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People who say Orcas being in SeaWorld is wrong are the kind of people who put dogs on vegan diets: they want to help animals but they’re doing it all wrong.
Putting a dog on a vegan diet is ignoring the basic physiology and needs of the animal.
Putting an orca in a small barren tank and subjecting it to a life of boredom, stress, and inevitable social fracture is ignoring the basic physiology and needs of the animal.
Besides the outright PETA-embracing few (which actually isn’t that many, esp. in knowledgable groups), I don’t think you’ll find many people against Seaworld who’d simultaneously be advocating vegan dog diets.
Seaworld presently deserves all the criticism it’s getting.
In what ways is SeaWorld different than zoos? Both are beneficial as they educate the populace about wildlife and in cases of endangered species, help the small population of the species recover.
Zoos don’t typically have their animals in circus-style performances. Zoos tend to priortise education/educational value. Zoos work to have decent habitats for their animals.
Seaworld’s orca-related “things” aren’t really that educational. The animals exist for their ongoing show routines, and the tanks are bare and featureless – hardly anything resembling a proper habitat.
As for endangered species, re: orca – orca as a whole aren’t endangered, just select populations. One of those populations is the Southern Resident Killer Whales, which Seaworld’s initial capture efforts actually grievously wounded in the first place. Seaworld has been conspiciously absent from conservation efforts re: these animals in particular; I also haven’t seen any indication they teach park visitors anything about those whales, or the problems they face. (Or what people can do to help, for that matter. There’s an incredible amount of actionable material re: wild orca/ecosystem integrity on the West Coast.)
Seaworld has no more SRKW; they all died a long time ago. Seaworld’s orca are useless genetically for any kind of conservation effort; not to mention, captive-born animals wouldn’t be suitable for release of any kind anyways.
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