a calf swimming in the wild with its mother by its side. A male

Orca jumping out of the sea with it’s dorsal fin held high and we should see Orca’s in

their natural pods instead of forcing certain ones to live together. Our options to

learning about these creatures are wide and are waiting to be explored. We can

instead, take a family trip out to Seattle and take a boat tour to see these majestic

animals living their lives the way they should be living. That experience will be more

memorable then just another day at a theme park. Children can learn from expert

tour guides all while the whales remain unharmed. If a time comes when a dolphin

or whale needs human interference like if it were to get washed up onto shore or

caught in some kind boat accident, then let us take them in, nurture them and let

them live the rest of their lives in peace while providing the most naturalistic

environment humanly possible. We have to be the voice for these animals for they

cannot speak against our wrong doings or tell us what they need. It’s our job to

speak for them, to think ethically for these animals that are defenseless against our

modern day technology. Sadly, sometimes our actions are intended for our own

selfishness like SeaWorld’s thirst for increasing profit. SeaWorld could be a brilliant

place if they focused their attention back onto the animals, until then it’s the

people’s obligation to stand against them. Let Orca’s be free to roam the sea.

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