KJ1081
Active Member
919Florida that is total BS! If you believe that I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you...
Seriously though, I worked for some years in the veterinary hospital of a large zoo with pinnipeds. This facility was AZA accredited, just like Sea World, and hey guess what- the plans for the tanks, facilities, and HUSBANDRY came from Sea World! The literally wrote the book on it. Our facility chose not to follow many of the guidelines set forth, because the board felt that their recommendations would be detrimental to the health of the animals. Anyway, I can tell you for a fact because I have seen the documents with Sea Worlds name all over it- that water is HEAVILY chlorinated. Think about it- it HAS to be. Do you know much a sea mammal poops or urinates? That water would be toxic in hours without all that chlorine. You think the filter takes care of that? Sorry , filters really only take care of solid media. Sure you can add UV sterilizers and various filter media to buffer pH, bind ammonia/nitrite/nitrate etc, but that's still only going to scratch the surface of the amount of waste produced by these animals. The tank would literally have to be COVERED in beneficial bacteria (tank slime) in order to neutralize the water. Beneficial bacteria leads to dark, murky water. Well, we can't have that if we want to keep the turnstiles rolling! So what do they do instead? They dump gallons upon gallons upon gallons of chemicals into the water in an attempt to make it tolerable. Sure, when you test the water everything may look peachy keen, but that's only because of the chemicals. Those same chemicals are causing damage to the mucous membranes, skin, eyes, GI tracts, and urinary systems of these animals. That damage cannot be undone.
You know what else? Sea lions do not go blind in the wild like captive ones do. WIld animals do develop nuclear sclerosis, which is a normal changing of the lens color and thickness, associated with age. Many will also develop cataracts and glaucoma, like humans. Captive pinnipeds are a completely different story. True, many captive pinnipeds go blind from a combination of factors, the most important of which is water quality. The process has NOTHING to do with age! Many captive pinnipeds begin having vision problems when they're only a few years old! The chronic severe irritation causes blindness, as the constantly-inflammed optic nerve can only compensate so long, and the swollen tissue will begin to lose adhesion and parts of the eye, such as the lens, will literally pop out from the pressure! Can you imagine what that would feel like? Ever poked yourself in the eye? Yea, well do that and then pour rubbing alcohol in your eyes and see how you feel. That's how they feel every second of every day of their lives. They don't get eye infections "like us", just like dogs and cats don't catch colds.
My work here is done. Have a good one!
Seriously though, I worked for some years in the veterinary hospital of a large zoo with pinnipeds. This facility was AZA accredited, just like Sea World, and hey guess what- the plans for the tanks, facilities, and HUSBANDRY came from Sea World! The literally wrote the book on it. Our facility chose not to follow many of the guidelines set forth, because the board felt that their recommendations would be detrimental to the health of the animals. Anyway, I can tell you for a fact because I have seen the documents with Sea Worlds name all over it- that water is HEAVILY chlorinated. Think about it- it HAS to be. Do you know much a sea mammal poops or urinates? That water would be toxic in hours without all that chlorine. You think the filter takes care of that? Sorry , filters really only take care of solid media. Sure you can add UV sterilizers and various filter media to buffer pH, bind ammonia/nitrite/nitrate etc, but that's still only going to scratch the surface of the amount of waste produced by these animals. The tank would literally have to be COVERED in beneficial bacteria (tank slime) in order to neutralize the water. Beneficial bacteria leads to dark, murky water. Well, we can't have that if we want to keep the turnstiles rolling! So what do they do instead? They dump gallons upon gallons upon gallons of chemicals into the water in an attempt to make it tolerable. Sure, when you test the water everything may look peachy keen, but that's only because of the chemicals. Those same chemicals are causing damage to the mucous membranes, skin, eyes, GI tracts, and urinary systems of these animals. That damage cannot be undone.
You know what else? Sea lions do not go blind in the wild like captive ones do. WIld animals do develop nuclear sclerosis, which is a normal changing of the lens color and thickness, associated with age. Many will also develop cataracts and glaucoma, like humans. Captive pinnipeds are a completely different story. True, many captive pinnipeds go blind from a combination of factors, the most important of which is water quality. The process has NOTHING to do with age! Many captive pinnipeds begin having vision problems when they're only a few years old! The chronic severe irritation causes blindness, as the constantly-inflammed optic nerve can only compensate so long, and the swollen tissue will begin to lose adhesion and parts of the eye, such as the lens, will literally pop out from the pressure! Can you imagine what that would feel like? Ever poked yourself in the eye? Yea, well do that and then pour rubbing alcohol in your eyes and see how you feel. That's how they feel every second of every day of their lives. They don't get eye infections "like us", just like dogs and cats don't catch colds.
My work here is done. Have a good one!
