Answer not black and white to questionabout SeaWorld orcas' future

During a night performance in 2014, trainers direct killer whales at Shamu Stadium in SeaWorld San Diego in California.

The captive orcas are at the center of an animal welfare debate. Photo: Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Unlike the movie "Free Willy," there will be no happy ending for the killer whales at

SeaWorld San Diego.

A documentary released in 2013 accuses the company of neglecting and abusing its

orcas. The movie led animal welfare activists to demand that the San Diego, Callifornia,

theme park free its 11 orcas, also known as killer whales.

But marine biologists — including SeaWorld critics — agree that the killer whales probably

will never be released to the open seas.

Even if the orcas don’t spend the rest of their lives in the theme park, performing for

crowds, the closest they would get to freedom would be retirement in ocean coves

separated from open water by netting. There, they would be fed and cared for by humans

for the rest of their lives.

“They are not good candidates for release to the wild, either because they were born in

captivity or because they have been in captivity for a very long time,” said Naomi Rose.

She is a marine mammal scientist for the Animal Welfare Institute.

By Los Angeles Times, adapted by Newsela staff on 01.14.16

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Sea Pens Require Big Budgets

No enclosed sea pens exist to hold all 11 orcas, either as a group or individually. And the

cost of building such pens could reach $5 million each, with staffing costs of up to

$500,000 a year for each pen, Rose said.

Although animal welfare groups have pushed the idea of moving SeaWorld’s orcas to sea

pens, the discussion may be merely academic. SeaWorld Entertainment Inc., the parent

company of the San Diego theme park, has rejected the idea of giving up its killer whales.

It says they are safer living in the parks’ concrete and glass enclosures.

“They would not be better off in sea pens than where they are now,” said Chris Dold, the

lead veterinarian for SeaWorld Entertainment. “We would not ever feel comfortable putting

our whales into that setting.”

Dold and other SeaWorld supporters say sea pens could expose orcas to ocean toxins,

viruses and harsh weather. They say that long-captive killer whales can’t withstand these

conditions.

“There are so many reasons why sea pens are not a ... (cure-all),” said Kathleen Dezio.

She is executive director of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums, an

international group representing marine mammal theme parks and aquariums.

Documentary Inspired Calls To Free Orcas

The call to free the orcas has grown louder since the 2013 release of the documentary

“Blackfish.” The film charged SeaWorld’s parks with abusing and neglecting its killer

whales.

SeaWorld Entertainment has 23 orcas in three parks across the country. An 18-year-old

orca died at SeaWorld San Antonio in Texas in December after a monthslong illness. Miami

Seaquarium in Florida has one killer whale.

Facing customer blowback from the documentary, SeaWorld San Diego proposed a $100

million plan last year to double the size of its orca enclosure, under a project called Blue

World. The project won the approval of the California Coastal Commission in October.

However, the state government panel added the condition that SeaWorld end its captive

breeding program and halt the transfer of its orcas in and out of the park.

SeaWorld has put Blue World on hold and has filed a lawsuit challenging the commission’s

authority to impose the no-breeding conditions.

During the commission hearing, SeaWorld critics waved banners calling for the release of

the killer whales. Animal welfare activists said the captive killer whales are tortured and

driven insane by their concrete enclosures, insisting that the orcas would be happier in sea

pens.

A petition on change.org has collected more than 220,000 signatures. It calls for SeaWorld

Orlando in Florida to release a killer whale featured in “Blackfish,” Tilikum, to a sea pen.

Was Captive Orca's Release A Success?

The most often cited example of a captive orca released to a sea pen is Keiko, the killer

whale featured in the 1993 Warner Bros. movie “Free Willy.”

Keiko was captured off Iceland in 1979 and trained to perform at theme parks. After

several years at a theme park in Mexico City, Mexico, the killer whale was transported to a

sea pen in Iceland in 1998. Experts disagree on whether the move was a success.

Caretakers say they spent up to $300,000 a month to care for and attempt to train the orca

to feed itself in the wild.

During a short swim outside of the pen, accompanied by caretakers on a ship, Keiko

swam away and turned up in a deep inlet in Norway. There, he was found cavorting with

children and fisherman along the shore. The killer whale died a few months later of acute

pneumonia.

Mark Simmons is a former SeaWorld trainer who was hired to assist with Keiko in Iceland.

