Seaworld

[Coralgurl]

I haven't seen the documentary, I understand it's about keeping whales and such in captivity and the effects it has on them. I had the opportunity years ago to go whale watching off the coast of Victoria and was brought to tears watching killer whales jumping and splashing and doing what these magnificent animals do in the wild.

That said, my dad was born and raised in Africa, imagine the wildlife he saw there.

What's the difference keeping marine mammals and land mammals in captivity? Many land animals are near extinction due to humans. Hunting, ivory, population expansions interferring with migration. Even through our mountains, we have encounters with bears, cougars that end up paying with their lives when they come too close to our homes.

We keep marine animals in our homes for our own pleasure. We go to great expense to provide the best possible environment for their survival. Yet we introduce diseases, parasites in such a closed system and have to medicate. These animals and fish would never be exposed to such treatment in their natural habitat. We take corals from the reefs, fish and all have found a way to justify, science, research, preservation.

And we have zoos. I wonder where we draw the line at what is acceptable and what is not. We humans cause the greatest destruction to our planet yet we all justify our choices to do so.

[Treebeard]

My honey was also born and raised in Africa. She was born in Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe and we tied the knot in a beautiful seaside town in South Africa called Hermanus in 2009. You could see whales swimming just off shore from the beach we stood on as we said our vows. . Truly magical.
And I agree with you that we exploit and abuse many of the animals we share this planet with. We are truly monstrous in our exploitation of this place. But with what we know of the intelligence of some of our roommates we should try to do better. Please watch the movie. If you can't find it PM me and I will get you one.

[Coralgurl]

Small world, my dad is from Harare, Rhodesia! He left in 1970 for England where he met my mom, they went back for almost 2 years until she got sick with malaria while preggers with me. What an amazing wedding you had!

I'll watch the film. I agree with the intelligence of all, well most mammals, it's truly amazing!

[Coralgurl]

I'm watching this now as its on CNN. Gut wrenching and so hard to watch but needs to be told. I too will never again support the organizations that keep these magnificent mammals in captivity for entertainment. Just disgusted at what these whales go through and the dangers faced by the trainers who for the most part, truly love the whales. These parks lie.

[Treebeard]

Thanks for watching.
Sometimes it really sucks to admit you are part of this "human" race.

Originally Posted by Coralgurl

I'm watching this now as its on CNN. Gut wrenching and so hard to watch but needs to be told. I too will never again support the organizations that keep these magnificent mammals in captivity for entertainment. Just disgusted at what these whales go through and the dangers faced by the trainers who for the most part, truly love the whales. These parks lie.

[Spyd]

In Niagara Falls, ON we have Marineland and the conditions are even worse.. Ph water issues and many other problems. I have never been and will never bring my family there.

Here's a link where some disgruntled trainers talk about the conditions there.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2...ffers_say.html

[Seriak]

Here is an interesting write up about the film.

http://melissaasmith.hubpages.com/hub/blackfish-film

Haven't been able to view the movie myself yet as it was removed from youtube

[Reef Pilot]

You know, I could speak to and make a case for both sides of these issues. No question that zoos and marine mammal parks have funded research and created awareness that have bettered the lives of these animals in the wild. On the other hand, still remember watching alligator wrestling in Florida and hard to make a case how that helps those animals.

And there are definitely those that would like to ban all animal captivity, incl for food. I wonder if any of them have pet dogs or cats. Easy to forget these came from once wild animals.

But on the other hand, what case can we possibly make for keeping fish and corals except for our own selfish pleasures?...

[kien]

I am not a zoologist, nor am I an activist, but just like the Reef Pilot, I can see both sides of the discussion. No one wants to see these animals caged up. If you know anything about any of these animals natural habitats you'll know that their domestic enclosures are grossly inadequate in comparison. Having said that, I do know that many of these animals are either rescues from the wild or rescues from other zoos or simply transfers domestic (zoo) breeding programs. The Calgary Zoo recently sent all their elephants to another zoo to give them a better home. And as already mentioned, I do know that the zoos conduct research (and not the gamma radiation type).

[Magickiwi]

I do my best to not judge for one side or the other. But hypocrisy is what it is. I've seen this film and they do exactly what they criticize Seaworld for doing. Glossing over or omitting facts that are relevant to the discussion, forcing human characteristics on animals in order to force empathy or emotional responses, failing to recognize the benefits from alternative viewpoints.

How much good has been done by Seaworld during their existance? It's immeasurable; the film itself interviews marine biologists that entered the field due to a Seaworld experience. They donate money to reasearch, foundations, education, etc. Do they make money? Well it would be stupid to think they aren't there to make money, they are a *business*. The "Neuroscientist" they interviewed for the film just sounded like a whack-a-doodle from word one for me. Their emotional center of their brain is many times larger than a humans? How the hell would she know what that portion of their brain is used for in Orcas? An elephant's brain weighs almost 4 times as much as a human's but do they have Netflix?

The Seaworld animals benefit from critical discussions over the husbandry practices in use, training methods, etc. Someone has to advocate for animals or God only knows what conditions they'd be in.

My point to the makers of Blackfish: Don't be as bad as you say Seaworld is and try honesty instead of trying to out-lie the competition.