Bubbles the pilot whale died after 50 years in captivity. Photo: SeaWorld
Another whale has died at SeaWorld, bringing the tally to six over the last year. This one, a short-finned pilot whale named Bubbles, spent 50 years in a tank.
Back in 1966, Bubbles was captured from her family off the coast of California and taken to a marine park that has since closed down. After spending over 20 years there, she was transferred to SeaWorld San Diego, where she would spend another 30 years in captivity.
SeaWorld is a hot mess. Since Blackfish came out, more and more people have been calling them on their bullshit. Calling what they do “educational” is delusional. “While Bubbles will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her,”said SeaWorld in a statement full of false sentiment, “she has helped generations of park visitors gain a better appreciation for all animals and the ocean environment.”
SeaWorld’s constant reassurance that their interests are in any way related to those of marine mammals is wearing really, really thin. While I’m aware that the animals they have now can’t simply be put back in the ocean–because of the damage done from a life in a tiny tank–if SeaWorld is going to continue operating, they should own up to what they’re doing: keeping wild, intelligent animals penned up for our entertainment, and nothing else.
Bubbles was supposedly the oldest pilot whale in captivity. And while she did live to an age that would be considered normal in the wild, her life was anything but normal. How does watching a trainer surf on a whale help “generations of park visitors gain a better appreciation for all animals and the ocean environment”? How does watching a whale jump through a hoop teach us anything about the animal’s behavior in the wild? If SeaWorld’s intention is to help us appreciate animals and the ocean environment, they could do a hell of a lot better at maintaining at least a semblance of a real ocean environment.
How does riding a pilot whale help researchers find out more about pilot whales in the wild? Image: Flickr
To be fair to SeaWorld, they just recently released the news that they would be ending their orca breeding program, although the decision was reached under very strange circumstances. After a few years of escalating problems, highly publicized animal deaths, and plummeting attendance to the parks, SeaWorld asked the California Coastal Commission if they could to expand their tanks–which on the outside, sounded like a good thing. But they had ulterior motives: they wanted the extra room to breed more orcas. The CCC told them they’d be able to build bigger tanks only if they agreed to stop breeding orcas. SeaWorld was outraged, and immediately filed lawsuits fighting the decision. In the end they lost, and the orca breeding program came to a halt. It does show their true colors, though, and they’re very dark. Although I’m sure the trainers working at SeaWorld truly love the animals they work with, the entire idea of SeaWorld is cruel.
Like I mentioned before, since July there have been six deaths at SeaWorld. Only two of those animals reached maturity. There are scores of reports of strange and unnatural behaviors. Whales beaching themselves outside of their tanks to get away from attacks by other whales, animals floating motionless for hours on end, and whales repeatedly bashing their heads against metal grates. Then, of course, there’s the long and tragic tale of Tilikum, the disturbed killer whale featured in Blackfish.
All this is affecting SeaWorld’s bottom line. Last week, the company’s stock plummeted to its second lowest point in three years. And while they do seem to be aware that the public is sniffing out their bullshit, they need to step up and stop running a marine circus for our entertainment. And we can make them do that, if only we’d stop paying to see animals suffering for nothing more than our dollars.
