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As of lately, there has been a fair amount of controversy surrounding Seaworld and other
zoological societies, due to the hit documentary "Blackfish". The film portrays what happens
behind the scenes with captive Killer Whales through the voices of ex-employees of parks.
The film portrays the horrors of how these sea creatures were captured in the first place.
From the 60s to the 80s, 35 killer whales were taken into captivity from the wild, all
of which were separated from their family pods when they were juveniles to live lives
in poor, cramped living conditions. Since then, stricter regulations have been placed
on aquariums and zoos to give these animals better living conditions, such as protection
from other killer whales, and larger tanks. The film mostly focuses on the life of Tillicum,
one of the captured killer whales, who has been involved in 3 of the 4 reported deaths
from killer whale captivity, including that of Dawn Brancheau in 2010.
Cetacean species have always displayed an incredibly high amount of intelligence. Though
the killer whales have not been as closely studied, dolphins show signs of self-awareness,
cognitive thinking, and emotion. Dolphins, who are in the same suborder as killer whales,
odontoceti, also known as toothed whales, are some of the only animals that play into
adulthood. They are capable of learning very basic sign language, and are one of the only
non-primate animals capable of recognizing their own reflection.
Though the film blackfish does not offer any solutions to the issue of captive killer whales,
it does pose an interesting question: Is it moral to hold an above intelligence creature
in captivity? India has recently gone so far as to abolish the use of dolphins in aquatic
theme parks, claiming them as "non-human persons".
Though sea world has been under heavy criticism lately, it should be noted that of seaworlds
26 killer whales in their parks across the world, only 5 of them were captured in the
wild. The idea of simply releasing these animals into the wild is downright irresponsible.
Not only would these whales not survive on their own due to a number of factors, they
could also pose a large risk to other humans, due in part to their unnatural sense of comfort
they might feel around people. Since Brancheaus death in 2010, Seaworld has
not allowed any trainers to enter the water with another killer whale.