This is why SeaWorld must continue breeding killer whales

Aqueeta

Member
Original Poster
The animal rights radicals need to get over the breeding of these majestic creatures by SeaWorld because it won't be long before they are on the endangered species list.

More than forty years after the first initiatives were taken to ban the use of PCBs, the chemical pollutants remain a deadly threat to animals at the top of the food chain. A new study, just published in the journal Science, shows that the current concentrations of PCBs can lead to the disappearance of half of the world's populations of killer whales from the most heavily contaminated areas within a period of just 30-50 years.

Killer whales (Orcinus orca) form the last link in a long food chain and are among the mammals with the highest level of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in their tissue. Researchers have measured values as high as 1300 milligrams per kilo in the fatty tissue (blubber) of killer whales. For comparison, a large number of studies show that animals with PCB levels as low as 50 milligrams per kilo of tissue may show signs of infertility and severe impacts on the immune system.

Together with colleagues from a wide range of international universities and research institutions, researchers from Aarhus University have documented that the number of killer whales is rapidly declining in 10 out of the 19 killer whale populations investigated and that the species may disappear entirely from several areas within a few decades.

Killer whales are particularly threatened in heavily contaminated areas like the waters near Brazil, the Strait of Gibraltar and around the UK. Around the British Isles, the researchers estimate that the remaining population counts less than 10 killer whales. Also along the east coast of Greenland, killer whales are effected due to the high consumption of sea mammals like seals.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180927145334.htm
 

Johnny Three-hats

Active Member
Saw this the other day too. Being blunt, SeaWorld orcas are hardly valuable to conservation. They're not on any kind of Species Survival Plan like other animals SeaWorld keeps; they don't really need to be bred for any particular conservation cause, and given that a lot of gene pool mixing went on, Icelandic with Pacific, Icelandic with Argentinian, these are animals that would never, never occur in the wild simply because of physical boundaries. Not to mention that you could not and would not want to release any of these animals into the wild. As SeaWorld itself has stated (whether it's completely true in every case or not), those animals could never be released into the wild, plus there's a good chance that you could introduce illness from captive life and genetic pollution onto the wild pods. You don't normally want these things in conservation efforts unless there is literally no other choice, which just isn't the case here. Think what you want about the captivity and breeding of these animals, but SeaWorld's breeding program was never going to do any good for conservation of these populations. Certainly not for the Southern Residents of Puget Sound who are in trouble now. Orcas are complicated in how different ecotypes, populations, pods all relate to each other, or, indeed, don't. Orca may well turn out to not all be one singular species, but not enough research has been done on that front to say for sure. Even if you have 100% Icelandic orcas on display in SeaWorld forever and evermore, if this study turns out to be true, you're still losing distinct and scientifically significant animals.

Not to mention, that this study states that only certain populations of orca have a good chance to disappear. Not good, but it's unlikely that SeaWorld would be the last place to see an orca ever, whether they kept breeding or not. We're still going to have these animals in the wild for generation upon generation, just potentially not certain populations like the SRKW. Please, please take a thorough look into those whales and their connection to Chinook salmon and the Snake River Dams if you haven't. No matter what you think on any of these issues, it's good information to be familiar with. If there's anything you should take away from this paper, it's that wild populations of orca and cetaceans in general need help, not that all is already lost and SeaWorld is our only hope.
 

Aqueeta

Member
Original Poster
Think what you want about the captivity and breeding of these animals, but SeaWorld's breeding program was never going to do any good for conservation of these populations.

There are many instances in which zoo's across the world have been successful in keeping endangered species safe from extinction. The California Condor, Golden Lion Tamarin, Arabian Oryx, Amur Leopard and Bongo are just to name a few. Zoos have been working together across the globe to create stable populations and there are many cases in which there are more of an endangered species in captivity than in the wild.

There is no denying that SeaWorld's orca breeding program was a success and while SeaWorld's decision to end its breeding program delighted animal rights activists, it disappointed many marine scientists, who say they will gradually lose vital opportunities to learn things that could help killer whales in the wild.

