Seaworld and other themed parks that hold either orcas, dolphins, and other animals is usually mistreating them. These animals are suffering every second they are being held captive. I do not believe these orcas or animals should be held captive to be exhibited for other people’s benefits. Unless these parks are treating these animals with high standards, then it could be acceptable to exhibit these animals.  From what I see, most of these parks do not treat the animals with the type of respect that we treat with each other. I do not think it is fair to capture these animals and put them in a park for humans to exhibit while being treated with cruel methods.

Seaworld claims to be doing research with these animals and every ticket you buy from seaworld is to help research animals. Which I think is uplifting to know Seaworld is trying to do research on these orcas to understand them better. But if you are going to research these animals, I strongly disagree with the fact that you have to force these animals to put on a show. These orcas do not really have a choice if they want to perform or not. The trainers starve the orcas if they do anything wrong. Seaworld “convin[ces] the public that [its] ticket can help save wild Baby Shamus...” (Raja Par 3). The main income and attraction are the Shamu shows that they put on almost every day. Consumers mainly visit Seaworld because of the orcas. Seaworld relies on these orcas to make more money.  I think they should keep the shows and the research on these animals separately. These animals should not be exhibited because they are unwilling to be held captive at Seaworld or other parks. Also holding orcas that do not work well with others can cause fights and damage toward the other orcas. Also these orcas “often break their teeth chewing compulsively on metal gates” (Rose Par 5). The holes in their mouth could cause bacteria to flow in the bloodstream. Holding these orcas to be exhibited in marine parks or aquarium is not a healthy thing for orcas or any animals in this case.

Though I disagree with enclosing animals in a cage, I see the benefits in it. People can gain magnitude of knowledge from these animals. This really helps us understand what these orcas are like and it could really benefit us on the knowledge on sea animals. Having these orcas captive could help for extinction because we could still have the mating system that Seaworld uses. Seaworld uses methods “such as artificial insemination using cryopreserved whale sperm, to maintain the park's stock of captive animals”(Raja Par 8). It could help if the orcas are on the verge of extinction. Also for people’s entertainment, this could mean family bonding time, or just to observe how these animals interact. Seaworld even says it has to keep orcas in captivity in order to save them. The company says that it helps them better understand the orcas in the wild. The benefits are still not enough for these parks to exhibit animals. Orcas are not going extinct quite yet, and Seaworld does not need to use methods to preserve whale sperm. Even though Seaworld can provide a lot of information and a nice family bonding session, the film Blackfish shows Seaworld employees providing false information during tours about the orcas. If we were to go to Seaworld for interesting facts about orcas, we would learn nothing but lies.

The major drawbacks in holding orcas captive is that these animals do not have their freedoms. They are trapped inside a pool and cannot leave. It is not fair to these animals where we can keep these intelligent creatures in a giant pool of water.  These orcas need to explore and see what the outside world is like. Also some of these orcas do not go along with others, many of them end up fighting and getting hurt with serious damages. Seaworld is also breeding all of their orcas in captivity. Seaworld “has successfully bred 31 orcas in captivity since the mid-1980s” (Raja Par 8). That means all 31 of these orcas have not seen or lived in the wild. These orcas have never experienced what it is like to be outside of those walls. Orcas are separated from their families to change park locations. The mother and calf are usually together for the rest of their lives and these parks are separating this bond between the family.

These marine parks and aquariums do not have the high standards of treating these orcas right. They do not have the right equipment and necessities to have these orcas captive, so they should not be able to keep these orcas and animals in captivity. These orcas are not yet ready to be exhibited in marine parks and aquariums. Until these orcas can live in harmony and peace in a marine park or aquarium, then maybe one day it would be acceptable. From what I can tell these orcas are not living in a healthy environment provided by numerous marine parks or aquariums.