Flannagan 1

Emma Flannagan

Melissa Webb

Composition (20)

18 October 2020

Biblical Integration Paragraph-

Christians should treat God’s creation with care and respect. He created this world for man to

enjoy. Christians should take responsibility and stand up for the poor and helpless animals.

Genesis 1:28 says “Fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the

sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (New International Version, Gen.

1.28). This verse is commonly known as the Creation Mandate. Taking these magnificent

creatures out of their natural environment and moving them into an abnormal environment is a

violation of the Creation Mandate. We should respect God’s creation and take care of everything

in it. The mistreatment of animals is morally unacceptable.

Biblical SeaWorld: A Park of Pain

SeaWorld is one of the most popular amusement parks in the world. Other than fun and

thrilling rides, SeaWorld also offers entertaining and educational shows featuring dolphins and

orcas. The trainers perform tricks with the animals, such as flips and riding on their backs,

making for an enjoyable show. However, one day this all changed. In 2010, Dawn Brancheau, an

experienced trainer, was killed by a six-ton bull orca named Tilikum during a show. Tilikum was

also directly responsible for the deaths of two other people. After the death of Dawn, SeaWorld

would face much criticism over the next few years, changing it forever. A documentary about

SeaWorld named Blackfish aired, plummeting their profits for the next four years. In 2016, after

much criticism, SeaWorld ended its orca breeding program. Most people realized this was for the
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better, but a few people saw this as a desperate attempt to appeal to the media. Mark Simmons, a

former trainer, is one of those people. In his article “SeaWorld Shocker Bad for Species

Preservation,” he explains why he thinks that SeaWorld made a mistake by ending the breeding

program. In summarization, he implies that SeaWorld is giving into the protestors and the orcas

are thriving in captivity. Although Simmons claims ending the breeding program was enough, it

was not because the orcas are still in pain, orcas are still dying, and the dolphins are still being

intensely abused.

Even though the orca breeding program has ended, the orcas still face much pain in

captivity. Mark Simmons claims the orcas are flourishing in captivity. He says, “They are not

suffering; they are not mistreated; they are, in fact, thriving” (Simmons). However, much

evidence refutes this claim. One research team found that the orcas at SeaWorld have their teeth

drilled daily without painkiller. John Jett’s research team reported that, “Every whale had some

form of damage to its teeth. We found that more than 65 percent possessed moderate to extreme

tooth wear in their lower jaws” (Jett). Jett’s team also found that the orcas become extremely

spiritless, and chew on the concrete in their tanks. Orcas are extremely complicated creatures

with complex social structures and need brain stimulation. Transferring them from the vast ocean

into small tanks will cause them to be extremely bored, causing them to do erratic things, such as

chewing on their tanks. The other way orcas experience pain through captivity is clashing with

tankmates. In the wild, orcas live together in peace. There are rarely any problems. On the other

hand, in captivity, it is a different story. Four to five orcas are crammed into a tiny tank. They

grow easily frustrated and show aggression to each other and humans. In one instance, the

fighting was fatal for one orca. In 1989, Kandu V attempted to rake (scrape the skin with teeth)

Corky, but Kandu V missed and slammed into the walls of her tank. The damage ruptured an
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artery in her jaw, and she died forty-five minutes later. Captivity is not only painful, but it can be

life-threatening.

Orcas at SeaWorld have a track record of not living long. Simmons claims that the orcas

live longer in captivity. He reports, “The fact is that SeaWorld’s killer whales live as long as the

most studied wild populations. When you look carefully at the science, trends indicate that in the

next decade SeaWorld’s whales will outlive those same wild populations by a significant

margin.” (Simmons) In fact, many studies show the exact opposite. Lauren Carroll and Louis

Jacobson, two political reporters, have found that, “the average age of death is 12 years old for

SeaWorld’s female orcas -- which are expected to survive in the wild for about 50 years.”

(Carroll and Jacobson). Of all the dead orcas, calves make up a massive part of that percentage.

