The Problem With Marine Mammals in Theme Parks
Continuing with my series about issues affecting oceans and life within them, in light of issue surrounding marine mammals in theme parks in the past year, I thought I’d talk about them in this post.
Growing up, my parents, brothers and I lived in the suburbs of Maryland, just outside of Washington, DC, but much of my extended family (on both sides), lived in Buffalo, New York, so I spent a lot of my summers up there. One of my memories of summers in Buffalo remains to this day seeing commercials on TV for the theme park MarineLand in Ontario, Canada (for those who don’t know, Buffalo is just outside of the Ontario area). As a little girl, I loved animals, including whales, seals, and dolphins (before I had a better understanding of what “loving animals” really meant) , so I always wanted to go to MarineLand (SeaWorld, too). It wasn’t until I was an adult, however, that it started to occur to me how the animals who reluctantly called those places home felt.
Among the animals living in MarineLand are orcas (“killer whales”), beluga whales, bottlenose dolphins, sea lions, and walruses. Polar bears, orcas, otters, walruses, as well as some non-mammals, like sharks and flamingos make their homes at SeaWorld’s San Diego, San Antonio, and Orlando locations. These animals are put on display for visitors to view, and some, like the orcas and dolphins, are trained to “perform” for the audience. When you’re a little kid who loves animals and is seeing this advertised on TV during your cartoons, it seems like these are the places you’d want to visit. But once you become older and realize that the orcas, the dolphins, the seals, and the other animals have needs and wants that aren’t being met as long as they live in an amusement park where their main job is to entertain tourists (if, indeed, you realize that at all), you see that something has to give.
Most of you have heard the story of the orca in the Orlando SeaWorld theme park who killed his trainer last February (if you’ve lived under a rock in the past year, here’s a link). This ignited a small debate over whether orcas belong in theme parks. Certainly, this got attention, because a human being died, which, of course, is tragic for her and her loved ones. But I’m sure that far fewer people are aware that twenty-one orcas have died in SeaWorld theme parks from 1986 to 2008 of various causes, usually illnesses of some sort, at a fraction of their natural lifespans. In addition, five belugas and orcas have died in MarineLand from 1999 to 2010. What boggles my mind the most about this is that few people question whether being cooped up in tanks a fraction of the size of these animals’ natural habitats contributes to their deaths.
Now, when I bring up my problems with animals in theme parks, people usually tell me some variation of “OMG, but they’re given food and medical care.” My response to these people is: SO? Being locked away from your home while being taken care of is still being locked away from your home. Trying to justify animals being taken out of their natural habitats from human entertainment is akin to saying prisoners in Guantanamo Bay aren’t suffering because they get better healthcare than most Americans do (but that’s a topic for another day).
The bottom line comes down to this: the only reason we take whales, dolphins, seals, and other animals out of their habitats and put them on display for tourists is because we can. Because we see animals as commodities, and ourselves as their masters. It is this mindset that is used to justify every other form of oppression on this planet, as I discussed here, and it is this mindset that must change.
Unfortunately, the amount of things put out by most animal rights groups about marine theme parks is limited. The best site I can direct you to is probably Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which is linked in my blogroll to the right. They do a ton of stuff for marine mammals and other sealife, and they’re always looking for onshore volunteers. And if you live in the Ontario/Niagara Falls, San Antonio, San Diego, or Orlando areas, or have friends or family who do, I urge you all to get involved and inform people of why animals are not ours for entertainment. Good luck, and keep hope alive!
Good points. I think the community for animal right is ever growing. And that’s a good thing.
[...] rodeos, zoos, racing, fighting, and other exploitative activities. Now I’ve already covered marine animals in marine parks, so there isn’t any need to bring that up again. But nonetheless, stay tuned for more [...]