Why is it that entertainment for humans takes priority over the quality of life for orca whales? The life expectancy of orcas captive at Sea World is significantly lower than the orcas living freely in the wild and that is due to the blatant neglect on the behalf of Sea World employees. 

The enclosures they are kept in are nothing like their natural habitat, causing them to act completely different from the orcas living freely in the wild. The captive orcas “display signs of chronic stress and extreme boredom, such as listlessness, stomach ulcers, and self-injnury”. It has become uncommon for captive orcas to live past 20 years old which is extremely concerning as they can live from 50 to 80 years naturally in the wild. Sea World’s actions of depriving their orcas of food, space, and a healthy environment to thrive, conflict with the principles of the moral responsibilities they are expected to uphold as a company. Sea World is an organization that preaches about animal protection and rehabilitation yet they are what animals need saving from. The five basic standards all animals at zoos and aquariums must have are “receive proper nutrition, live in environments that promote comfort, experience good physical health, keep safe from injury and disease, engage in species appropriate behaviours, have lives where negative mental experiences are minimal”. How is it that all of these standards and guidelines are in place yet Sea World’s treatment of orcas goes against every single one of the five domains of animal welfare? Orcas do not receive proper nutrition as they are only getting fed once they perform tricks, which is also completely unnatural to their expected behaviors. Their living conditions are so small that they injure themselves on the walls of the enclosure, and are restricted from getting proper movement as there is not enough room to swim around. This proves that Sea World is not keeping their orcas protected from harm and are actually ruining their physical health. The orcas captive at Sea World do not get to engage in typical behavior for their species as they are under so much stress that they are acting out violently and attacking. Finally, most if not all of Sea World’s orcas are struggling with anxiety due to the conditions they are forced to live in that do not accommodate for their basic needs of survival. Sea World cares more about bringing in a profit then upholding the ethical and moral expectations required in order to run an aquarium.  

Scott Ross is the founder of the biggest shareholder at Sea World who has already been pushed to make changes in Sea World’s management and structure. He has already influenced the end of orca breeding at Sea World after the major controversy regarding Tilikum sparked large numbers of Sea World backlash. If people gather together to put on more protests and continue to boycott Sea World it is very likely Scott Ross will have no choice but to make more changes to Sea World yet again. Orcas are more than just an entertainment value and they do not deserve all the harm they face.. The changes have already started and it is important that society continues to apply pressure to Sea World to force more changes within their system. Getting Sea World’s attractions to start to shift to focus on educating the public on sea life by rescuing and rehabilitating animals that can not live on their own in the wild is the next change that should be made. This would mean providing larger enclosures for animals to live in as well as proper and nutritious diets. With a healthier environment for orcas to live in their behaviors should be able to function as they would typically, and their mental and physical health should be positive. This both helps injured or unhealthy animals live a better life, while allowing Sea World to still generate a profit from their aquarium. By ending performances, animals are no longer being forced to use their bodies in ways that are unnatural to them. Instead, Sea World should hold informational events where they talk about how they rescued their animals and the importance of advocating for animal safety. This new and reformed idea of Sea World perfectly addresses and changes the previous misconduct and lack of ethical responsibility by creating an organization that works to rehabilitate animals and educate the public on animal safety. By standing up against Sea World’s behaviors, we are helping pave the path as a society as to how wildlife organizations are expected to act and the responsibilities they are believed to uphold. This is an issue that is in need of societal pressure to make a change, so stand up and help demand the reform of Sea World.