Introduction
The Orcas is the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. They have a different feeding method with most of them feeding on fish, while others are feeding on other sea mammals. They are a cosmopolitan species, meaning that they are found in almost the entire world's oceans. They are also social, and normally coexist in cocoons. Orcas are not a threat to humans but have been known to course injuries to their handlers in marine parks. The orca has great intelligence, is easily trainable, playful and has a striking appearance. These features make them a target for captivity in aquatic parks for recreational and tourism reasons. However, it has been found that keeping them in captivity subjects them to many problems. This paper will address why the orcas should not be held in captivity and further illustrate different atrocities encountered by them while in captive.
Why orcas should not be held in captivity
Different organizations and activist groups have campaigned against the captivity of the orcas citing a myriad of reasons. Such groups include World Animal Protection and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. To begin with, the orcas are very huge and social creatures that demand a lot of space naturally to carry out their day to day life activities. They travel thousands of kilometers exploring the whole marine life. This kind of experience can only be achieved in an ocean environment. Once they are captivated and restrained, their natural attributes are taken away from them hence interfering with their ecological requirements as asserted by Duffield et al. (2012).
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It is almost worth noting that the orcas live in a distinct group, and each group has a feeding habit slightly different to the other. They coexist and hunt in a specific pattern, with each group feeding on a given species of marine life ( Clark, Odell & Lacinak, 2009). In captivation, they are neither bred in a way they would normally breed in a natural environment nor are they feed with the type of food they have evolved eating. Breeding is also interfered with because in the natural environment they do it in a specific pattern, in a natural way, compared to the one induced when they in captive.
The captives involved in the capture, transportation, and training of the orcas acts aggressively and sometimes violently towards them. Researchers have established that this is a major course of stress to the orcas and may sometimes; cause them to act violently towards the human beings. According to Clark, Odell and Lacinak (2009), t here is a big difference in survivorship and life expectancy between captivated orcas and free living orcas. Researchers say that the fee living orcas has a higher life expectancy than the captivated one. They associate this to the fact that captivated orcas are denied natural sea conditions which shape up their lives, making them more tolerant to adverse conditions and increasing their adaptability in the face of stressful situations.
Captivating orcas has a long term effect on their intelligence and cognitive abilities. It is important to note that the brain of the orcas is four times larger than that of the human being. The social relationships observed in wild orcas have an influence in further improving their intelligence. In captivity, they are only shaped to perform tricks, inhibited among a specific group of orcas and denied the freedom of movement. This has an effect of reducing their cognitive abilities due to the changed environment, which hinders their intelligence through removing natural exposure ( Clark, Odell & Lacinak, 2009).
Captive orcas suffer from a wide array of health pathologies that are not witnessed among the free ones. The shallow pools which they are kept make them vulnerable to a higher amount of ultraviolet rays from the sun, which has an effect of suppressing their immune system. In captivity, they spend more time exposed to the air than would be in the free ocean due to the fixed size of their habitats. They hence become a target for mosquitoes, causing some of them to die.
Orcas in captivity tend to give birth at a very early stage in life. This consequently causes problems for the young mothers to raise the calves. The calves also experience many health problems rendering their survival difficult. It should also be noted that the orcas kept in captivity are put in a random way regardless of whether they will coexist or not. This leads to fighting amongst each other resulting in injuries and sometimes death. In the wild, they stay in cocoons according to how well they blend, and this cannot be achieved in the aquariums hence endangering their lives.
Due to the high levels of anxiety, stress, and boredom experienced by the orcas in the pools, they begin to gnaw on the concrete floor with their teeth, breaking them in the process subjecting them to dental processes that are painful to them. These dental treatment processes are vital in ensuring that no bacterial infection follows the wound.
The waters that the orcas are captivated in are lesser natural compared to the wild waters. These waters have to be constantly treated with chemicals that may not be detrimental to the orcas, but may be unpleasant to them. The treatment is necessary because of the confined space, presence of waste material, etc. Some orcas may begin to have a reaction to the conditions brought about by the water treatment ( Clark, Odell & Lacinak, 2009).
Deformation of dorsal fins
Most orcas possess a dorsal fin that may either be partially or completely deformed or collapsed to one side. Fins are important to the fish in ensuring they swim well and balance well enough in the water. If the morphology of the fins is jeopardized, then it poses a big challenge for the orcas to move well and balance in the water ( Dahlheim & Awbrey, 2014). There are several explanations to this. One is that they do not occur from a pathogenic perspective but rather due to the irreversible structural change in the collagen- which holds the dorsal fins erect. The irreversible change may occur due to the overheating of the collagen to the increased exposure to air and sunlight, reduced activity hence lowered blood pressure and finally, change the diet experienced in captivity.
