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| Dolphin at Sea World San Diego |
A Little Background
My most recent visit was the end of June 2014. After visiting several coworkers asked in typical fashion what I had done over the weekend. When I told them I went to Sea World, a few hastily replied, "Have you seen Black Fish?" I told them yes I had watched the film and I went to Sea World anyway. One coworker was appalled and accused me of participating in animal abuse. Another explained that he used to enjoy Sea World but after watching the film "Black Fish" he would never visit the park again and would defiantly never take his son there. While another joked saying he had seen "Black Fish" as well and it made him very hungry.
What I thought of "Black Fish" (Spoilers)
"Black Fish" is a documentary primarily about the way Sea World treats it's Killer Whales. Here are a few main points I felt the film was trying to bring up:- Sea World cruelly stole baby whales from the ocean.
- Keeping whales in captivity makes them aggressive and they have injured or killed quit a large number of their trainers. I believe the film said about 70 some injuries or deaths total.
- Sea World treats the whales cruelly by keeping them in small tanks, separating them from their family structures, and forcing them to perform tricks.
I thought it was very sad to see the whales outsmarted by the hunters but not surprising considering the hunters had at least one helicopter helping in the chase. I was surprised to see the hunters take the calf alive as I know there are plenty of hunters who are not nearly as merciful when it comes to whaling. I would not hold this against Sea World because even the film indicated the whale was for for a small company that only had three whales in a small net enclosure in the ocean. The film later says this whale, Tilikum, was purchased by Sea World later and given a bigger enclosure and treated better than before. The first captive whales had to come from the ocean, how else would we acquire them? While it was as to see the whale taken from the ocean it is nice to know they now bread their whales in captivity.
Point #2 The film claimed that keeping killer whales in captivity makes them more aggressive than killer whales in the wild. They showed many different scenes of trainers being injured or stories of trainers being killed. They also make the point killer whales have never injured humans in the wild.
Although it was sad to hear that trainers had been killed or injured it is not really that surprising. People are injured or killed by all kinds of animals that are kept in captivity or are in the wild. If you've ever owned or played with a cat you learn pretty fast that they can be quite rough and it's a good thing they are so small or you'd probably end up with your arm ripped off or worse. I do not agree that keeping these whales in captivity makes them more aggressive. They are aggressive by nature they are called KILLER whales after all. The claim that killer whales have never hurt a human in the wild is a nice claim. It may or may not be true, but even if it is true that doesn't mean they are not aggressive. How many killer whales have you encountered in your daily life? If you're like me you've only ever seen them at parks or zoos like Sea World. Of course they haven't killed humans because they live in the ocean! What about sharks we hear about sharks killing people don't we? Well yes, we do because sharks often swim closer to the coastlines were people swim and surf, where as killer whales do not. (sometimes they do but only rarely in comparison to sharks) Also, a human is not much of a meal for a pod of Killer Whales making it even more unlikely for them to target humans in the wild.
I also watched another documentary called "The Blue Planet a Natural History of the Oceans" this is a series of eight episodes and I forget which episode contained information about killer whales, but one of them did. This series focus on the natural lives of wild animals in the ocean. The episode showed a pod of killer whales doing what they do best, hunting. They had come upon a blue whale, I believe it was, and her calf. Blue whales, even the calves, are much larger than killer whales so the pod homed in on the calf and each took turns jumping on the baby to force it under water until it drowned. It took the pod over an hour or more to kill the baby. This reminded me right away of the the scene from "Black Fish" where one of the whales jumps on top of a person who is ridding on another whale causing injury to the person. It was not an unusual aggressive act because of captivity, this was a normal act whales do in the wild to take down prey as was show clearly in the "The Blue Planet" series.
Point #3 The film showed a very emotional scene of a mother whale making vocalizations because the Sea World staff had taken her calf away to move it to another park. The film claimed the whale was very upset and it was a terrible thing to do because in the wild whales and calves are never separated, they live out their lives together. They also claimed that Sea World takes whales from different pods in the ocean and mixes them all up so they can't even communicate with each other because they all speak different languages. They also showed what a sad terrible life Tilikum (one of the main whales they focused on) now has because he lives in a small enclosure all by himself and only interacts with people when performing his tricks at the end of a show.
The film did a great job of making me feel sorry for the whale that lost her calf. I was quite surprised that Sea World would take a whale away from it's mother as I had thought they would try to keep families together. After doing a little research I found that Sea World claims the calf depicted in the film was actually twelve years old when they separated it form it's mother and they claim they've only ever separated two calves from their mothers. The term "calf" is debatable and they may separate them once they are no longer considered "calves" I don't know. However, even though I would like them to keep all of the calves with their mothers I don't think that is a reasonable thing to ask them to do because they would eventually run out of space and it makes more sense to spread their whales out so they can all be cared for properly. Also, I do not think it is excessively cruel or unusual to separate a baby animal from it's mother. In fact we as humans do it all the time! Do you have a dog? According to the US Pet Ownership Statistics 36.5% of households have a dog. Puppies are separated from their mother as early as 7 weeks to around 12 weeks. That is a lot earlier than 12 years. We don't consider it cruel to separate puppies from their mother yet in the wild dogs/wolves are pack animals and live together in much the same way as whales. We also separate many others animals from their mothers for our food such as cow, chickens, pigs, etc. Most people do not consider this cruel either. Also, in the wild plenty of whales lose their calves to predators, lack of food, etc. In fact the orcas even are responsible for some other whales calves dying as the blue whale example I explained above.
