„After the show you can go home, but they can’t“- Seaworld’s disturbing truth

SeaWorld seems like a beautiful place to visit with your family or even your partner. But behind that pretty image, there’s a much darker reality: animal abuse, captured animals, and even sexual exploitation.

Many of you probably know that the most famous animals, and main “attraction”, at SeaWorld are the orcas. But orcas don’t deserve to live in small, cramped tanks like these. We get to go home after the show, but they’re stuck there forever.

This is exactly what a TikTok I posted was talking about.

And boy, I was definitely not prepared to read some of these comments

• “They are home…” 
• „Yes it’s sad but what do you want me to do about it? Take them with me?”  
• “ Well my home doesn’t take up 71% of the earth’s surface” 
• “But its fun” 
• „Some zoos save the animals and when they recover they gradually return them to their natural habitat, but there are other animals that it is not possible to return them since they have broken fins etc …, the only thing I want to say is that not every place they mistreat them.” 
• „good for the orcaa, they dont deserve anything” 

And trust me, it gets way worse. If you want to, look into it yourself. It’s shocking to see how little people actually know about the ugly truth behind SeaWorld and the way animals are treated there.

I promise you, by the end of this post, you’ll think twice before buying a ticket to SeaWorld.

Seaworld

SeaWorld is the largest marine park in the world and has locations all around the world. They are known for their wide variety of marine animals and the shows they offer, especially the orca shows. Many people travel long distances just to see and experience one of these performances. 

However, SeaWorld is also known for many controversies and scandals connected to these shows. A lot of people don’t know the harsh truth or what the orcas there actually go through. 

Orcas are marine mammals known for their black and white coloring. They are highly intelligent animals and are able to work together when hunting. In the wild, they hunt large whales, which is why they are called „killer whales“. Female orcas are known to live up to 80 years or even longer. In the wild an orca can swim up to 120 miles a day, which is about the distance from New York City to Philadelphia.to reach this distance in a tank, an orca would have to swim thousands of laps. 

Pretty soon it becomes clear that SeaWorld’s tanks are nowhere near close to an orca’s natural habitat. 

Orcas are constantly sunburned 

Did you know that their skin is very sensitive to the sun, which is why in the wild they spend about 95% of their time in deeper, shaded water? SeaWorld’s tanks are simply not deep enough to give them this kind of protection. As a result, they are exposed to direct sunlight for long periods and often get sunburned. Visitors don’t notice these health issues, as staff tries to hide them as much as possible by covering them with black zinc-based sunscreen to hide the damage. 

Their food is mixed with drugs

Orcas are very active and intelligent animals with a lot of energy. In small tanks, this energy can turn into stress and frustration, which SeaWorld wants to avoid. To keep the animals calm and under control, they are given medication through their food so they are less likely to act out. 

Controlled through food

Although all animals get a set amount of food, many orcas have to perform on an empty stomach. In the wild, an orca would never let a human stand on its back. By starving them and making them “earn” their food, they are forced to do whatever the trainers ask.

Taken From the Wild

SeaWorld’s orcas were either captured or are a result of their inhuman breeding program. None of them were rescued and then rehabilitated back into the wild. These are two famous orcas that were victims of SeaWorld’s brutal history and exploitation:

1. Corky  

Corky is an orca who was born in the wild around 1965. In 1969, fishermen attacked a pod of orcas near the coast of British Columbia and violently separated the calves from their mothers. This bond is extremely important for orcas and usually lasts their whole lives. 

One of the calves taken that day was Corky. Over the years, she was basically used as a breeding machine and was even forced to breed with her own relatives. None of her babies survived longer than 47 days. Her last miscarriage happened at SeaWorld San Diego. Corky has now been kept in captivity for over 55 years, making her the orca that has been held captive the longest in history. 

2. Ulises 

Ulises is another orca who was born in the wild around 1977. When he was about three years old, he was taken from his family off the coast of Iceland. He is around 20 feet long and weighs almost 10,000 pounds, which makes living in small tanks even harder for him. 

Over the years, Ulises has been bullied by other orcas in his tank and has suffered several injuries. He is known for aggressive behavior and once bit a chunk out of another orca’s tail flukes. This kind of behavior is not normal for orcas, because in the wild they usually don’t fight with members of their own pod. 

In captivity, orcas are forced to live with members of their species from completely different pods who don’t share the same dialects. Combined with the stress of small concrete tanks, this often leads to frustration and aggressive behavior like Ulises.

There is hope

Luckily, there are many people who do know the truth and choose not to support this kind of animal abuse. 

One of the most obvious things we can do is boycott places like SeaWorld and not be the next person buying a ticket. These animals are beautiful, and of course I would love to see them in real life, just like any other sea animals. But for that exact reason, I don’t want to see them suffer. Because I care about them, I personally would never step into an aquarium again or pay money to places that harm these animals. 

Another important aspect is raising awareness. Videos, blogs, and even simple conversations help bring attention to topics like this. We are lucky enough to be educated and know the truth, and with that comes the responsibility to share this information. The most important thing is to talk about it and educate others, because talking about an issue is the only way to protect what matters to us. Unfortunately, many people still aren’teducated enough on this topic. 

So next time you think about buying a ticket to SeaWorld to teach your children about marine animals think about this blog but most importantly the generations of animals that had to suffer because of Seaworld. There are far more options on how to educate about the ocean and its inhabitants.