Since many of the female orcas start breeding from a young age, the calves are usually stillborn

or die within the first year of their life. The young orcas are also often separated from their

mothers and transferred to another park across the country. According to Tracy Staedtler, an

experienced journalist, there are, “At least 30 miscarried and still-born in captivity” (Staedtler).

Since the breeding program ended, there have been fewer orca deaths at SeaWorld, since neither

calves nor mothers are dying. Nevertheless, dying calves are only a small part of the dead

whales. Many whales usually develop some sort of disease. Richard Webner, a freelance

journalist, says that sickness is, “Contributing to 60 percent of the deaths of orcas at the three

parks” (Webner). Most ailments are bacterial infections, pneumonia, or fungal infections in the

brain. SeaWorld claims that infections happen all the time in the wild, but no studies have ever

shown evidence of this claim. SeaWorld has never had an orca that has died of old age.

Orcas are not the only animals being abused at SeaWorld. Dolphin mistreatment has not

been as criticized in the media. Dolphin breeding is a normal event at SeaWorld. Just like the
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orca breeding program, there is a pattern of incest, rape, and drugging. Female dolphins are often

given diazepam, pulled out of the pool, and artificially inseminated. Ariel, a bottlenose dolphin,

has been what “SeaWorld of Hurt” calls a “breeding machine.” SeaWorld began impregnating

her at the age of seven, which is not typical at all in the wild. She has given birth to six calves,

four have died, and the other two have been transferred to different parks. Ariel and one hundred

and forty other dolphins are crammed into just seven tanks (SeaWorld of Hurt.com). While orcas

and trainers must stay apart during shows, trainers interact with the dolphins in harmful ways.

For example, trainers stand on the dolphin’s rostrums during shows. The tricks cause bruises and

scrapes, which can be extremely painful for the dolphin. In February of 2020, People for the

Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) finally made riding the animals like surfboards banned.

Even though dolphin riding is prohibited, the dolphins are still being sexually abused. Orcas are

not the only animals suffering at SeaWorld.

SeaWorld has not done enough for their animals. The orcas are still going through

physical and emotional pain. Multiple orcas have died at SeaWorld. Dolphins have no freedom

and no rights. SeaWorld could help its animals and retire them. Moving the animals to a seaside

sanctuary would give the captive born animals a taste of what their natural environment actually

is. SeaWorld is a big corporation that could care less about the safety and care of their

employees and animals. Standing up against SeaWorld can help the creatures that cannot help

themselves.
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Works Cited

“The Bible” New International Version, Bible Gateway, 2011. Genesis 1:28

Carroll, Lauren and Jacobson, Louis. “SeaWorld Says Their Whales Live as Long as

Wild Whales Do.” PolitiFacts. 24 March 2015

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2015/mar/24/seaworld/seaworld-says-their-whales-live-

long-wild-whales-d/. Accessed 10 October 2020.

PETA. “Ariel the Dolphin has been Quarantined for Over 20 years.” SeaWorld Of Hurt.

19 March 2020. https://www.seaworldofhurt.com/features/ariel-dolphin-seaworld/. Accessed 3

October 2020.

Simmons, Mark. "SeaWorld shocker bad for species preservation." Gale Opposing

Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2020. Gale in Context: Opposing

Viewpoints, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/MDIFXY053032336/OVIC?

u=ceda80570&sid=OVIC&xid=e7514ed5. Accessed 4 Oct. 2020. Originally published as

"SeaWorld shocker bad for species preservation," Orlando Sentinel, 19 Mar. 2016.

Staedtler, Tracy. “Orca Calf Dies at SeaWorld: Why Killer Whales Get Sick in

Captivity.” LiveScience. 27 July 2017. www.livescience.com/59965-why-killer-whales-die-in-

captivity.html. Accessed 3 October 2020.

University of Otago. "'Killer' toothaches likely cause misery for captive orca: Whales

chew concrete and steel tank surfaces." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 11 October 2017.

<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171011180550.htm>. Accessed 3 October 2020.

Webner, Richard. “What’s killing the orcas at SeaWorld?” ExpressNews. 20 May 2016.

http://projects.expressnews.com/safeguarding-seaworld-infections-take-toll-on-mammals.

Accessed 3 October 2020.