Not to mention that you could not and would not want to release any of these animals into the wild.
Some of the above species have been successfully reintroduced back into the wild and I would imagine that given the intelligence of the orca, you can't rule this out. Keiko, the whale from Free Willy, was reintroduced into the wild and he went on to live a happy life for five years before he died and although the release was considered a failure, it was a start.
 

Johnny Three-hats

Active Member
There are many instances in which zoo's across the world have been successful in keeping endangered species safe from extinction. The California Condor, Golden Lion Tamarin, Arabian Oryx, Amur Leopard and Bongo are just to name a few. Zoos have been working together across the globe to create stable populations and there are many cases in which there are more of an endangered species in captivity than in the wild.

Yes, that's entirely correct, and SeaWorld and Busch Gardens have contributed to these Species Survival Plans and other such programs. I commend any zoo or aquarium effectively conserving these species that genuinely do need protection and help. I never said anything about those genuinely positive programs, only orca breeding.

Orcas were never bred as part of those programs. Orcas as a whole are not endangered. According to the very article and paper you cite, they are not likely to all become endangered at any point. Over half of the populations mentioned are predicted to end up that way, and only a few are currently endangered as I mentioned in my first post. Not good, any of it, but SeaWorld lacks the gene pool necessary to appropriately breed animals into these populations, because most of their animals are Icelandic in origin, and that population is doing alright.

There is no denying that SeaWorld's orca breeding program was a success and while SeaWorld's decision to end its breeding program delighted animal rights activists, it disappointed many marine scientists, who say they will gradually lose vital opportunities to learn things that could help killer whales in the wild.

A success at what? It was certainly a success at creating more whales to be kept at SeaWorld, if that's your metric. It wasn't a success at creating whales that have any kind of conservation or genetic value to wild populations, otherwise the animals would be on some kind of plan, there wouldn't have been gene pool mixing of different populations up until the ultimate breeding ban, and SeaWorld would have had the idea of training for release at least on the table. A breeding program for, say, the Sumatran tiger would never want to cross those animals with a Bengal line if it could be helped. That's dilution, not conservation.

I'd be interested in a citation on those scientists and what was said specifically. I'll concede you that point, yes, eventually you would no longer have captive animals to study, and the benefits of easy access would go away. However, as I pointed out before, most of SeaWorld's are Icelandic in genes, with a good amount of mixing that would never occur in the wild. The older, matriarch females in each park all are, or were as with Kasatka, Icelandic. How useful is research on a captive whale with Icelandic origins going to be for protecting, say, an Argentinian population? Any warm water population? The southern residents even? How fair is this comparison when the living situations are so utterly different? When, supposedly, SeaWorld's orcas don't suffer from the PCB pollution that all these suffering wild populations do, as the article itself is talking about.

Some of the above species have been successfully reintroduced back into the wild and I would imagine that given the intelligence of the orca, you can't rule this out. Keiko, the whale from Free Willy, was reintroduced into the wild and he went on to live a happy life for five years before he died and although the release was considered a failure, it was a start.

Yes, they have, and that's wonderful, more of that please, for animals that can be effectively and ethically housed and bred before release into the wild. But that hasn't been done for orca. It hasn't even been attempted for orca by SeaWorld.

It's interesting to me that you cite Keiko. A lot of people would tell me, "Keiko was an abject failure, they put him in the wild and he died upon hitting the water, can't work, not ever" when that's just not true. I'm glad you're open to that, truly. I absolutely would love if we could get more instances of Keiko, done even better with all kinds of cetaceans. What you and might want, though, doesn't change that I sincerely doubt that SeaWorld is interested in that kind of thing. If they were, I'd think they would have looked at that instance, learned from any mistakes made, and tried to do something similar much, much earlier, but that just hasn't happened. I'm not convinced it would happen if breeding came back. Again, SeaWorld itself has insisted time and time again that their cetaceans would die if released into the wild, that they were born there and aren't suited for the lifestyle. I don't know how true that is in every case, but it's enough to tell me that, no, they are not going to spend the time or resources needed to appropriately release any of these whales into wild populations. And, again, they don't have bloodlines from these endangered or threatened populations.

