Shamu and Zoos

I'm heading south to Orlando for a few days with the family, getting a break from the weather and helping out the US economy.

Normally, I've had no problem with zoos. The Toronto Zoo is great.

Zoos claim that even though animals are penned up in areas much smaller than their natural habitat (and are therefore unhappy), it is necessary for research and educational purposes. Animal rights activists claim that we don't have the right to do this and there are much better way to observe and learn about animal behaviour and that it's a pure money grab by corporations. People in general tend to be happy with zoos when they believe that the animals there are being treated well and are as comfortable as can be given the environment. People in general like to see natural habitats over small pens.

Which brings me to SeaWorld, which will be about a mile from my hotel. If you recall the news from four years ago the orca Tillikum killed a trainer there, and the same animal was responsible for two other "murders". This brought out a wave of controversy which culiminated in a movie "Blackfish" and the responses by SeaWorld.

Zoos give back some of their profits for animal research, and educationally, zoos are a wonderful way to show the diversity in the animal kingdom to observers and researchers can also learn about the habits of the animals there. The trade-off of course is that animals suffer either inadvertently or via malicious intent. Zoos have to walk the line between illustrating that they care for their animals and entertainment. I get that.

So, over the next few days, I have the opportunity to spend $276 to be entertained and to see dolphins, belugas, otters, and other sealife up close or I can protest and go to the Kennedy Space Center or Mickeyland instead.

What would you do?

Quote: boymimbo

So, over the next few days, I have the opportunity to spend $276 to be entertained and to see dolphins, belugas, otters, and other sealife up close or I can protest and go to the Kennedy Space Center or Mickeyland instead.

Money aside, half a day is plenty to experience all there is at Sea World. So you can easily do several things.

Seaworld does many great things in Florida (disclaimer; I have not seen the documentary) and I continue to support them. They spend enormous amounts of their time and profits from the theme parks in studying and improving marine life and habitat, including environmental pollution. They rescue hundreds of distressed wash-ups a year and have an extensive healing operation that allows many to return to their natural environment. And they provide millions of people the opportunity to learn about and respect an earth resource we have endangered, through fun interaction and well-planned shows. The show animals enjoy performing, for most of the humans the work is a dream job, and I highly recommend you go. (It will be more than $276, though; parking and food are also expensive). With kids along, I would disagree with Nareed; Seaworld Orlando will take you a full day if you do all the shows (and the shows are worth planning your day around seeing; they are included in the admission ticket).

Kennedy Space Center is also worth your time; however, a 1/2 day will do there.

Universal Studios Islands of Adventures is better than all the Disneyworld theme parks and will take at least a full day.

Having said that, Disneyworld is also worth doing. Depends on your kids' ages.

I did see "Blackfish" and it was #$%^ing horrible. Then again, shows like that are probably customized to bring about just that reaction.

Previous to that viewing, my views were similar to that of hunting. It's a practice that, on the surface, looks to be nothing but damaging. But if you actually comb through the facts, you'll see a result that is actually better off than even leaving things to their own devices.

So I say do what you want. Really, when your choices are SeaWorld or the Space Museum, you really can't go wrong.

Tillikum originally lived right here in Victoria as Sealand of the Pacific. Nothing much is left of the 'attraction'.

Personally, I prefer to see my Orcas in the wild. Luckily, I get that once or twice a year, without trying to hard.

Quote: Face

I did see "Blackfish" and it was #$%^ing horrible. Then again, shows like that are probably customized to bring about just that reaction.

I avoid docummentaries because most of them these days are about promoting an agenda or an issue. That's not necessarily bad, but it tends to be a distorted picture.

Still, orcas are very big animals (and I think techincally they're dolphins, not whales; but that's imamterial). Also they're migratory. That is, they move around the ocean a great deal, which is why they're found all over the world. It's not hard to conclude such an animal might find confinement hard. In a way it would be like keeping a dog in a large apartment and never ever taking him out for a walk.

One needs to consider they're wild animals, as are dolphins as well. Dogs and cats and even horses, donkeys, chicken and cattle among others are domesticated. They're used to living in ways designed to suit their use by humans, and to have people around as well. More over, they've been bred to live this way for millennia by now. These can thrive on our terms, at least enough so to suit us (dogs and cats are priviledged, as they do much better than they ever could in the wild). Dolphins and orcas are not domesticated and have not been bred to live in captivity (for that matter neither have lions, tigers and other circus animals, though elephants seem pliable and harmless enough).

The point is wild animals may, from time to time, react in ways and to things we can't anticipate. So orcas may attack and kill or injure a trainer, or a tiger may attack its handler, as happened to Sigfried and Roy in Vegas. Even if the animal has been there for years and has never offered any trouble before. Even dogs sometimes will attack beyond what seems reasonable, sometimes for no reason one can discern.

Quote: Nareed

The point is wild animals may, from time to time, react in ways and to things we can't anticipate.

Live with your average housecat for many years, and it's easy to understand what might happen if the thing was as big as a tiger. An actual tiger would probably kill you in a much shorter time, but the sometimes erratic behavior of the housecat would get you killed or seriously injured if it was many times larger (like a tiger)

Quote: boymimbo

Zoos give back some of their profits for animal research, and educationally, zoos are a wonderful way to show the diversity in the animal kingdom to observers and researchers can also learn about the habits of the animals there. The trade-off of course is that animals suffer either inadvertently or via malicious intent. Zoos have to walk the line between illustrating that they care for their animals and entertainment. I get that.

This is the double edged sword of zoos. While the days of bars are mostly gone, they are not natural for animals. However, they usually do research and educate the public on animals. For every animal who may or may not be suffering in captivity there are probably at least hundreds who survive better in the wild because of zoos.

BTW, anyone been to the Las Vegas Zoo?

I had a pet parakeet once (a coworker begged me to take it off her hands as her boyfriend hated it) and when it died I buried it on the property where Sea World of Texas was built soon after.

I enjoyed my couple visits to Sea World of Texas as they had frozen margarita booths throughout the park. And the shows were entertaining, I think.