It is good to hear that a large business such
as SeaWorld opposes the hunt in the letter they posted after all the outrage over the 250+ bottlenose dolphin drive in Taiji on January 21, 2014 and that every facility in the USA opposes it. I hope
they can use that influence to bring the drive hunts to an end.
As you [SeaWorld] state that in the video on your blog post you also got dolphins from there at
one time although they were not rescued as you say as we all know why
they drive dolphins instead of killing them at sea as they do the Dalls Porpoises in their thousands. That beside as least you have given a
statement opposing it and it makes the other parks who look to you for
guidance in Dubai, Japan, China etc realize it is wrong.
SeaWorld video from April 2010 after The Cove came out in 2009 and won an Oscar for Best Documentary:
I was
quite warming to the video until it changed to the rescue and
rehabilitation of animals as if Seaworld was a rescue facility. I really
wish it was, but as rescue and rehab specialists surely starting that
in your own back yards would be the thing to do.
I think the whole
thing has lost direction since Blackfish. Many protestors were
protesting long before that film was made and it is used as a
smokescreen now, aiming at pulling it apart rather than on things that
have gone wrong. Evidence is evidence and a lot of it written by
Seaworld in their own orca profiles. To the pro cap people ignore Blackfish and do some research of your own, things like, in Orkid's
profile how many times has she been involved in incidents with trainers?
How many babies did Corky have and where are they and why? Why does it
say in Tilikum's profile '' he was involved in an incident in 1999
resulting with the drowning of a guest in his pool although his
participation is not known'' Well I found Daniel P Dukes autopsy report easily enough
it shows both pre and post mortem trauma looking very much like he
pulled him in, then there was Alix Martinez's death a couple of months
before Dawn Brancheau's death, if trainers had been taken out of the water then rather
than going to court for Kelly Flaherty Clark to say it doesn't happen in her park, then
Dawn would still be here. Why was that report not in Tilikum's profile
which the trainers use to learn about the animal.
I have never
understood why if a zoo say builds an aquarium, the fish have rocks,
weed, stones and everything they need to make it as natural as possible,
but orca and dolphin tanks who have large brains to occupy are expected
to live in small bare tanks with nothing resembling their ocean habitat
what so ever. Why is that? Something with a 10 second memory gets the
great tank yet the thinking orca and dolphin get nothing.
There are many things gone wrong over the years and as Seaworld say they
are rescue and rehabilitation specialists then surely they could use
that expertise and the knowledge of the scientists worldwide to build a
fantastic sea pen facility for these creatures. Look at the bay at San
Diego Seaworld, that would make a fabulous sea pen facility where the
orca could live a more natural life and also receive the care some of
them need such as teeth flushing and medication. People can no longer
use Keiko as the yardstick as it has been nearly 20 years since his
release and science and research have learned so much more since then as
have Seaworld.
For those who were born in the park, they have
never experienced the tide, never played in the kelp, never surfed or
even seen a wave. They have never seen a living swimming fish yet they
are the ocean's top predator. Whilst there are orca still in the pool
who have come from the ocean wouldn't it be better to let the younger
ones learn from them. They would have the space to be the orca they were
supposed to be, they could escape altercations and more importantly
they could be reunited into their family groups.
It is a win
win thing for Seaworld, I am certain pro cap people would still support
the facility as they really don't need to see the orca jumping out of a
pool, or see a dolphin jump through a hoop or balance a ball, they say
they want to come to the park to see the orca they love and they would
be guaranteed to still see them although it would be doing natural
things rather than trained ones. Pro cap people would love to see them
too as they also have great feeling for the animals, but refuse to see
them in the conditions they are in. So Seaworld wins all ways round,
more revenue and more people into the park, to see the animals they are
rescuing and rehabilitating and Seaworld's reputation would be restored
as a great rescue and rehab facility.
Orca from around the
world could retire there, lone orca such as Lolita, Kshamenk, Kiska
could come there and be with their own kind again and have the space to
escape should altercations occur. Surely something like that would be
better than as things are now. Every orca Seaworld has ever owned or
come into contact with who have died in the past have left the bottom of
the tank in a sling and onto the back of a truck. There is nowhere to
retire the likes of Corky, Tilikum and older orca like Lolita too, so
what is their fate, work until they die?
What a fantastic 50
year anniversary it would be for San Diego the park who started taking
in the captives all those years ago now rehabilitating them back into
their own environment. I will always pull up anything I think is wrong
or has been wrong and I always will but I back mine up with evidence
too, so rather than chunter about Blackfish or trainers and what their
feelings are focus on the horrible things that have gone wrong like Gudrun, Nalani, Vicki, Tilikum and start to put them right and everyone
will be happy.
This comment to SeaWorld was first posted on CCSBTS Facebook Page 21 Jan 2014
-Captive Cetaceans Stunningly Beautiful, Tragically Sad
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