The Issue of Seaworld
Everyone enjoys going to Seaworld, but it is really the best environment for the animals to live in. It becomes an issue of the right to life when the conditions of Seaworld literally takes away the animal’s will to survive. We should also be mindful of all life, even non-human. This is because animals have a soul and serve a purpose in the world. In the Gospel of Matthew, it says, “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they?”. The author, Matthew, is explaining that we should not be cruel to animals because God gives them food and life as he does to us. Seaworld should be put out of business because animals held in captivity have shorter life spans and some animals are taken from their families in the wild. One major reason that Seaworld is harmful to the environment is because the conditions they live in causes them to have shorter life spans. An orca which is one of the major attractions of Seaworld has an average lifespan of 60-70 years for males and 80-100 years for females when living in the wild. Opposed to the lifespan of an orca in the wild, most orcas in Seaworld live for about 13-15 years.
A contribution to the shorter lifespans of animals in captivity is the size of the tank that the animals are kept in. Orcas usually swim about 100 or more miles in the wild daily, but when in the tanks they swim in circles around the tank. Swimming around the tank every day can get boring, so they tend to float at the top of the water when they are tired of swimming. The tiredness and boredom they feel when floating in the water contribute to a short lifespan due to the stress that they feel when living at Seaworld. The floating on the top of the water can also cause the orcas to suffer from sunburns and mosquito bites on the whales. Two whales are have known to die from mosquito bites caused by floating.
Overall, the condition that the workers force and require these animals to live in are making the animals die faster. Another reason that Seaworld is dangerous for the animals is the separation of family. In the process of getting captured in the wild, most families are separated. During this, the animals that are wanted are put into nets to be taken back to Seaworld. The animals that are not wanted are killed right in front of their other family members which is extremely traumatizing to the animals being taken into captivity.
Furthermore, most orcas travel in groups of two or fifteen in the wild, but in captivity, the animals are forced to live in a tank with other animals that speaks a different language than it does. In addition, orcas are some of the most social animals in the wild; therefore, the ability to only see and try to communicate with one animal every day is destructive to the animals well being. The inability to communicate with the other animals generates fighting amongst the two animals which eventually leads to the death of one animal. Fighting that occurs between the two animals is a cause of the family separation that the animals have endured. In conclusion, the family separation that occurs is detrimental and hurtful towards the animals.
Some people might say that Seaworld is a good thing, but are they thinking about themselves or the animals. They would say that the shows are entertaining for them and the family, as they are. To make their opinion more valid, they would say that the animals look like they are having fun while performing. Contradictory to this, the animals are forced to do the shows against their own will. The animals are brought to this horrible place and trained to do these shows for the pleasure of the audience.
The unhappy and undeserving animals only do what they are taught to do during the show so that they do not undergo mistreatment afterward. If an animal did something disturbing or wrong during the performance, they would most likely get hurt or harmed when the show is over. There was one incident in 2010 where Tilikum, an orca, drug Dawn Brancheau who was a trainer, to the bottom of the tank and drowned her. After this, Tilikum who was known as Shamu was put into a black pool for isolation. To sum up, the show is appealing to the audience because they are not thinking about the lives these animals live. Due to the animals living shorter life spans and being taken from their families in the wild, Seaworld should not be in business.
The conditions that the animals live in are not adequate for what is needed for the animal to live healthily. Due to the small size of the tanks, the animals will die more rapidly in captivity than in the wild. Another reason is that family separation leads to fighting amongst animals in Seaworld. Two orca families do not speak the same language, so when two orcas from different families are put together they cannot communicate. The lack of communication will lead to fights because the two animals cannot understand each other.
In order to fix this issue, people need to make it known around the world. To do this, ads would be posted on social media so that the young people could know about the issue. Furthermore, a law could go to the legislature that would ban the capturing, the killing, and the hunting of whales around the world. All in all, Seaworld needs to develop a better environment for animals that are in captivity to live in throughout their lives.
