Sea World & other big marine facilities, an educational experience or an example of Cruelty?

[fishyfun&fans]

General Poll on members opinions to Orcas and/or Big Fish & Mammals being kept in Captivity.

Feel free to comment your opinion but please also respect others views on the matter.

Link to the Blackfish Documentary here for those Interested

This is all based on facts and some Scenes can be Distressing and at times Upseting

not reccomended for children unless an adult is present.

 

[fishyfun&fans]

Thank you admin for the move to general discussion

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Never watched it, so I can’t really comment.

 

[fishyfun&fans]

Never w

Never watched it, so I can’t really comment.

check it out on youtube!

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Some creatures can be kept safely and securely and in an environment in which they can thrive.
These can provide excellent educational resources, but the places that house them in a quality fashion, are few and far between.

I don't believe orca or dolphins belong in this category.
That said, there are public aquaria where the staff know exactly what they're doing and the tanks are beauties to behold.

 

[fishyfun&fans]

Some creatures can be kept safely and securely and in an environment in which they can thrive.
These can provide excellent educational resources, but the places that house them in a quality fashion, are few and far between.

I don't believe orca or dolphins belong in this category.
That said, there are public aquaria where the staff know exactly what they're doing and the tanks are beauties to behold.

That’s a cool oppinion!

 

[OliveFish05]

My family went to sea world once, several years ago. The shows themselves are somewhat educational, but mostly just to show off the animals tricks. I think that Seaworld in general is a cool experience, I learned a lot. They do a lot to spread awareness about garbage and stuff. Most of the animals enclosures are fine, they’re well taken care of, I think. All except their orcas. I don’t believe that orcas belong in captivity. Just because of their size, need for social interaction, and food intake, it is nearly impossible to provide them with the enclosure size, food, and friends that they need to thrive. Sea Word is known to fall short in their care when it comes to their orcas. I think it’s different if the animal is not capable of surviving in the wild, but sea world bred their orcas for a long time. Their orcas are not rescues, and SeaWorld is not doing their best for them. While I think that their choice to stop their breeding program was a step in the right direction, the orcas they have now are orcas that they bred for entertainment. While I do not think they should be shut down necessarily, I think there are a lot of things they could do to improve their care of their orcas. The orca part should be shut down.

Edit: I just watched the first bit of the Blackfish video. That is so awful.

 

[Myraan]

I remember reading people have tried to keep Great White Sharks in tanks (maybe Seaworld maybe others). They can't do their normal ocean going behaviour and just refuse to eat or even if they do eat they just die for no obvious reason.

Orcas have the "advantage" of enough intelligence to adapt to such conditions. Unfortunately this adaptation is basically going nuts.

 

[OliveFish05]

I remember reading people have tried to keep Great White Sharks in tanks (maybe Seaworld maybe others). They can't do their normal ocean going behaviour and just refuse to eat or even if they do eat they just die for no obvious reason.

Orcas have the "advantage" of enough intelligence to adapt to such conditions. Unfortunately this adaptation is basically going nuts.

Great whites and other sharks need to be constantly moving in order to even breathe. Because of the sheer size of great whites, a tank that enables them to have the space needed is impossible, so they die.

 

[fishyfun&fans]

Great whites and other sharks need to be constantly moving in order to even breathe. Because of the sheer size of great whites, a tank that enables them to have the space needed is impossible, so they die.

Great whites are known to only survive a couple of days in captivity at best due to there nature of needing 1000’s of miles of ocean and as above need to swim constantly to keep there oxygen intake up

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Oh, it’s an aquarium.

Never been to see world, but I have been to the Georgia Aquarium and the Denver Aquarium. The Denver was a bit run down in the opinion, and a little on the small side. The Georgia aquarium on the other hand was epic. The fish were very well cared for. Of course the staff of the Georgia Aquarium is extremely knowledgeable, and have won several awards I believe.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

I won't go to one of these aquariums, I prefer to see the animals in the wild, which in years past I have had great fortune in doing thanks to a love of off the beaten track, small ship cruising in Antartica, Patagonia, Iceland, Indian Ocean, Strait of Malacca, South China Sea, Gulf of Aden and other places

I think that the "best" display I have personally seen was my Gulf of Aden & Red Sea transit in 2010. April 25th (ANZAC Day) everyone was up on deck as the sun rose at 4am local time, a solo piper was playing The Last Post and we were sailing towards the port city of Aden, Yemen for the day. As the sun was rising and we were all enjoying the traditional "gunfire coffee" the ship was literally surrounded by thousands...yes, thousands...of dolphins and whales. On that same journey that lasted 6 weeks, we saw Manta Ray, Blue Whales, Sea Snakes......countless different animals around the ship, it was wonderful

If you want to see nature as its best, get out onto the water. There are many boat trips to try all over the world if cruising is beyond the pocket, there are many ways to go see sea life up close without resorting to seeing those in captivity.

 

[Salt]

I've never been to SeaWorld. I'll try to watch Blackfish today.
Monterey Bay Aquarium is amazing!

 

[Slaphppy7]

One of the big tanks at the Downtown Aquarium, Houston, TX
Click the image to watch the vid

 

[Rocky998]

Some creatures can be kept safely and securely and in an environment in which they can thrive.
These can provide excellent educational resources, but the places that house them in a quality fashion, are few and far between.

I don't believe orca or dolphins belong in this category.
That said, there are public aquaria where the staff know exactly what they're doing and the tanks are beauties to behold.

I love the movie dolphin tale... Winter is a dolphin that had to be kept in captivity. Ive been wanting to go to the clearwater aquarium for a long time. They keep dolphins only if they are injured or sick and then "re train" them for the wild to set them free. Although winter's case was special because his tail became so injured that they had to remove it. So now he lives at the clear water aquarium with a comfortable prosthetic tail that moves naturally and has a friend named hope who also has something incurable