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Kent Nguyen
Professor Stephenson
English 100
14 November 2013
Cheap Entertainment
In todays society, entertainment is one of the crown jewels which people profit the most
from. Anything from televisions to real-life plays are used in order to provide entertainment to
the people. Tony Robbins, an author, has once said We aren't in an information age; we are in an
entertainment age (Quotation by Robbins). One of the crown jewels of entertainment, water
theme parks, continuously crosses the ethnic line of right and wrong by constantly captivating
and maintaining marine animals. SeaWorld, and other water theme parks around the world, have
made millions of dollars by displaying marine animals like orcas and dolphins for anyone who is
willing to pay. The worlds demand for marine animals such as orcas and dolphins has forced
over 500 dolphins and orcas into captivity, where they are forced to undergo stressful conditions
(Wolfe). This source of entertainment is cheap for the animals that are abused, intoxicated, and
isolated. Marine animal captivity should be outlawed around the world because the captive
animals show signs of aggression, are being treated cruelly, and have shortened lives.
Currently, SeaWorld has been known for both its fantastic shows, and dark incidents of
its past. When SeaWorld first imported orcas along with dolphins in order to perform during
shows, many incidents began to occur of trainers being injured and hurt during the job while
training orcas. SeaWorld's corporate incident log contains reports of more than 100 incidents of

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orca aggression at its parks, often resulting in injuries to humans and even causing one death by
extensive internal bleeding (Ten Things You Didnt Know About SeaWorld). However,
despite of these obvious warning signs, SeaWorld continuously covers up and denies the blame
these incidences in order to maintain business. In addition to orcas attacking trainers, orcas have
been recorded attacking each other in social disputes.
Orcas are extremely social animals; they rely on numbers in order to concur varies of
different prey. Whenever two individual orcas have issues with each other, they are able to put a
vast amount of distance between each other in open waters. However, when orcas are captured
and placed together in one tank of water, orcas who are not compatible together release their
stress and anxiety by fighting one another. SeaWorld of Hurt, an organization against marine
animals being captivated, has done rigorous research on marine captivity. They have stated
Orcas who are not compatible are forced to live in tight quarters together. The resulting anxiety
and tension cause fights between orcas. In the wild, orcas have strong social bonds that may last
for life, their social rules prohibit serious violence against each other, and when fights do occur,
they can find space to flee. In captivity, there's nowhere for them to go, which leads to injuries
and death (8 Reasons Dont Belong in SeaWorld). Marine animals that are captured and
placed into captivity are subjected to extreme anxiety and display high signs of aggressions
which wild animals would never show.
Dolphins and orcas are very playful creatures. They are known for their playful and
curious side throughout the world. Their proceeded reputation is one of the main reasons of
SeaWorlds continued gain in profit. However, marine animals that reside in SeaWorld are
subjected to unhealthy amounts of stress and anxiety. These anxieties are pent up and sometimes
released in acts of aggressions towards the trainers, audience, and even others of their species.

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Although domesticated orcas show continuous signs of aggression, wild orcas that are not in
these stressful conditions rarely show these signs of aggression. Although four people have died
and many others were injured in killer whale tanks, there is no record in history of any serious
attacks by wild orcas on humans (Kirby). The process of capturing wild dolphins and orcas and
the transition to domesticate them into show animals is inherently cruel and should be outlawed
.
In todays society, everything is striving to be efficient. This concept even applies to the
ways dolphins and orcas are captured. In many countries, it is still legal to capture marine
animals for use in marine parks (Marine Animals). The methods used to capture animals from
the wild are cruel and stressful to the marine animals. It begins when a pod of orcas or dolphins
are chased to exhaustion, using boats, airplanes, harpoons, or explosives. After, once the animals
are exhausted, they are cornered with nets in order to prevent escape. Then, capture teams search
through the terrified pods for animals that are similar to their show animals that would be best
suited for being presented in their parks. The animals that are chosen are then captured and taken
ashore. The marine animals days of swimming freely with their pod and being free are long
over, due to the fact that they will never see their pods or the ocean again. Most orcas and
dolphins often die from stress before they are even transported to the park where they are
scheduled to be delivered (Marine Animals). Not only is it harmful for the animals that are
captured, but it will also affect the pods of the stolen dolphins or orcas. When the pods realize
one of their members have disappeared, they will frantically start to search for the missing
member and often die of stress or over exhaustion. Overall, the process to capture animals is
devastating and fatal for many of the animals caught. Along with the devastating ways the