Though, we talk about all these things, but continued breeding still isn't likely to do much for wild populations. Neither releasing nor even research on captive animals. We know why the Southern Residents are struggling and endangered, again, right now, and a lot of it has to do with their food supply. They're starving. Their offspring are dying. No amount of captive bred orca is going to change that. You can't fix PCB pollution with more breeding or more research. The issue already is well-known. I welcome more research of any kind being done, but, based on what reading I've done, I'd say you're overstating the role of captive research and breeding in protecting wild population.

In any case, if SeaWorld wanted to overturn the ban, they could at any time. Far as I know, it's a handshake agreement with the American Humane Society, nothing more.
 
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joanna71985

Well-Known Member
There is no denying that SeaWorld's orca breeding program was a success and while SeaWorld's decision to end its breeding program delighted animal rights activists, it disappointed many marine scientists, who say they will gradually lose vital opportunities to learn things that could help killer whales in the wild.


Some of the above species have been successfully reintroduced back into the wild and I would imagine that given the intelligence of the orca, you can't rule this out. Keiko, the whale from Free Willy, was reintroduced into the wild and he went on to live a happy life for five years before he died and although the release was considered a failure, it was a start.

There is still plenty of time for SeaWorld to start breeding again

And no, I highly doubt the whales at SeaWorld would ever be put in the wild. For one, most of them were born there. For another, they are used to humans (and depend quite a bit on humans). Also, the pollution in the water alone would kill them.

Lastly- I don't consider Keiko having a happy life before he died. He was shunned from the other whales, and had to seek out attention from people. He should have been left where he was instead of attempting to be put in the wild
 

matt78

Well-Known Member
There is still plenty of time for SeaWorld to start breeding again

And no, I highly doubt the whales at SeaWorld would ever be put in the wild. For one, most of them were born there. For another, they are used to humans (and depend quite a bit on humans). Also, the pollution in the water alone would kill them.

Lastly- I don't consider Keiko having a happy life before he died. He was shunned from the other whales, and had to seek out attention from people. He should have been left where he was instead of attempting to be put in the wild

I agree with all of this except the bolded part. The tank where he was before was way to small for him and he was also left alone. What they should have done with him was moved him to one of the SeaWorld Parks or another park that was better able to care for him.
 

seascape

Well-Known Member
SeaWorld was and is example of what a successful company is. It was designed to get the public to know and love Orcas. There is no way anyone can say they were not successful in that, only that they were too successful. Once the public fell in love with Orcas, there is no way they wouldn't care about the small tanks they were kept in. SeaWorld should have built much larger tanks years ago. The plan they killed when they announced they would end the breading program should have been built 20 years ago. Instead those who are pleased with the end of the breading program have forced the last of Seaworlds Orcas to live in smaller tanks than they should have. Further if they have their way and close all Animal themed parks they will eliminate much of the research into wildlife care and repopulation. I know it's not politically correct but I agree SeaWorld should reconsider it's approach to Orcas. Build the bigger tanks, bring back a type of show and let many people get to see them, fall in love with them and use that to save those in the wild. There should be a middle ground where everyone wins, especially the Orcas.
 

matt78

Well-Known Member
SeaWorld was and is example of what a successful company is. It was designed to get the public to know and love Orcas. There is no way anyone can say they were not successful in that, only that they were too successful. Once the public fell in love with Orcas, there is no way they wouldn't care about the small tanks they were kept in. SeaWorld should have built much larger tanks years ago. The plan they killed when they announced they would end the breading program should have been built 20 years ago. Instead those who are pleased with the end of the breading program have forced the last of Seaworlds Orcas to live in smaller tanks than they should have. Further if they have their way and close all Animal themed parks they will eliminate much of the research into wildlife care and repopulation. I know it's not politically correct but I agree SeaWorld should reconsider it's approach to Orcas. Build the bigger tanks, bring back a type of show and let many people get to see them, fall in love with them and use that to save those in the wild. There should be a middle ground where everyone wins, especially the Orcas.

They don't need the shows for the orcas to be popular. All they would have to do is build the bigger tanks and include underwater viewing for them similar to Shark Encounter. They can have the trainers stationed throughout the attraction to answer any guest questions. They could even expand Dine with Shamu and build a nicely themed gift shop to help offset the cost. I would do similar attractions for the dolphins, beluga and pilot whales.
 

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