To be sad about Seaworld?

[CatThiefKeith]

Dh has been to Florida twice, both times as a child, and is determined we will take dd (3) when she is old enough.

Ever since I was little I have been fascinated by whales and dolphins, and I grew up (70's/80's) wanting to go to Seaworld.

But now I can't bloody well go, because I am an adult, and know it is wrong to keep those beautiful animals the way Seaworld do.

Fuckers.

[Melonbreath]

Nothing like seeing these creatures in the wild. I swam with wild dolphins whilst pregnant with dd in Hawaii. They were AMAZING, they came right up to me and I could feel their sonar blasts, so could dd, she started wiggling like crazy! The boat man said they could see my baby and took me back in the boat as the dolphins kept trying to protect me and cut me off from the group. I wasn't having my 20 week scan for another two weeks and was furious that they knew what I was having and i didn't. Smug little gits kept popping their heads out of the water to give me knowing glances the rest of the session.
20 years ago there were dolphins off Bognor. We were sailing past the pier and they all came round our boat and did spinning tricks, jumping tricks, tandem stuff, everything!
It was so much better than trained dolphins as they did it for fun. We felt so privileged that they had chosen us to show off to.
I'll never forget it. And I'll never see performing dolphins or orcas as after having seen in them wild and doing it for the pleasure of being free it would be a cheap imitation and I think I would just cry.


I don't like wild animals performing in general. I think it's degrading to them. I don't mind horses, dogs, camels or even the odd elephant performing, depending on what they do, how they are treated and trained.
But wild animals should always be treated as such.

[Mrsjayy]

20 years ago nobody really knew not a normal family going to see them awareness whether through ignorance or whatever wasn't there

people used to go to zoos as children and sit with baby chimps at tea parties or ride on elephants

[springlamb]

I've also been lucky enough to swim with wild turtles, that was amazing till the stingrays turned up.
And seen a mama grizzly with 2 babies catching salmon on a river in Alaska. That was scary because it was on land.
I remember the bear terraces at London Zoo back in the 1970s, I look at them now and wonder how could we?

[NoArmaniNoPunani]

I went to seaworld in 1986. Even back then people knew it was cruel.

[WhileWeSleep]

Most whales in captivity only.live for 4/5 years. Few die before they reach their 20s.

An orca in the wild has been recorded as being 103 years old. Says it all really.

www.thedodo.com/recently-spotted-103-year-old--547381307.html

[Ellisisland]

I swam with dolphins wild in New Zealand and saw whales in the same place. It was an amazing experience and I will never forgot it.

I will definitely take DS when he is older as seeing them in the wild is amazing

[firstchoice]

Similarly,
I wont go to Edinburgh Zoo.
I know their history of destroying 'surplus' animals.
The 'enclosures' for many of their animals, are vile.
Bare concrete, wire mesh.
The amount of money they will make from the Panda is obscene.

That poor Orca, 'Lolita,' will be used to make money until the day she dies

[Mrsjayy]

I wont go to edinburgh zoo either it is dire really grim , we have a little zoo not far from us it is lovely they dont have big animals but they do have rescue bears and there enclosure is amazing

[Blondiebrownie]

The average life span for an orca in captivity is 25-35 years.

In the wild it is 80-100 years for females and 60-80 years for males.

Less than 1% of wild orcas suffer with dorsal fin collapse, it is very uncommon for an orca to not experience this is captivity. It's because they do not have the space to swim free and they spend so much time on the surface that the weight of the fin is too much. This is like arthritis in humans.

Kalina was the first orca baby to be born in captivity and because she was disrupting shows as she wanted to be with her Mum they moved her to another park! Katina (her Mum) went from swimming with her baby to staying in the corner of her tank crying out because they took her. In the wild her baby wouldn't have left her side.

I have been passionate about this for a long time.

[firstchoice]

Mrsjayy - could you say where, it sounds nice?

I grew up in Kent and went to the Howletts animal parks there a couple of times as a child. As I remember, there was a huge effort to make the enclosures as large and natural as possible. Still enclosures tho.
And I wouldn't have wanted to be a keeper there.
Rather a habit of being eaten!

Blondie - poor Kalina and her mother Katina. That is literally torture.

[ColdTeaAgain]

We went as a family, 20ish years ago now. Sadly my Mum is no longer with us but I know if she knew what we know now about Seaworld she'd wish we'd never gone.

