The opportunity of being able to witness wild animals in person is extraordinary. Curiosity guides our interests and motivation to go see these captive animals . It is a decision most do not think twice about and never wonder if it is really worth it. We never stop to think they are innocent animals being mislead and mistreated in an industry of entertainment and lies. Let us for example think about marine parks like SeaWorld. The surface looks so perfect but it is a lot more complicated than that. In the Blackfish documentary directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, the living conditions of orcas in marine parks are revealed. It is unfair to have orcas trapped when they can be happily in the wild. They are often isolated and become frustrated from being trapped in their pools for such a long time. The Orcas become puppets for our enjoyment. As a child, I believed orcas were happy and loved but that is not the case.

The reason why these animals are trapped and taken away from their family and home is for them to be controlled and used as entertainers: something that is not in their nature. This is not a good enough reason to take them from the natural habitat. Imagine getting taken away from your family, which you are really close to, and being exposed as an object to the whole world to see. These captive animals are very united to their family. They are creatures that swim together as a family. Communication is so important when it comes to understanding the nature of these social animals.  The panel from the panel discussion stated that “they have a complex social structure. Each population is distinctive in many ways” (Costentino). Orcas all have a very unique dialect, culture, and language so they have a difficult time getting along with the other orcas trapped with them (Blackfish). This results in the orcas attacking each other.

Orcas do not only take out their frustration on each other. They end up hurting themselves as well. They get angry from swimming in the same pool for such a long time. That is neither safe for the trainers or the orcas. In their captive homes, they often get exasperated and bite at the metal fences. By doing this, orcas hurt their teeth and causes unwanted teeth infections. We should not keep them keep suffering. They can be happy out in the wild.
Even though keeping orcas captive is wrong, many people believe these animals should be kept captive. They argue that having captive orcas helps with research but they do not realize captive orcas are different than free orcas. Therefore, the research that could be made cannot apply to orcas in the wild. According to A. Mel Cosentino in the Panel discussion: Scientific studies of captive and free-living killer whales, Dr St Leger states that captive and wild orcas are not comparable, for example their metabolism, because they live in different environments. In the wild orcas live up to 50-60 years whereas in captivity they live up to 25-30 years (Blackfish). Research becomes irrelevant because it does not give accurate answers. If people really wanted to research them, they can use wild orcas. The major reason SeaWorld has orcas would be to manipulate them into living puppets.

I believe marine parks are taking advantage of the people who do not know or think about the sadness or troubles that these wild creatures have. As a child, I was naive and innocent when I went to SeaWorld. I genuinely believed that these animals were happy and that they were treated with love by everybody in the business. I now know that this is a lie. They are taking advantage of our innocence because they make SeaWorld look like an amazing and wonderful place. That of course is very appealing to little kids. If people were aware of what really goes on behind the scenes of these parks, SeaWorld would run out of business.

Works Cited
Blackfish. Dir. Gabriela Cowperthwaite. Magnolia Pictures, 2013. Film.
Costentino A, Mel. “Panel discussion: Scientific studies of captive and free-living killer whales”  wordpress.com. n.p., 12 December 2015. Web. 2 November 2015.