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The Ethical Implications of Killer Whales in Captivity
- Sophia Yang
- Sep 13
- 9 min read
Since the early 1960s, the captivity of killer whales (Orcinus orcas) has sparked controversy. Confined in artificial environments and coerced into performing tricks as mere commodities of entertainment, the physiological and psychological well-being of killer whales has come into question.
Ethical Examination of Orca Captivity
Studies of neuroanatomical indices by Robert Anderson, a retired Utah State University Research Foundation professor, have proven that killer whales are among Earth’s most intelligent animals. Lori Marino, a neuroscientist in animal behavior and the Founder of the Whale Sanctuary Project has found that the evolutionary history, brain anatomy, and cognitive-behavioral characteristics of orcas mean that they are more vulnerable to the impacts of constricted artificial environments. Modern cetaceans, including orcas, have neurobiological foundations of complex psychology, emotion, and behavior, including a large relative brain size, an expanded neocortex, well-differentiated cortical cytoarchitecture, and an elaborated limbic system (Marino et al.). These complex neurobiological features mean they are more susceptible to the detrimental effects of living in concrete tanks, whether born into captivity or not.
According to PETA, wild killer whales regularly dive down to 300 meters and swim 100 miles a day. Erich Hoyt, a marine mammal expert, conservationist, and research fellow with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation, emphasizes that orcas’ natural home range spans 500 to 900 miles. The Animal Welfare Institute has noted that a typical orca enclosure is “less than one ten-thousandth of one percent the size” of this range. However, despite regulations such as Section 3.104 of the United States Animal Welfare Act, the required pool dimensions for killer whales cannot accommodate their natural behaviors. In his 1992 book “The Performing Orca,” Hoyt calculates that the minimum volume of water traversed by a wild orca in a single day is 45,302,778,000 gallons — 9,000 times more than any SeaWorld pool. While no captive facility can ever replicate the orca’s natural habitat, this comparison highlights the tremendous changes that captive orcas must endure. In captivity, killer whales also face dietary challenges. Wild orcas are apex predators that spend up to 90% of their daylight time hunting, but according to a report by Madison Coleman from Ballard Brief, a student-led research library, orcas in captivity are hand-fed a diet of frozen fish. This not only deprives them of their natural behaviors but also leads to chronic dehydration due to the lower nutritional and water content of frozen fish. Orcas are also subjected to significant social disruption in captivity. According to John K. B. Ford, curator of marine mammals at the Vancouver Public Aquarium, orcas in the wild have group-specific call repertoires and no two killer whales' pods share the same dialect. In captivity, orcas from entirely different communities are forced into cohabitation, where the inability to communicate and form social bonds results in stress and conspecific aggression (Coleman). These drastic differences between the lives of captive and wild killer whales highlight the need to address the ethical complexities surrounding their captivity.
Wild animals confined in any kind of captive facility are subjected to mistreatment, owing to the inherently stressful nature of captivity. According to Lori Marino, "wild animals in captivity are subjected to (a) restrictions and loss of control. (b) forced interspecies interaction and intrusion… and (c) monotony, all while held in artificial settings that have little resemblance to habitats...”. Orcas have evolved over 50 million years to live in the wild, making captivity a form of mistreatment as it enforces conditions they are not adapted to survive in. In a comparative study published in the National Library of Medicine, Michael D. Szymanski, a psychology professor at the University of California Davis, found that hearing sensitivity in killer whales was measured from 100 Hz to 160 Hz. Their sense of hearing, key to survival in the wild, is compromised in captivity by the relentless noise of loud crowds, fireworks, music, and tank reverberations that can overwhelm orcas’ auditory systems and lead to hearing loss. Despite awareness among those working at marine parks, the mistreatment of orcas extends beyond indirect harm. In an interview with the US Sun Newspaper, former SeaWorld trainers John Hargrove and Jeffrey Ventre said that during their time at the park, killer whales were routinely drugged and deprived of food as part of training. The revelations by these whistleblowers have exposed the reality behind marine parks and allowed for public awareness of the detrimental effects of captivity on the well-being of killer whales.
Scientific Assessment of Captive Orca Well-Being
The mistreatment of orcas in captivity raises significant ethical concerns but also contributes to their chronic stress. While stress is part of daily life for wild animals, the chronic stress orcas experience in captivity is abnormal, human-induced, and often life-threatening. Factors such as social isolation and forced performances can lead to chronic stress, which in turn leads to fatal immunosuppression in captive orcas. Erich Hoyt has estimated this by examining the known causes of death in captive orcas. He found that stress was a possible predisposing factor in 38 of 74 deaths which is over 50% of captive deaths (Hoyt). However, the individuals who survive do so with enduring psychological trauma. According to Liana Zanette and her colleagues at the Department of Biology at the Western University of London, “[f]rom an evolutionary perspective, it is difficult to envisage that these free-living wild animals do not bear enduring psychological effects,” after being moved from an ocean into a concrete tank. The psychological toll of captivity is evidenced by the abnormal behaviors that captive orcas display.
