Since 1965, people have been traveling from near and far to see the amazing wonders of sea animals at SeaWorld. The shows and exhibits that SeaWorld has to offer allure families to this day. SeaWorld has a good way of making themselves seem like they are an innocent, family-friendly establishment to the everyday person. What these people do not know is that they are actually an accessory to animal abuse. The animals at SeaWorld may seem content with the lives they are forced to live, but behind those miraculous shows, there is so much pain and suffering. SeaWorlds in all locations should be shut down because the animals that are living in SeaWorld are dying of unnatural causes, and the people employed at SeaWorld are not safe in their work environment.

SeaWorlds in all locations should be shut down because the animals are being mistreated by SeaWorld. A website that is petitioning to put an end to SeaWorld as a whole states that the enclosures that they are kept in are not fit to imitate the natural habitat of orcas: “Their deepest tank is 40 feet deep—not nearly deep enough to give them a reprieve from the harsh elements.” The water not being deep enough for the orcas to protect themselves from the sun results in the orcas getting sunburned. This is a major flaw in the way SeaWorld is run. The fact that the sunburn is not treated, but covered up by zinc oxide instead of being medically treated is also another reason for one's disapproval of SeaWorld. Another reason for SeaWorld’s infamous title of animal abusers is because the “trainers” that people see when they go to shows at SeaWorld are not actually trainers. These “trainers” are actually performers. “Contrary to popular belief, trainers often have no formal education in marine biology. Their main purpose is to entertain and put on a “good” show for visitors, not educate people about the intelligence, social nature, or natural families, foraging behavior, and habitats of the animals held at SeaWorld” stated a website against SeaWorld. These people are basically dancers that can tell an orca basic commands, and this could put everyone, including the audience themselves. These workers being performers instead of actual qualified people means that the animals are being put at risk, and SeaWorld is hiring performers instead of trainers or marine biologists.

In addition, SeaWorld should be shut down because the workers at SeaWorld are unsafely dealing with the animals. “SeaWorld’s corporate incident log contains reports of more than 100 incidents of orca aggression at parks, often resulting in injuries to humans and even causing one death by extensive internal bleeding,” says an anti-SeaWorld blogger. These animals are becoming stressed because if the conditions they are in and as a result are lashing out at the human employees that work for SeaWorld. Humans weigh an average of about 150 pounds, and orcas weight an average of 3-6 tons, so it does not take a marine biologist to see the problem with orca hostility. The orcas are stressed out and react with hostility because the small enclosures that they are forced to waste their lives in are not fit to allow orcas to swim as far as they would in the wild. “SeaWorld confines whales and dolphins— who often swim up to 100 miles a day in the wild— to tanks that, to them, are the size of a bathtub,” says another anti-SeaWorld article. If humans were expected to spend their lives in a bathtub, we would grow hostile because of the stress. This is how the orcas feel in their what may seem spacious tanks. This is why these animals are attacking people; because they are stressed out and are unable to thrive in the environment they have been put in.

Many may say SeaWorld is an orca sanctuary, where these animals are able to escape hunters and other predators that they may encounter in the wild, but what these people may not know is that orcas at SeaWorld are constantly fighting, and in some cases even killing each other. A former SeaWorld employee spoke about this in an interview: “Workers would regularly see orcas swimming to the side of the tank because they were being chased, she said. ‘They’re always beating up on each other. It’s nothing new. The trainers know it, we know it.’” - Sarah Fischbeck. Hostility and fighting are things that happen on regular basis within the orca population at SeaWorld. In the wild orcas may fight, but in the wild, they are not limited to a bathtub-sized tank to try and escape their attackers. SeaWorld is in no way a sanctuary for these animals. If anything, SeaWorld is the opposite of a sanctuary for orcas. Most orcas travel at least 100 miles each day in the wild. The whales that are in SeaWorld are not swimming this distance because of the limited space they are given. The misconception that SeaWorld is an orca sanctuary is a common thought to a person that does not look into and compare the conditions of orcas in the wild and the conditions of orcas in captivity.

SeaWorld is not what it claims to be. Many people view SeaWorld as a fun place to bring their families, and some might even call SeaWorld a sanctuary for orcas or other aquatic animals. Most people are unaware of the harm being done to the animals and the risk that employees encounter at their jobs. Over 30 orcas have died in the hands of SeaWorld. Because of the mistreatment of animals, unsafety of workers, and the deaths of animals that take place at SeaWorld, the three locations of SeaWorld should be permanently shut down. Shutting down these parks would ensure that the animals living in SeaWorld would be put in a better environment than they are now, and as decent human beings, everyone should agree that SeaWorld should be shut down.