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marine animals are caught, how theme parks maintain these animals is another form of cruelty
altogether.
Life for these complex, gregarious, three-dimensional creatures who suddenly find
themselves in a comparatively bland, isolated, two-dimensional enclosure is inherently cruel.
The process itself is disturbing, but it also violently disrupts social groups, splits up families, and
snatches individual animals from the water; it is a completely unnatural and cruel event. Capture
stress can be very severe and even fatal. And the act of capturing betrays the trust of dolphins in
particular, that often come to play at the hull of many capture boats. They approach these boats,
intending to play, only to be netted and hauled aboard, an incredibly traumatic ending to an
innocent and joyous behavior (Marine Mammals). At first look, a whale or dolphin show may
seem exciting, even for the marine animals. But when one looks past the show, to the high
mortality rates and stress-related causes of death in captive whales and dolphins, the effects of
captivity suggest a far harsher reality. The public display of whales and dolphins in marine parks
and aquaria is waning in Europe and Canada, but it is still prevalent in the United States and is
increasing in developing countries, particularly those in Asia (Marine Mammals). One issue that
is also kept secret around the theme park industry is the ages the dolphins and orcas die at
compared to their counterparts in the wild.
In the last 30 years more than 4,000 marine animals have died in captivity. Orcas can live
an average of 60-90 years in the wild and dolphins can live up to 50 years in the wild (Marine
Animals). Over 90% of the marine animals that have died in marine parks in the last 30 years
have been under 10 years of age. It has long been a controversy in the animal community about
keeping marine life captive in parks. It is inhumane to keep animals captive in parks for the
enjoyment and entertainment of people.

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Dolphin and orca life expectancies are cut drastically in captivity. Dolphins will live for
upwards of 40 and 50 years in the wild, but in parks their survival rates are staggeringly low. At
SeaWorld San Antonio, the average lifespan of a captive-bred dolphin is four years (Sign the
Pledge). At SeaWorld San Diego, 24 dolphins perished from pneumonia in 25 years (Sign the
Pledge). Less than twenty orcas are known to have survived more than 20 years in captivity,
while maximum life expectancy in the wild is 60 to 90 years. Nonetheless, the captive industry
continues to downplay higher mortality rates and claim that marine mammals are safer and
healthier in their care. One of the major signs of the orcas unhealthy amount of stress is their
collapsed dorsal fins.
In captivity, all male orcas have collapsed dorsal fins as adults, which is a sign of an
unhealthy orca. SeaWorld claims that this condition is common and natural for all orcas.
However, collapsed dorsal fins are caused by the unnatural environment of captivity and are
rarely seen in the wild. Only one to five percent of male orcas in some populations, and none in
others, have fully collapsed dorsal fins (Ten Things You Didnt Know about SeaWorld).
In the end, SeaWorld and all other marine animal theme parks should refrain from
breeding and captivating marine animals. As Tippi Hedren, a former actress, once said, Federal
legislation is urgently needed to stop this insanity of wild animals in captivity (Quotation By
Hedren). The government promoting these inhumane and cruel parks to continue to slaughter
marine animals is terrible for the people who are aware of the truth and are constantly ignored. A
recent survey was conducted around the world where people stated they would rather observe
marine animals in their natural habitat (Wolfe). Societies around the world should not promote
these twisted theme parks and join efforts to release these creatures of the wild in order for the
marine animals to return to where they belong.

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Works Cited
8 Reasons Orcas Don't Belong at SeaWorld." SeaWorldOfHurt.com. SeaWorld Of Hurt: Where
Happiness Tanks. Free Morgan Foundation, n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
Hedren, Tippi. BrainyQuote.com. Xplore, n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
Kirby, David. "7 Things About Wild Killer Whales You'll Never Learn at SeaWorld."
TakePart.com. N.p., 12 Dec. 2012. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
"Marine Animals In Captivity?" Teen Ink.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
"Marine Mammals in Captivity : The Humane Society of the United States." RSS.com. N.p., 25
Sept. 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
Quoted by Robbins, Tony:. BrainyQuote.com. Xplore, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
"Sign the Pledge." Sign the Pledge.com. Marine Mammals in Captivity. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov.
2013.
"Ten Things You Didn't Know About SeaWorld." SeaWorldOfHurt.com. SeaWorld Of Hurt:
Where Happiness Tanks. SeaWorldofHurt, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
Wolfe, Linda. "Ten Fast Facts about Captive Orcas and Dolphins." BornFreeUSA.com. N.p., n.d.
Web. 14 Nov. 2013.