Captive orcas have been documented to exhibit a wide range of abnormal behaviors. One such observation is stereotypy, also known as zoochosis. According to Francoise Wemelsfelder, a senior researcher and professor of animal behavior and welfare at Scotland’s Rural College, self-stimulatory behaviors called stereotypies emerge when chronic boredom reaches an extreme in captive animals. Georgia J. Mason, professor of animal biosciences at the University of Guelph, has found that stereotypic behavior in orcas generally includes “logging (remaining still at the surface of the pool for long periods), head bobbing (repeatedly lifting the head in and out of the water), tongue playing, chewing on enclosure walls, swimming in circles, and regurgitating food”. Aggressive behavior, seldom observed in wild orcas, has been documented since the first orcas were placed into captivity in the 1960s. Despite centuries of encounters between humans and wild orcas, there have been virtually no cases of wild orcas killing or attacking humans. However, a troubling pattern has emerged in the 55 years since the captive display of orcas because they have killed four humans (three trainers and one member of the public) and seriously injured many more (Marino). The range of abnormal behaviors displayed by captive orcas heavily underscores the psychological distress they experience in captivity.
According to John Jett, a former marine mammal trainer at SeaWorld, Florida, and a biology
research professor at Stetson University, oral stereotypes are common in captive cetaceans, leading to chronic dental damage. These may include biting, chewing, and jaw-popping on hard tank surfaces and the steel gates used to separate them. Mark Graham, the Vice President of Research and Collections at the Canadian Museum of Nature, explained the link between dental wear and infectious systemic diseases. They reported that chewing on tank surfaces by the orca resulted in prolonged exposure of dental tissues, leading to dental diseases (Graham and Dow). Jett et al. found that over 60% of captive orcas in the US and Spain had fractured mandibular teeth and 24% exhibited major to extreme mandibular coronal tooth wear down due to stereotypies (Jett et al.). Another alarming physiological effect of captivity is the laterally collapsed dorsal fin in all adult orca males. According to research by Filipe Alves, a marine biologist and post-doctoral fellow at the Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, individuals with bent dorsal fins in the wild represent <1% of their populations on average. In 1986, of some 300 orcas living off the British Colombia-Washington coast, only two adult males were found with bent dorsal fins (Hoyt). In the wild, orca adults will often travel hundreds of miles in one day, with the water pressure keeping the dorsal fin tissues healthy and strong. Jennifer Kennedy, executive director of the Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation and a marine science expert, has theorized that the frequent fin collapse in captive orcas can be explained by the limited space in their enclosures and the long periods they spend at the water's surface. These physical effects underscore the impact of captivity on the health of captive killer whales.
Alternate Perspectives and Proposed Solutions
Despite the abundance of evidence highlighting the detrimental effects of captivity on orcas’ well-being, arguments favoring captivity persist. Michael Lück, a Ph.D. and professor at the Auckland University of Technology, contends that marine parks and aquariums have education, conservation, and research benefits. SeaWorld has claimed that its killer whales provide an opportunity for crucial research, dismissing documentaries like “Blackfish” as unscientific propaganda. However, critics claim that “there is little educational value in seeing large marine mammals in captivity” (Lück). Renowned marine explorer and oceanographer Jacques Cousteau has weighed in, stating how “there’s about as much educational benefit studying whales in captivity as there would be studying mankind by only observing prisoners held in solitary.” Additionally, with the advancement of non-invasive research technologies, scientists can study killer whales in their natural habitat and produce more sound findings. The argument that captivity protects the endangered species is also flawed, as evidenced by Jeffrey Ventre’s study of orca life spans in captivity. However, not all hope is lost.
Owing to their prolonged captivity, orcas have lost the instincts necessary to survive in the wild, rendering them unprepared for direct release back into the wild. Therefore, the most viable solution proposed by marine scientists and conservationists alike has been to transition captive populations into seaside sanctuaries. Erich Hoyt’s report recommends solutions such as ending the orca trade, putting a stop to wild captures, and suggests that “[w]herever possible, captive orcas… should be rehabilitated and returned to the wild,” albeit acknowledging that this is an option for few whales. These sanctuaries may have limited capacity to accommodate all orcas currently in captivity because of the substantial funding and financial challenges that may arise with establishing and maintaining these sanctuaries. However, the real-life case of Keiko, the orca made famous by the 1993 film “Free Willy,” offers insights into the benefits of reintroducing captive orcas to the wild. On September 11, 1998, Keiko was flown to Iceland, where he was originally captured and transferred into a sea-pen. Under supervision, Keiko adapted well to his new environment, gaining weight like an average orca in the wild, relearning hunting skills and gradually diving for increased periods (Williams). The WDCS “believes this to be a crucially important project [whose] success will set a precedent for further well-planned orca release programs” (Williams). Keiko’s successful transition to a seaside sanctuary highlights the effectiveness of such programs in providing orcas with a brighter future.
Written by Sudiksha Mazumder
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