SeaWorld: What do they have to say?

After Blackfish came out, SeaWorld had a lot of turmoil to work through. Blackfish revealed more information about Tilikum (the killer whale involved in the trainer's death) and SeaWorld's treatment of animals. SeaWorld of course, justifies these accusations for various reasons. I'll examine some of the accusations and then how SeaWorld responds.

Image result for blackfish cover

Accusation #1: Killer whales' dorsal fins are an indicator of their overall health. 
Several resources online claim that a bent dorsal fin (the top fin) indicates that a whale is in poor health. SeaWorld releases a statement on their website along with this short informational video (see below). 


Accusation #2: SeaWorld drills killer whales teeth without anesthesia when they become broken (read more about why they break here). SeaWorld does not provide shade for the whales and even though they get sunburned, they pigment their orcas to cover it up. 
SeaWorld responds to this by beating around the bush. This includes attributing the teeth decay from occasional rubbing on the cement enclosures. However, SeaWorld Fact Check (an external source to SeaWorld), provides more evidence on the actual reasons of wear on their teeth.  


Accusation #3: This one isn't exactly an accusation, but it is what the public wants. SeaWorld should release the whales and stop breeding them and using them as entertainment. 
This is the biggest request by those in the advocacy of whale areas. Luckily, SeaWorld has responded well for this request (although it was somewhat forced). Below is another video they released explaining their plans for "the future of SeaWorld" which revolves around the killer whales. They also go more indepth with their new plan on their website which you can read more of here.

 

Overall, I think SeaWorld should have dealt with this huge captivity issues (Accusation #3) much earlier. Although other organizations and groups forced them to play their hand this way, I wish they had forced it much sooner. While this is great for the killer whales of the future, it isn't great for the whales of today. I hope that SeaWorld will make more preventive measures for injuries among their whales. 

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 21, 2017 at 11:05 AM

    I agree that they should take more preventive measures earlier. Prevention is after all better than cure, right? I find it interesting how big corporations do their business unethically and then later scrambled to rescue their reputation when they could have just avoided it altogether by running their operations according to law. However, I'm glad that Seaworld is taking actions now. Better late than never.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Katelyn ClaryApril 21, 2017 at 6:28 PM

      I find this in a lot of other companies too which is absolutely ridiculous. Sometimes businesses move faster than the people who monitor them and make the rules. It's not fair for these poor animals who have suffered though.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousApril 23, 2017 at 10:18 PM

    I think SeaWorld should have seen these issues coming. As an executive, this would be the first kind of attack I would expect to be getting at this type of company, and it amazes me that they weren't more prepared with actual defense, as opposed to just vague statements.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Katelyn ClaryApril 24, 2017 at 6:13 AM

    I agree. You would figure that their lawyers or ethical team would have already developed a proper response to similar accusations and things. However this is not evident in this case.

    ReplyDelete

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