The Shame of SeaWorld

It's been a few years, but after going to Stanley Park and watching Black Fish I was pretty sure that I would never go to Sea World. In the past, I had always assumed that would be part of a trip to San Diego.

https://sporktogo.blogspot.com/2014/03/orca.html

Then my sisters planned a trip, and it was on the agenda.

I agreed to go, but I was thinking that I would not review it, so that I would not be admitting that I went. Here I am, writing. That's why I needed to write about OMSI and the Orcas exhibit first.

I did not know how bad it would feel.

I thought that I would be morally opposed, but that I would just grin and bear it. As it was, that was the first part of the park that we saw. Once I saw those flopped over dorsal fins, I felt sick. That pall didn't lift very easily, and it wasn't just me.

So even though there are cool things about the decorations, and the focus has kind of shifted away from Shamu, and most of the animals are probably fine, there's still that.

Even with that discomfort, there is also the knowledge that this is a past wrong that is not easily righted. Keiko should probably not have been released. They are social animals, but they have complex social groups. A whale released to the wild is not likely to find an accepting pod.

Lolita probably has the best chance -- especially if she can get out while her mother is still alive -- but there are no guarantees.

https://www.orcanetwork.org/tokitaesstory

Part of Tilikum's aggression may have come from being bullied by the two whales he was put with early, when he was still young and recently separated from his family. We have stopped capturing new ones, but what do you ethically do for those who are already in captivity?

And I still have worries about belugas and dolphins in captivity.

I did love watching the walrus.

It's not that I am against zoos and aquariums in principle. The previous day we were at the San Diego Zoo, and that was a totally different experience.

SeaWorld has added rides and could be transitioning to that, still with some animals if that can be done ethically and humanely.

But there are still the whales there now. And even if they have stopped capturing new ones, the ones that are bred in captivity, and the ones that are in other countries now, that haven't started to change... that's still a problem.

It made for a frustrating day, but one that I did need to write about.

When we talked to people, we would admit we were going and so many said, "Yeah, we go but we don't post about it." So, we should either not go, or we should talk about it.

We should do something different than what currently is.

So I am not treating this like a regular review, but I do need to say that it happened.