Shamu

“No aquarium, no tank in a marine land, however spacious it may be, can’t begin to duplicate the conditions of the sea. And no dolphin who inhabits one of those aquariums or one of those marine lands can be considered normal”.  - Jaques Cousteau

Growing up in Orlando Florida I was lucky enough to go Disney World, Universal, and Seaworld all the time. I even had annual passes to most of these parks. Most kids loved Disney but my favorite was always Seaworld. All of elementary school I aspired to be a Seaworld trainer and swim with Shamu. One time I was even lucky enough to get to pet and play with one of the killer whales after a show. As I got older my love for animals just infinitely grew. Not until a recent trip to Seaworld did I ever question the conditions that these animals were living in.  My view on parks such as SeaWorld has drastically changed.            

WDCS reports that there are many differences in captive orcas and wild orcas. Wild Orcas live to an average life of 35 years but can live up to 60 while females can live to be 90 years. While in captivity most do not survive over the age of 20. Their life in a shallow concrete tank is completely different compared to the lives they would live in the wild. In the wild orcas can dive up to 60 meters but the largest tank is only 20.7 meters deep. Out of the 136 orcas caught in the wild 123 of them have already died.I will never forget how awesome it was that I got to interact with a killer whale and even play fetch with her. Although I am extremely lucky for that experience, I never considered how unnatural our interaction was.