Orcas in captivity

Hello my name is Gabrielle.

Who here has been grounded? Well then, you can relate to the orcas in SeaWorld. According to my research it's not safe to keep orcas in captivity because they can get diseases and sometimes kill trainers.

What I would like to do is to try save the orcas from captivity. In captivity, they are chipping teeth and their dorsal fins are collapsing. This is not natural for the orcas. They are also trying to jump over the walls to get out and they end chipping teeth.

There are many reasons saving the orcas at SeaWorld is so important. The first reason is because they natural-born need to travel. Orcas can travel 62 miles each day. Orcas in the wild can travel for 42 days nonstop, that's about 5,075 miles in a year. For the orcas in sea world that's 1,208 laps around their tanks per day!

The next reason is that they are living shorter life spans in SeaWorld. Orcas only live 13 years in captivity. Orcas in the wild live a lot longer than the orcas in SeaWorld. Female orcas live from 80 to over 100 years, but in SeaWorld they are dying when they are as young as only 13 years old. The male orcas live to be around 70 to 80 years old, but they are only dying early too.

Another reason besides their need to travel and they are dying early is that keeping orcas in captivity is bad because they can get diseases. Their health is being affected their dorsal fins are collapsing because the water pressure in the ocean keeps the fin up and the tissue strong and healthy , and there's not enough room to swim in their tanks. The orcas in SeaWorld actually break their teeth trying to get out of their tanks.

The next reason is family matters. When the orcas in SeaWorld they get separated from family. The orcas in the wild stay with their family and travel with their pods.

A whale's diet changes a whole lot in captivity. They do get some fish, but in SeaWorld they eat a lot of unflavored jell-o. A 12,000 pound whale eats 83 pound of unflavored jell-o per day. They also eat pig and cow bones. In the ocean they eat sea birds, squid, octopuses, sea turtles, sharks, rays, and fish.

Here are some interesting facts about orcas, they are part of the dolphin family. SeaWorld opened March 15 1959. The last fact is 161 orcas have died in captivity and now there is only 24 orcas left between the two SeaWorlds.

With that being said the most important reasons that it's bad to keep them in captivity are family needs, the need to travel, and the health risks. What I want all of you to do is stop and think, do you think its right to keep orcas in captivity? Do you think we should all just boycott SeaWorld? I hope you come away with a different point of view.

Thank you