Dark secret hiding below the waters for orca whales trapped at Seaworld

Dear Editors:

MLK wrote “The Letter from a Birmingham Jail” in order to inform and persuade readers to open their minds to his side of an issue he felt strongly about. In his letter he said, “Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.” By this he means, we are all a part of the same unit, and if we come together we could put a stop to any injustices taking place.

As a part of Mr. Winkel’s 5th hour, we’ve all been asked to write a letter to the editor in regards to a topic we have formulated a strong opinion on. my idea began at a nice family trip to Seaworld that would seem like an ideal vacation to many. The exciting shows and attractions along with the opportunity to not only learn about but also see face-to-face, various aquatic creatures that I’d only read about in my elementary school science books, well, why wouldn’t I want to go?

I was so overwhelmingly excited about getting to spend my day in such a wonderful place that the underlying issue with Seaworld didn’t even cross my mind until an increasingly popular documentary called Blackfish finally made its way to Netflix. Within 90 minutes the film goes into graphic detail of the horrible things that go on after hours at such a respected place and how harmful and unethical it truly is to force a 6-ton creature to spend its life in an unnatural enclosure that’s size is comparable to a human living in a bathtub.

Because of this, extensive amounts of regular people have been able to see first hand the dangerous effects of captivity, not only on whales, but on any wild, “non domesticated” creature. Anything that involves animal shows (aquatic centers, circuses, some zoos) has become quite family friendly and is so positively connotated by people worldwide, but the fact is that inhumane captivity of any intelligent, self aware creature is nothing but cruel.

Action needs to be taken now, before it’s too late. In his letter King discussed the idea of “negative peace” by saying, “Actually time itself is neutral, it can be used either destructively or constructively.” The only place to start the long process of terminating unethical captivity of non-domesticated animals is to inform the public of the truth. Animals forced to spend the remainder of their valued lives in these places undoubtedly suffer from major stress. Almost always, regardless of species, animals in captivity live a significantly shorter life than those in the wild. Endangerment rates are actually increased in animals kept in captivity. Also, more often than not, the living conditions and treatment of the inhabitants are the farthest thing from humane, especially after all the paying customers have left.

That’s all the animals are there for, a profit. King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” This can easily be applied to the situation at Seaworld, for if a such an unethical issue like this is accepted and tolerated,  the whole foundation is set to continue down the wrong path.

If children are leaving these places with any new knowledge, it’s that the use of imprisonment for entertainment is acceptable. I think we can all agree, it isn’t.

Respectfully,

Halle Knox
CFHS student