I think back then, people were more trusting. They told the public they were playing an active role in conservation and the animals were treated in the best possible way. With a globally known attraction as huge as Seaworld, people trusted that, there was no reason to believe otherwise.

These days with the internet and a much, much better understanding of animal behaviour and welfare, the true reality of places like Seaworld are coming to light. I hope the pressure on them continues and people vote with their feet and leave these places well alone.

[LividofLondon]

"Livid Surely everyone knows by now that it is cruel? The news, and even facebook regularly have articles about it."

You'd think so wouldn't you Cat, but think of all the self-proclaimed anuimal lovers who still buy meat and eggs from intensively reared animals because they get fooled by the marketing ("Farm Fresh", "Natural" etc) Or all the people who surely must know the beauty products they use have been tested on animals even though it doesn't admit it on the labels. Selective empathy or ignorance? I wonder if there was a study done into what make-up people buy, how many would genuinely say "Oh, I didn't realise it was tested on animals"? I actually think there are many people who just want to go around with their heads in the sand so they don't think or question anything in case they find out something they don't like. Ignorance is bliss as they say.

[StraddlingTheFence]

I wasn't aware of the controversy surrounding Seaworld, I vaguely remember hearing about the trainer who was killed, but nothing beyond that and I wouldn't have made the connection between the two without being reminded.

I was never taken to zoos or marine shows as a child (in the 80s) as my mother always said she couldn't bear to see animals "locked up". I had rather naively assumed that welfare standards had improved over the years. I've never been to anything like Seaworld, although I have seen photos. I have just watched the clip someone posted and was shocked to learn that the 'performance' tank is where the whale actually lives I had no idea. I thought there was an underwater tunnel to a proper marine enclosure - especially since all the Seaworld type places I have heard of are pictured as being right next to the ocean. I imagined a netted off area in the sea. I am downloading the Blackfish film to watch later.

It can be tempting when you are very passionate about an issue, to assume that everyone else is aware but choosing to ignore it. I don't think that is the case.

[Oldraver]

OP...We went out on a boat on the Gulf coast and while the boat was stationary the dolphins appeared... a baby had a huge chunk of fish and let it go when they saw the boat. Other dlphins came and nudged the boat and as like a previous poster said they put on a show for us.

They loved racing along with the boat and every so often would shoot off into the distance almost like they were letting you know 'we've had enough of you now'

[WeeClype]

I'll probably get flamed for this but I'm going to seaworld next month, I bought my tickets ages ago and there is no-way I've spent a load of money for us not to go. I watched BlackFish last week and I felt sick to my stomach so we plan to go, ride the rides and go back to the pool.

If I had seen BlackFish sooner I would never have bought tickets for SeaWorld

[CatThiefKeith]

Wee I won't flame you, but is there no way to get a refund on your tickets?

[WeeClype]

I could but I don't get the full price back and I also bought them at a time where you got free legoland tickets which would need to be returned too. With 3 weeks to go I don't want to chance returning everything, taking a loss and buying more tickets for elsewhere

[ColdTeaAgain]

wee sorry but if you really do feel "sick to your stomach" then just get back what money you can and cut your loses. You live and learn.

[Canidae]

I would rather lose money then take one step into a place that takes so much from these animals but gives nothing back.

I first saw adverts for seaworld 20 years ago when we first got sky tv. I can remember feeling uneasy when watching a trainer 'dance' with an orca and I was 9 years old. Just the fact that they are huge animals kept in very small pens would be my first warning sign.

I can't civil to someone who is ignorant enough to give money to any of these parks. You are adding to more underage, artificial breeding. The calf (if it lives) will be taken from it's mother to live a life of stress and repetition and die at a young age.

We have information within seconds these days. There is no excuse.

[plecofjustice]

Go to Iceland, see minke's and humpbacks and a wide variety of birdlife - gannets, eiders, puffins, etc. It was incredible. And to be in a rough sea, knowing that we were most definitely in their realm, watching the whales just doing their thing...

[MrsTerryPratchett]

Come to the West Coast of Canada. Eagles, whales, including multiple pods of Orcas, otters, an attack octopus (really), seals and others. DD was just on the news here for being at the marina with a 'dangerous' otter, which had to be relocated. The wildlife is jumping out of the forest and sea at you here.

[TheIronGnome]

Check out Florida's theatre of the sea. A similar idea to sea world but very much it's ethical cousin. If I remember rightly, the dolphins are free to come and go as they please but many like to spend quite a bit of time at the centre.