I grew up around fish. Any daughter of a fisherman does. I wasn’t very good at it, nor am I to this day, but all of those early hours spent on the water before the sun was up changed me. It taught me to love the ocean and the creatures within it. It was always exciting when we saw a stingray or a jellyfish or a sea turtle. If it was a really special day, we would get to see a dolphin, but that was usually the biggest animal that we would ever see. This one-on-one experience, being able to touch and smell and swim with and see these animals in real life, had an impact on how I thought and acted toward them. They all of a sudden came off of the textbook page and computer screen and into real life.

The same thing happened at SeaWorld. The first time I went to SeaWorld, I could not contain my excitement because I was going to get to see a real life killer whale. It was a 7-year old’s dream come true.

The show was amazing. These giant animals were working together with people just like me to do the unthinkable. I left with a new found love of killer whales and the desire to be one of the performers so that I could spend more time with the beautiful creatures.

Why this story?

Quite recently, SeaWorld announced that it will be ceasing its orca breeding program. No more orcas. No more shows.

Most of the responses to this declaration were pure joy at the "freedom" that orcas will now have. But I felt a little differently.

Side note: The reality behind the topic is that there is no “freeing the orcas." Most of them were born in captivity and have a high chance of dying if released into the wild. In fact, it’s illegal to take orcas out of the wild, so all of the new orcas being put into shows are born into captivity. It is all they know. By stopping the shows and the breeding, there is no “freeing orcas." This by no means makes the shows right or is a reason to keep the shows going. I agree, no animal is meant to be in a cage. Not whales, not elephants, not lions, not monkeys, not wolves, not birds, not cats, not dogs, not any animal you can think of, but this is food for thought.

There is something amazing about seeing an animal like an orca in real life. You could not have taken the smile off of my face after seeing that show at SeaWorld or made me stop talking about how awesome it was. It was the same way with the safari at Disney World and every zoo or aquarium I’ve been to. I leave with a sense of awe of how cool our world is and how precious those animals are. I would have never experienced that if those things didn’t exist.

I am truly saddened to know that my children, one day, will never be able to have the experience that I had at SeaWorld. I understand that the situation has its pros and cons but it nevertheless will prevent children from experiencing the beauty and power behind animals like the orca up close and personal.

SeaWorld has talked about making some form of “natural orca encounters,” which would be an incredible alternative to its previous shows, but for now, I feel that our youth is at a loss.