The Issue of Animal Abuse of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment

Shut Down Aquariums Immediately

For a long time the public has been outraged over Sea World entertainment parks and those affiliated with them. Recently, SeaWorld announced that they will no longer breed Killer Whales, but there’s a twist. SeaWorld made the public believe they agreed to stop breeding to treat animals fairly, but they only agreed to stop breeding because it is now banned in the state of California (Hauser). This is just one of the few ways Sea World has tried to cover-up the mistreatment of Killer Whales and other animals in their entertainment parks.

Mistreatment isn’t just exclusive to Killer Whales like most people think, but other animals like Polar Bears, Bottlenose Dolphins, and others face the same problems (Seaworldparks.com). Although some people still support Sea World, most animal activists can continue to refuse to visit their parks and support rescue zoos instead.

Overtime, SeaWorld has improved certain problems in their parks like deciding to stop breeding killer whales, but these have been twisted to appear like positive changes when in the end they are only negative.

For example, Sea World used to capture Killer Whales from the wild back in 1970 and 1971 (Seaworldofhurt.com). Forty years ago no one wondered where the Killer Whales and other animals came from, but instead enjoyed the entertainment for their families. SeaWorld has had 10 stillborn killer whales, and several other killer whales die giving birth (Cronin). This is important because the general public is oblivious to incidents like this and that makes it harder to get them to stop visiting the parks.

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Though SeaWorld launched an ad that explained they haven’t captured killer whales “in over 35 years”, the alternative to capturing began to raise a problem too (Seaworldcares.com). Instead of capturing wild Killer Whales and other animals SeaWorld decided to breed them. Though this was a solution to capturing, it created a bigger problem because animal activists do not believe animals should be born into captivity. Now that breeding has been banned in the state of California in order to keep animals in the park, Sea World will have to revert back to capturing wild animals. The main point of this argument is that Sea World cannot find a positive way to keep animals in their parks.

Sea World has been hiding animal mistreatment in their parks for years, but former employee experiences and animal activist research have unraveled some disturbing practices that go on behind the scenes of their entertainment parks. Former Sea World trainer, John Hargrove, explains his experience in his book Beneath the Surface (Kirby). His book explains that SeaWorld does not care about the well-being of the animals in their parks. In fact, Hargrove calls SeaWorld “cultish” and claims that the Killer Whales in their care are actually suffering (Kirby). Anyone can point the finger and say negative things about SeaWorld, but Hargrove’s book actually proves that bad things happen behind the average person’s eyes. Hargrove explains that killer whales sometimes fight to the death, have holes drilled in their teeth, and are food deprived as well as hosed with water (Kirby). This is no way to treat animals in captivity, especially animals that are bringing in millions of dollars of revenue. Along with Hargrove’s experience, PETAs website, “SeaWorld of hurt”, explains the most shocking ways Killer Whales and animals are treated. This includes dyeing Killer Whales to mask their sunburns, inbred animals, and injuries to trainers and SeaWorld visitors (Seaworldofhurt.com). Imagine living in a small space in the sun for roughl y 12 hours a day in two of the hottest states in America. This is exactly how Killer Whales feel in their drastically small tanks. In addition to inbred animals, they are forcefully artificially inseminated before the age that breeding naturally occurs (Seaworldofhurt.com). Yes, this means that the animals they are breeding may not be ready to have a baby but SeaWorld begs to differ. SeaWorld is putting on a good front, but their small rescue missions do not make up for the poor ways they treat their animals now.

The general public should can do a lot to stop animal abuse in the entertainment industry by supporting rescue zoos and supporting laws that stop animal mistreatment. Just recently SeaWorld has been exposed, which means they don’t have a lot of time to react to the public’s outrage. This leaves SeaWorld in a vulnerable place, which makes it the perfect time to take action. The first thing people need to do to take action is to stop going to Sea World and other parks affiliated with it. Instead, everyone can support zoos like Lowry Park Zoo. Lowry Park Zoo helps rehabilitate injured animals, and releases them back into the wild when they are healthy (Lowryparkzoo.com). Supporting Zoos that have systems like this, and shutting out the ones that don’t, will help pressure places like Sea World to change their ways of handling animals. Even famous artists like Willie Nelson and the Bare-naked Ladies have cancelled their visit to Busch Gardens just because they are owned by the same company as SeaWorld (Ulloa).

Some people may feel that only when celebrities speak against something it is recognized, but the general public comes in big numbers when they ostracize SeaWorld. Another way to speak out against Aquariums and Zoos is to write letters to the editors for publications (Peta.org). This pressures writers and editors to write about the problems Sea World has been causing. People can also actively support legislation that stops the capturing, breeding, and display of marine animals (Peta.org). Overtime, the more people who support these laws against the deadly care of animals, the more likely laws will be passed to stop it. The very last thing people can do is spread the word about the negative ways animals are being mistreated at Sea World. The more people learn about sunburns or inbreeding with the animals the more likely they are going to want to team up to rescue and help these animals.

It is absolutely crazy how long SeaWorld’s mistreatment of animals has gone on. Not only has it worsened overtime, but people still do not know just how bad it is. Normal Sea World lovers may not want to hear the truth, and may visit the websites Sea World has made to cover up their flaws, rather than visit sites that expose them. People may feel that reading the terrible things Sea World has been doing will make them pessimistic, but they need to know the truth. This is why one of the most important things animal activists can do is to spread the word about how the animals are treated. Even a small Facebook post or Twitter post can make one person interested to learn some facts. Shortly overtime if people stop visiting SeaWorld parks, and start supporting ones that promote positive treatment of animals, SeaWorld may be forced to do that or shut down. When SeaWorld fails to keep an exquisite reputation other aquariums and zoos will know that they can’t get away with mistreating animals. This creates a domino effect of positive treatment of animals all around the world in aquariums and zoos.

Works Cited

1. “About PETA’s Campaign Against SeaWorld | SeaWorld of Hurt.” Sea World of Hurt. Web. 4
2. Apr. 2016. <www.seaworldofhurt.com> Cronin, Melissa. “5 Reasons Why SeaWorld’s Orca Breeding Program Is Seriously Bad News.” The Dodo. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
3. Hauser, Christine. “California Approves SeaWorld’s Whale Habitat Expansion but Bans Breeding.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 2015. Web. 4 Apr. 2016. “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): The Animal Rights Organization.” PETA.