He said the Keiko experience showed that sea pens are not a safe environment for orcas.

Simmons said storms and strong currents in Iceland damaged Keiko’s sea pen, creating

so much noise and vibration that it likely unsettled the killer whale.

Toxins, Viruses And Other Sea Dangers

Dold, SeaWorld’s chief veterinarian, said sea pens can also expose killer whales to viruses

passed on through fish in the pens or toxins and oil spills that wash in with the tide.

“It’s very hard to eliminate all of those threats that exist out there,” he said. “They are

particularly dangerous to a precious group of killer whales born in a zoological setting

such as ours.”

Animal welfare activists say critics dismiss the idea as expensive and problematic

because they don’t want to consider an alternative to keeping the orcas captive.

“They are blindsiding it because they don’t want a solution,” said Ingrid Visser, founder of

the Orca Research Trust, a nonprofit group dedicated to education and the research of

orcas. “We can put a man on the moon, surely we can move an animal out of a concrete

life.”

Quiz

1 The article develops the idea that SeaWorld is unlikely to choose sea pens in all of the

following ways EXCEPT:

(A) estimates about the high startup and ongoing cost of the sea pens

(B) evidence from an independent report showing sea pens are unsafe

(C) quotes from SeaWorld representatives saying sea pens are unhealthy

(D) definitive language like "SeaWorld...has rejected the idea of giving up its

killer whales"

2 How does the article develop the idea that SeaWorld representatives may be incorrect and

closed-minded in saying sea pens won't work?

(A) by providing evidence about successful sea pen examples

(B) by providing the story about Keiko's life in a sea pen and subsequent death

(C) by beginning the article with mention of the movies "Free Willy" and

"Blackfish"

(D) by ending the article with a animal welfare activist quote about solving

problems

3 Based on information in the article, Mark Simmons might say each of the following in response

to Ingrid Visser, EXCEPT:

(A) I don't believe killer whales feel safe in sea pens, especially during storms

and strong water currents.

(B) I think sea pens could be a good idea, as long as we work together to find a

way to make them safer for the killer whales.

(C) It's not that I don't want a solution. I was hired to assist Keiko's sea pen plan,

and he died out in the ocean.

(D) Sea pens are too dangerous and unpleasant for killer whales. It's more

important to keep them safe, like at SeaWorld.

4 Why does the article include the information about the 220,000 signatures on change.org?

(A) to show the amount of public pressure to release the orcas

(B) to show the impact that change.org has had on SeaWorld

(C) to provide a necessary fact about the safety of sea pens

(D) to suggest SeaWorld will soon succumb to pressure to release the orcas

Answer Key

1 The article develops the idea that SeaWorld is unlikely to choose sea pens in all of the

following ways EXCEPT:

(A) estimates about the high startup and ongoing cost of the sea pens

(B) evidence from an independent report showing sea pens are unsafe

(C) quotes from SeaWorld representatives saying sea pens are unhealthy

(D) definitive language like "SeaWorld...has rejected the idea of giving up its

killer whales"

2 How does the article develop the idea that SeaWorld representatives may be incorrect and

closed-minded in saying sea pens won't work?

(A) by providing evidence about successful sea pen examples

(B) by providing the story about Keiko's life in a sea pen and subsequent death

(C) by beginning the article with mention of the movies "Free Willy" and

"Blackfish"

(D) by ending the article with a animal welfare activist quote about solving

problems

3 Based on information in the article, Mark Simmons might say each of the following in response

to Ingrid Visser, EXCEPT:

(A) I don't believe killer whales feel safe in sea pens, especially during storms

and strong water currents.

(B) I think sea pens could be a good idea, as long as we work together to

find a way to make them safer for the killer whales.

(C) It's not that I don't want a solution. I was hired to assist Keiko's sea pen plan,

and he died out in the ocean.

(D) Sea pens are too dangerous and unpleasant for killer whales. It's more

important to keep them safe, like at SeaWorld.

4 Why does the article include the information about the 220,000 signatures on change.org?

(A) to show the amount of public pressure to release the orcas

(B) to show the impact that change.org has had on SeaWorld

(C) to provide a necessary fact about the safety of sea pens

(D) to suggest SeaWorld will soon succumb to pressure to release the orcas