Like many, I agree that all animals should be in their natural habitat and bringing in a stranded or lost animal to captivity should be the last resort: to keep the animal in their natural environment should be a priority; there is very little wild left. Us humans have destroyed 60% of wildlife on the planet, in the sea or on land. The more humans on the planet, the more space we need, such as schools, shops, houses and then there’s entertainment - cinemas, swimming pools, museums and even car parks. I have written a blog on ‘’A73, Springer’s’’ Story in my ‘’Born Wild: Orca Adoption’’ blog, read HERE.
Many animals including whales, dolphins, turtles, fish and birds are being found dead with their stomachs filled with plastic at least every month. Animals such as the Southern Resident Orca’s are slowly starving to death from lack of fish caused by overfishing and the black river dams pouring toxins into the water. And Tigers, found in many different habitats: grasslands, rainforests, mangrove swamps and even savannas. Sadly, 93% of historical tiger lands have gone primarily because of more human activity. Saving the tigers means saving forests that are vital to the health of the planet and the life that exhibits it. This, climate change, hunters and more is why now, tigers live longer in captivity than they do in the wild - they live 8-10 years in the wild; some living up to 15-20 years and up to 26 years in captivity. Thankfully they’re great swimmers - spending a lot more time in the water just to keep cool from global warming. Antarctica is melting fast and in big quantities. The animals are losing space every day, also meaning they’re losing food; this is just a fraction of what’s happening in the wild. The wild is dying, when one species dies, another loses their food and so on.
Now more than ever, the planet needs animals in captivity, for research and conservation. Every species has its own important role in the vast world's natural systems and ecosystems; since the 1970s we have lost 60% of vertebrae species and 80% of insects. When you live in big cities, towns or great masses, you don’t see the damage that’s happening. Australia is, unfortunately, one of the climate change's biggest victims, including the antarctic. So what research has SeaWorld been involved in? Everything that we know about growth rates, anatomy, gestation, metabolic rates, calf rearing, nursing and so much more in cetaceans such as orca’s has come from having them in human care. That’s because we don’t know much about other cetaceans as like larger whales is due to not having them in human care and we have not been able to study and learn about them in the intimate way we can with captive animals. This data directly helps wild researchers, as they can apply this information with wild animals. As such, radio trackers used to understand travel patterns of wild dolphins would not be possible without being able to test them on animals in captivity to make sure the trackers would stay on for long periods of time. It’s now possible to track pregnancies in wild dolphin populations, such as orca’s, because we now know from captive dolphins exactly how big a female should be in various stages of pregnancy. This information is critically important for the endangered Southern Resident Orca population, whose numbers is currently down to around 70 animals. Every single pregnancy is and birth is vitally important to track, and this would not be possible without SeaWorld.
SeaWorld uses their money gained from their guests to not only care for their current animals; to rescue, rehabilitate and release hundreds if not thousands of animals a year. They’ve now rescued over 36,000 animals, rescuing and releasing dolphins, turtles and more. They also help or donate to places/animals in need, such as the Australian crisis and plastic pollution. After Blackfish was released in 2013, it seems to be a trend to be against cetaceans like dolphins in captivity; being a very propaganda documentary that has been debunked by marine biologists and others. Many marine biologists and veterinarians support SeaWorld. SeaWorld also pulls events in honour of the army:
‘’For your service and sacrifice, we thank you,
The men and women that have served in our armed forces are our heroes, and we're honoured to host them at our parks as our guests. Through our Waves of Honor program, former military personnel and up to 3 guests may enjoy a discounted admission to any of our SeaWorld® parks.’’'
- SeaWorld.
