It’s been years since the release of the documentary Blackfish—whose “star,” Tilikum, died after 33 years in a concrete tank — but orcas at SeaWorld are still swimming in endless circles and breaking their teeth by gnawing in frustration on the concrete corners and metal bars of their cramped tanks.
Other dolphins are still being impregnated, sometimes forcibly after being drugged, and 140 of them are packed into just seven tanks. Trainers use them as surfboards, riding on their backs and standing on their faces in cruel and demeaning circus-style shows. Facing mounting criticism, SeaWorld ended its sordid orca-breeding program — but this does nothing for the 20 orcas and hundreds of other dolphins, whales, and other animals who are suffering in the company’s tanks right now.
Now, we must urge SeaWorld to open its tanks and release the long-suffering animals into seaside sanctuaries — where they would live in large areas of the ocean while benefiting from human care for as long as they might need—so that they can have a life outside prison tanks.
SeaWorld and other marine parks teach the wrong lesson: that it’s acceptable to imprison animals, deprive them of freedom of movement, deny them the chance to establish natural territory and explore, breed and group them as we — not they — please, and watch them go insane from frustration and loneliness.
Help all the animals imprisoned by SeaWorld today by asking the company to establish a firm and rapid plan to release them into sanctuaries where they would be given some semblance of the natural life that they’ve been denied for so long.
Go here to Take Action and urge SeaWorld to send Orcas to Sanctuaries
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