Other reasons that explain this include the fact that there is an increased amount of time that the orcas stay without their fins being supported by water currents. It could also be explained by the fact that the orcas swim in small cycles due to limited space as compared to the wild ones which have a massive amount of space to swim as asserted by Dahlheim and Awbrey (2014).
Deformed fins are also thought to be an evolutionary trait among the orcas due to their confinement. Infighting among the orcas may also be a source of deformed fins. Deformation of fins can also be attributed to poor exercising skills by the trainers. In the wild orcas, deformed fins are rare and could only be found in those orcas that have been injured as a result of a collision with a vessel or due to a serious injury.
How orcas have killed their trainers
Despite the fact that these orcas have been trained, there have been incidences where they have injured and killed their trainers. Though it is difficult to determine the real reasons for the act of aggression, some believe that it could be as a result of over exuberant, aggression due to increased levels of stress associated with their captive environment or sometimes it is premeditated. Some have associated these incidences with their natural behavior. Orcas are referred to as killer whales because of their tendencies to kill other marine life for food. There, their killings of trainers could just be seen as an aggrieved character that is within them. Duffield et al . (2012) believe that with their huge and strong bodies, the more they become a hazard to the life of their trainers. It should also be noted that the Orcas are social animals, and once their ability to carry out a large-scale interaction has been cut, they may place their rage to their trainers. During their training, sometimes the handlers become aggressive in a way that is not pleasant to the orcas, and this may prompt an act of retaliation from the orcas. Although in the recent years these cases have been few, the orcas remain a big threat to the lives of their handlers. The trainers have not only been the sole target of the aggression but the public too. Cases of the death of children and adults that have been dragged by the orcas from the shore to the sea have been witnessed.
How it affects their population
Just like any other form of life, removing a species from its natural ecological niche has effects on three main things. First, the group of the creatures in their natural environment is greatly diminished. This affects the other sea animals that are in a mutual relation with the orcas too. In a wider perspective, the generational continuity is jeopardized hence the prospects of the animals in danger. Two, once these animals are in captivity, we have noted that they experience a lot of problems because their new environments have been unable to mimic their natural environment. Most of them have died in the process of adaption, generally impacting on their total tally in the marine life. Dahlheim and Awbrey (2014) assert that t heir breeding patterns are affected because they cannot mate freely as they would wish. Some of them have got premature births hence giving births to calves that cannot withstand the new environments. Their geographical distribution is also affected, making some regions to have very insignificant numbers of orcas while the limited pools where they stay are heavily congested.
Why they are kept in captivity
Although it stills a very controversial step to maintain the orcas in captivity, those practicing this have got some reasons why they feel they are right. First, it is a source of recreation to the people. This generates revenue to the country via income from the tourism sector. Due to the intelligence of the orcas, it can be trained to perform moves that are appealing to the eyes of the human beings. Secondly, some scientists argue that keeping them in captivity eases research because they can be accessed well as compared to the natural environment. The research, they argue, helps in increasing the human knowledge about the behavior and characteristics of orcas. Some also argue that by captivating them, the other marine life that is always in danger of death by the orcas is allowed to live. The killer whale, as they are known, wipes other fish as their diet. So, in capturing those, the other form of lives are at peace ( Dahlheim & Awbrey, 2014).
Conclusion
Every single living creature including the human beings would only enjoy life if they lived in their natural environment. Keeping orcas in captivity is one among the many forms of injustices by human beings to animals that are driven by a small motive-recreation. The problems experienced by the orcas in captivity are enough to justify that this is a wrong vice and that the creatures should be allowed to stay as nature intended. The human beings can find alternative ways to quench their thirst of experiencing the intelligence of the orcas. This could be by reading books, watching documentaries, watching them from their natural environment among others. If captivating of orcas continues, the orcas will be more violent, and extinction will be on the cards. Various organizations and activist groups should continue fighting hard to ensure that this stops to save the species of orcas from depletion.
References
Duffield, D. A., Odell, D. K., McBain, J. F., & Andrews, B. (2012). Killer whale (Orcinus orca) reproduction at Sea World. Zoo Biology , 14 (5), 417-430.
Clark, S. T., Odell, D. K., & Lacinak, C. T. (2009). Aspects of growth in captive killer whales (Orcinus orca). Marine Mammal Scie Dahlheim, M. E., & Awbrey, F. (1982).
Dahlheim, M. E., & Awbrey, F. (2014). A classification and comparison of vocalizations of captive killer whales (O rcinusorca). The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America , 72 (3), 661-670.