All three SeaWorld parks are AZA-accredited, as well as Discovery Cove and Busch Gardens in Florida (both owned by SeaWorld Entertainment). Click/press HERE to read the full standards of AZA Accreditation, if you're using a phone or tablet, it may download as a document. The Animal Welfare ACT 2006, AWA 2006 has the 5 animal needs:
The need for a suitable environment: The nitrogen cycle without using too much complex wording: is an ecosystem that is found within your tank or pond that keeps your fish alive and healthy; can be destroyed by chlorine quickly and therefore dead fish. However, the fish in the SeaWorld tanks are thriving. It doesn’t take much chlorine to stop algae growth and kill fish and therefore debunking the misconception that the animals are held in highly chemically treated tanks. SeaWorld uses extremely low concentration of chlorine to kill harmful bacteria with no negative effects. For captive orcas, the Animal Welfare ACT 2006, AWA2006, states that a tank for an orca must be 48ft in each direction, with a straight line of travel across the middle; SeaWorld tanks are way over the minimum and are lawfully and scientifically suitable as SeaWorld’s orcas mainly consists of a resident population, which stay in one area and feed and do not travel up to 100 miles a day. You'll find one of the tanks is decorated with rocks and thousands of sardines to stimulate their natural habitat. Employees will also dive into the tanks and manually clean them along with huge filter systems catching debris and keeping the tanks as clean and as maintained as possible for the animals.
The need for a suitable diet: Each animal has their own specialised diets to suit their own needs taken into consideration. Including, age, weight, size and more made up of restaurant quality fish including sardines, salmon, squid and so much more as SeaWorld orcas consists of a mainly resident orca population. This means their natural diet would be mostly salmon; at SeaWorld they have more variety! If the animals choose, they could also snack on the thousands of sardines within the tanks with them. On each of the whale's birthdays, they’re even given a fishy frozen jello (jelly) cake!
The need to exhibit natural behaviours: There are many different ways to do this with different animals. However, with orcas, they get their own exercise plans through physical stimulation. A good example would be the presentations, also known as ‘shows’, where the orcas are asked to exhibit natural behaviours recorded in the wild. This gives the orcas plenty of exercise while also educating and inspiring the public about these beautiful creatures!
The need to be housed with, or apart, from other animals (to be social/solitary): Cetaceans such as dolphins and orcas are extremely social and need to be housed with multiple companions. SeaWorld currently has 20 orcas in total: 10 at SeaWorld San Diego, 5 at SeaWorld Orlando and 5 at SeaWorld San Antonio!
The need to be protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease: All animals at SeaWorld, which includes the cetaceans, are given what’s rated the world's best veterinary care possible, available 24/7 and medications can be prescribed if needed. The animals are also trained to present ‘husbandry’ behaviours to involve in health checks, including respiratory tests, blood tests, urine samples, weight and so much more to make sure they’re healthy and thriving.
I have a blog in more depth on the Animal Welfare Act 200, AWA 2006 and on the 5 animal needs, If you would like to know more, read HERE.
Enrichment - The animals at SeaWorld are given plenty of enrichment. The orcas as such, are given playtimes and loads of toys to choose and play from! The shows also count as enrichment, also allowing natural behaviours and exercise. They can also to choose to interact with trainers or guests in the viewing platforms. The sardines in the tank allow for chasing behaviour and more play. They’re also welcome to volunteer in critical research to help their wild counterparts. If you would like to know more about enrichment, read HERE.
Not only does SeaWorld tick all the boxes in animal care - but they’ve also gone the extra mile to save other animals worldwide. SeaWorld is the best facility around for these amazing animals - It’s not them that people should be protesting. It’s the facilities who still buy from hunters, causing the slaughter of wild dolphins every day for 6 months every year in Taiji and a small selective few who are chosen to fill the many new facilities across China and Japan. SeaWorld has bought their cetaceans from other parks, now, their cetaceans are mainly captive-bred. They have not caught their animals from the wild. If we look at Lolita’s situation at Miami Seaquarium Seattle, she’s in a tank so small that it’s illegal and violates the Animal Welfare ACT 2006, AWA2006 minimum tank size for captive orcas, it’s shallower than she is long! She and another orca, Hugo, lived together for 10 years before Hugo died from brain damage caused by hitting his head on the side of the tank repetitively, due to boredom and stress. There are more facilities like this yet no one knows because people only talk about SeaWorld who has the best-rated care.
In the 60’s/70’s all zoos and aquariums operated for amusement and profit only; times have changed and we need this research more than ever. SeaWorld have over time, especially in the last century, to become world leaders in wildlife conservation and research.
SeaWorld has bought their cetaceans from other parks, now, their cetaceans are mainly captive-bred. They have not caught their animals from the wild. I also support Loro Parque and Marineland Antibes.
Credit:
Image by kwhale_photographer (Instagram) with Tilikum.
If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me using the form given.
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