As for the small enclosure argument, yes the tanks the whales are kept in are smaller than the ocean. It is literally impossible to simulate their natural habit in captivity because to make an enclosure as big as the ocean is not possible. If you agree and think that Sea World should just dump all it's captive whales back into the ocean you're basically sentencing them to death. Whales that were born in captivity and are hand feed will likely not survive for very long in the ocean. It's a nice thought to think they would know what to do, how to hunt, how to migrate, all on their own using instinct alone, but it's more likely they would not know what to do unless they managed to find a pod of wild whales that accepted them. Keiko, the whale featured in the move "Free Willy," was actually released back into the wild, but failed to reintegrate with wild whales and seemed to actually seek out humans instead. There is a petition online to boycott Sea World until they release their orcas. I think this is very silly because if Sea World did decide to release their whales it would likely cost millions of dollars to rehabilitate them to give them the best chance at surviving in the ocean. So boycotting them and giving them less money would not help the process. Even if Sea World did not want to release their whales boycotting them is still not a good solution because they would have less money to maintain their enclosures, provide medical care, and food for their whales. I too think the whale enclosures are a little small considering how large the whales are. I also think it would be nice to see some toys in the tanks like they have for the dolphins. Maybe they do have these at times, but they did not when I last visited.
As for forcing the whales to perform everyday. I do not find this to be cruel in anyway. Sea World trains their animals using the reward system. They receive treats after doing their tricks. This is a normal and acceptable way to train animals just watch any professional dog show, circus animal, or trained bird. If anything the performing is good exercise and a way to keep the whales mentally stimulated.
How I View Animals
The way I see animals in general is really the main reason I have no problem visiting Sea World after watching "Black Fish."I love animals. I take great joy in watching them, interacting with them, appreciating their unique and in interesting behaviors. However, my love for them is not directed at them. My love for them is directed to God because He created them and directs them. The uniqueness of animals shows me a glimpse of creativity and beauty of God.
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| Discus at Sea World San Diego |
A person has the God given right to keep animals in captivity, and to breed animals for food so long as they are not threatening their very existence, or abusing them. Now I use the term abuse to mean treating an animal in an excessively cruel way. In our example of orcas, I would say it would be abusive to keep the whales if the trainers caused physical harm to the them in order to teach them to do tricks such as hitting them with any sort of barbed instrument that caused them bleed, or denying them food or medical attention, or allowing the water to become filthy and unsanitary. However, I did not see any of these when I visited Sea World. I saw trainers that used the reward system to teach them tricks, they seemed to receive plenty of food as they were not lethargic or skinny, and the water was pristine and clear. This tells me that Sea World is doing a great job in being good stewards of their whales and they have every right to continue.
I believe animals lives are purely instinctual given to them by God for their continued survival. Animals, do not have goals, ambitions, dreams. Animals only have limited feelings purely for their continued survival such as a natural fear of predators. Animals do not love in the way that we as humans love, this is not possible for them because they do not have free will. Free will is the ability to choose to love or not love. As humans we are blessed with free will because we are made in God's image. Animals, however are not. Animals behavior is dictated to them, this why animals can do no wrong and no good. If an animal kills another animal we understand that animals kill to survive and it is not seen as bad thing. If an animal kills a human we usually blame the human for doing something wrong because we know an animal can do no wrong. If animals can do no wrong, they can't do good either. What about the dog that saved it's owner from a burning building, or the cat that saved a boy from a dog? While it may seem that animals sometimes do heroic acts of good this simply can not be true because animals have no sense of right and wrong. An animal saving a human may instinctively recognize the human as necessary to it's own continued survival and thus save them, or it very well could be God working through the animal to save the person. Unlike humans God or His angles can works through animals without their consent as they have no consent to give. Humans must invite and allow God to work through them, because He gave them free will and respects their free will. An example is of God using an animal is the story of Balaam and his donkey in the book of Numbers Chapter 22.
Common Thoughts About Animals
When I hear the claim that animals have the right to be free, and it is cruel to simply keep them in captivity because they would live a more happy fulfilling life if they were free. I believe this mindset is based on people projecting their own desires onto animals. People are generally not happy if they are in a small confided cell, we usually associate that with prison. But I don't think animals, especially animals born in captivity, know any different. When speaking about this topic with my coworkers one guy thought even captive born whales long for the ocean. I do not think this is true because I don't think animals are capable of longing for anything except perhaps food and a mate and even then I think it's much different than the desire we as humans experience for certain things.
