Aquariums & Seaworld
Imagine swimming in the ocean with your family and then BOOM... You're tangled in a net and getting kidnapped to go to a foreign place. You float in a cramped, damp and dark place until you're "released" into a small tank with three walls and a glass where these ugly things are looking at you and making banging noises. Now you must rely on humans to feed you, and in the meantime you must float around in a circle, day by day...until you die.
When I was younger, my dad and I made it a mission to visit every aquarium in the US!
I was unable to ignore the feeling of "this isn't right" my first and last trip to the Georgia Aquarium.
The most eire moment I experienced was when I witnessed four dolphins gathered at the bottom on their tank where the drain lied. They floated with their nose down and their tale fins up. The beluga whales also incited sadness in me as they repetitively would swim to the glass, bump their heads and then their bodies on the glass & then swim back to the other side. What a sad, monotonous life.
After my trip to the aquarium I vowed to never visit another aquarium again. I hope that after reading this information, you too will stop supporting this industry.
Facts:
Orcas get Sunburn & Their trainers cover it up for shows.
In the wild, orcas spend 95 percent of their time deep down in the ocean to protect themselves from the sun.
Workers usually cover up the burns with black zinc oxide, which matches the orcas’ skin. Although zinc oxide is also used as sunblock, it’s usually put on the orcas once they’re already burned so the public can’t see how hurt they are. (more information can be found on petakids.com)
Orcas are taken away from their families.
In the wild, Orcas, as do other dolphins spend their ENTIRE lives with their mothers and siblings. Five of the orcas living at SeaWorld today were stolen from their families in the wild. For example, Tilikum was a whale who was taken from his ocean home when he was only 2 years old. Can you imagine being taken away from your family at that young age?
People stole him because they knew they could sell him to a company like SeaWorld for a lot of money. He was trapped in a tank at the park for the last 25 years of his life and unfortunately died in his tank on January 6th 2017 #RIPTILLY
Orcas are sexually abused.
In the netflix film blackfish, I learned male Orcas are literally masterbated/jerked off until they ejaculate. Tilikum was the father of 20 babies (10 are still alive today.)
During the process of catching marine animals for aquariums and sea world, MANY are killed.
98% of marine animals DIE within a year between being transported from the ocean to the aquarium. (**Still learning more about this)
Dolphins are discarded.
To catch a female dolphin of breeding age, boats are used to chase a pod into shallow waters, where the animals are surrounded with nets and then lifted onto the boats. The unwanted ones are thrown back into the water. They may die from shock or stress or from pneumonia when water enters their lungs through their blowholes.
Aquarium staff is trained to LIE to us!
Back when I LOVED animals but didn't know about the cruelty of animals I went to Sea World. I asked the woman why the Orcas dorsal fin was bent to the side and she said it was normal and it meant the "killer whale" was happy, when in fact a slumped dorsal fin is a sign of depression and anxiety.
If the animal isn't FREE to go wherever it wants in the ocean, it is not ethical.
(except from peta2 article) Studies show that 90 percent of public aquariums house animals who demonstrate stereotypic neurotic behavior. This means they’re driven insane in captivity and often pace back and forth, bob their heads, or circle their enclosures for hours on end.