Many of you probably visited SeaWorld when you were younger—before the documentary Blackfish and other cruelty-exposing pieces of evidence made their way onto the Internet. As a kid, SeaWorld was an amazing place that inspired my, and millions of other visitors', love for marine life. This is something that I guess we can thank SeaWorld for… likely the only thing that we can thank them for after recent exposure of the miserable, listless and unnatural lives of their orca whales.

Tilikum, one of SeaWorld’s largest orcas, has been involved in three human deaths since his captivity. He was captured from the wild at only 2-years-old—torn from his family and his natural way of life (see photo below). Originally at Sealand in British Columbia, he was put up for sale after killing a female trainer. SeaWorld bought Tilikum, despite his history of aggression towards humans (not at his own fault, but at the fault of his captivity and disregarded welfare). SeaWorld not only purchased Tilikum, but has bred him with other whales in the park. Today, 54 percent of the orcas at SeaWorld have his genes, according to SeaWorld of Hurt—the genes of a whale that was crammed into a cement pool at 2-years-old with other whales, made to train seven days a week and physiologically abused. This not only sounds like SeaWorld’s method of saving money and breeding whales they already own, despite their aggressive reputations, but it demonstrates their complete disregard for their animals’ and trainers’ wellbeing.

In 2010, when Tilikum killed trainer Dawn Brancheau, he was moved to a tiny enclosure where his ability to swim and communicate with other orcas was further decreased (see photo below). He was reported as floating motionlessly at the top of his pool, behavior not seen in wild, healthy orcas. I am far from a marine mammal expert, but I don’t think this treatment would make any sort of animal less stressed or aggressive. Again, we see SeaWorld’s measly, and completely improper, attempt to address a serious issue with their orcas.

http://www.seaworldofhurt.com/features/30-years-th...

Tilikum is not the only case of an aggressive and unhealthy orca at SeaWorld. The park’s own documents report more than 600 pages of dangerous orca behavior with their trainers, including more than 100 incidents of the whales ramming, lunging at, pulling and pinning trainers.

In the recent months, SeaWorld has launched a new campaign of commercials to promote their “healthy” and “thriving” animals. These commercials could honestly not consist of any more bullshit than they already do. SeaWorld’s blatant lies to the public, even after being thrust into the spotlight for mistreating their animals and employees, disgusts me. The smiling SeaWorld employees on the commercial claim "our whales are healthy” The whales in the park are actually incredibly unhealthy, physically and physiologically. Their teeth are prone to infection as they chew on metal grates in their pools, their dorsal fins flop over due to stress and their miniscule tanks, they are kept with whales they are incompatible with, they are overexposed to the sun, and they are overworked. They are deprived of their natural family, deprived from hunting, and deprived of their endless space to swim in the open ocean.

“They’re thriving.” Another huge SeaWorld lie. Research shows that many of the whales suffer from psychosis, demonstrated by restless behavior and anxiety. Many of the orcas are administered the drug Valium to remedy this behavior. Giving a wild animal drugs does not lead me to think that they are thriving in any sort of way. The lifespan of orcas in captivity, about 25 years, also refutes this statement. An orca living in the wild is likely to live up to 60 years old, and even reaching 100 in the Pacific Northwest, says The Dodo.

“I wouldn’t work here if they weren’t.” That’s funny, because countless SeaWorld trainers and employees are leaving the park to protest orca captivity and becoming outright activists against their former employer.

“We love them.” Yeah, because when I love something, I make it’s life a living hell, too.

Many of you are already aware that SeaWorld is not a company that we want to support any longer, but 8.4 million people still visited last year, says Buzz Feed News (thankfully, the number of visitors and revenue is decreasing). Last year, SeaWorld made $496 million dollars at the price of marine animals. Do the whales a favor: spread the word to boycott SeaWorld.