Earlier this month, Sea World announced that it would end its orca breeding program and orca shows. To some this news was devastating, to others it was a triumph. For a lot of people it was mixed bag of emotions. On one hand, Sea World has been under fire pretty consistently for alleged mistreatment of their animals and the question remains to if it's even ethical to keep wildlife in such habitats and make them perform. On the other, Sea World is a large company that can do a lot to raise awareness about these little-understood animals and the destruction of their natural habitat. Regardless of your stance, Sea World will soon end it's breeding program of over four decades.
The question is: why, after all this time, would Sea World suddenly change its mind. Sea World's CEO says it's because the world is changing. This is a nice way to put that much of the general public has been in an uproar since the "Blackfish" documentary was released in 2013, creating a new wave of activists. A growing population of angry activists and concerned lawmakers certainly makes for a changing world that is increasingly concerned with Sea World's actions.
What could possibly be so infuriating to drive countless people to turn on a once beloved industry? While I haven't seen all of Blackfish, because I've sworn off sad animal documentaries ever since I had to watch The Cove a few years back, it's not hard to get the gist. The film focuses on the killing of Dawn Brancheau by the orca she worked with, Tilikum, as well as the conditions these whales are under that would drive them to such extreme measures. Daniel Hargrove, a former Sea World trainer who speaks out against them in the film and his own book, argues that confining the whales to such small enclosures, manipulating their social groups, and withholding their food drives some orcas off the edge. While Sea World often denies the allegations, they have moved to make some changes, such as making plans to expand some of their habitats and enforcing new safety measures for their trainers.
Sea World once claimed that getting rid of their orca breeding program could doom the species to extinction. I'm not completely sure of that, but it is an interesting way to bring light to an important issue considering Sea World also recently announced its partnership with The Humane Society. It is true that Orca populations are being threatened by much the same things all large mammals in the ocean are being faced with, but it's still undecided whether or not breeding them in captivity is a real answer to this problem.
Instead of phazing out the program, some activists are calling for Sea World to release its orcas into the wild. This didn't work with Keiko, the literal "Free Willy", and I doubt it would be tried again. As a general rule, animals that have spent a lot of time in captivity don't easily return to the wild. Take into account that, due to the breeding program, many of these orcas were born in captivity, it's hard to see how releasing them all into the wild would have a good outcome.
This is clearly the end of an era, regardless of if you think it good or bad. Hopefully, with Sea World planning a new, more natural Orca exhibit, it can be the beginning of a new, educated, and humane time for captive orcas. These animals are undoubtedly amazing and we can learn a lot from them, but it's our responsibility to ensure that we aren't doing more harm than good.