It is very common to hear people describe their dog, saying how much their dog loves them or how their dog was pouting after being yelled at, etc. As people we have emotions and we are unable to fully comprehend what it would be like to not have emotions. So we project our emotions onto our pets in order to relate to them better. But does a dog really pout? Are pigs really lazy? Are cats really curious? These are human emotions and traits. Technically a pig can not be lazy because laziness is a vice, you have to be capable of being productive to be capable of being lazy. Pigs can not be productive, they do what they do which is lay in the mud and eat. This is not laziness this is following their instinct to conserve energy and cover themselves in mud to avoid becoming sun burnt and to cool themselves as they do not sweat. Dog can not love because love is a choice to put someones needs above your own. However, dogs and all animals are created by the Divine Lover or Love itself, so dogs and other animals may have a reflection of God's love within them, but humans are the only physical beings that are truly capable of love because we are the only ones given the choice to love or not love. If dogs and other animals have a glimmer of love within them, it's instinctual rather than a choice. It should be noted that human love, though grater than animals, is still less than what real love is because only God is love in it's purest form.
Lastly some people consider it cruel to force an animal to perform. They equate it to forcing a person do do something they don't want to do. Forcing a person to do something is indeed wrong. Training an animal to do a trick for food is not cruel and not wrong. Nearly every kind of animal can be trained with food, even chickens, mice, and goldfish. This is not cruel because an animal will not feel any sense of self consciousness or embarrassment for doing a trick. They will also not feel a sense of accomplishment or pride for doing a trick. Animals will do tricks for food or some other pleasure such as a good scratch behind the ears. Animals do not realize they are performing. They will do the same trick if there is only one person watching or an entire stadium of people watching. The only time training animals is cruel or wrong is if they are trained with excessive pain. I say excessive because horses are often trained with a whip, but it is only light flicks of a whip which are likely only a small annoyance to the horse. Training an animal in such a way that causes injury would be cruel.
It is very common to hear people describe their dog, saying how much their dog loves them or how their dog was pouting after being yelled at, etc. As people we have emotions and we are unable to fully comprehend what it would be like to not have emotions. So we project our emotions onto our pets in order to relate to them better. But does a dog really pout? Are pigs really lazy? Are cats really curious? These are human emotions and traits. Technically a pig can not be lazy because laziness is a vice, you have to be capable of being productive to be capable of being lazy. Pigs can not be productive, they do what they do which is lay in the mud and eat. This is not laziness this is following their instinct to conserve energy and cover themselves in mud to avoid becoming sun burnt and to cool themselves as they do not sweat. Dog can not love because love is a choice to put someones needs above your own. However, dogs and all animals are created by the Divine Lover or Love itself, so dogs and other animals may have a reflection of God's love within them, but humans are the only physical beings that are truly capable of love because we are the only ones given the choice to love or not love. If dogs and other animals have a glimmer of love within them, it's instinctual rather than a choice. It should be noted that human love, though grater than animals, is still less than what real love is because only God is love in it's purest form.
Lastly some people consider it cruel to force an animal to perform. They equate it to forcing a person do do something they don't want to do. Forcing a person to do something is indeed wrong. Training an animal to do a trick for food is not cruel and not wrong. Nearly every kind of animal can be trained with food, even chickens, mice, and goldfish. This is not cruel because an animal will not feel any sense of self consciousness or embarrassment for doing a trick. They will also not feel a sense of accomplishment or pride for doing a trick. Animals will do tricks for food or some other pleasure such as a good scratch behind the ears. Animals do not realize they are performing. They will do the same trick if there is only one person watching or an entire stadium of people watching. The only time training animals is cruel or wrong is if they are trained with excessive pain. I say excessive because horses are often trained with a whip, but it is only light flicks of a whip which are likely only a small annoyance to the horse. Training an animal in such a way that causes injury would be cruel.
Sea World
What I enjoy most about Sea World is getting to see so many different animals up close that I wouldn't normally get to see. Also, as someone who enjoys fish tanks they give me some great ideas for fish tanks I would like to have someday.
Sea World San Diego's fish and aquatic animals are taken care of very well for the most part. Their tanks are clean and they appear healthy. Which is more than I can say for your average local PetsMart. As someone who really enjoys fish I have spent a lot of time researching fish care and identify warning signs of illness. At Sea World there was only a few tanks that had sick fish. Fish keeping is not easy and if one fish becomes sick they rest can become sick very quickly because of the relatively closed environment. It's important to identify and quarantine a potentially sick fish right away. Sea World has thousands of fish and aquatic animals so I think they do an incredible job of keeping them healthy. However, they need improvement with their penguins, polar bear, and walrus health and environments.
I also really enjoy the Sea World shows. I think it is amazing to see what sea lions, otters, dolphins, and whales are capable of and even if I was observing these animals in the wild I would likely not see the interesting tricks humans can teach animals. To me it is a joy to see humans working with animals and I don't see anything cruel about it at all. It's creativity and hard work and it's beautiful to see. I would defiantly visit again.
