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The Effects of Captivity on Orca
The Orcinus Orca also knows as Killer whales are intelligent, social animals. They live in tightly-knit social groups typically ranging from 5 to 25 members. Even after sexual maturity, these creatures tend to live more octenyl together. The Orcas are considered an emotional creature. Various emotions have been observed in different studies. It is seen that they have strong social behavior and are observed to experience the emotion of great sorrow. It is also reported that Orcinus orca also keeps their mates afloat after their death because of the distress that they feel (Marino et al.). The captivity of the killer whales by the activities of human being have several detrimental effects on orcas such as self-destruction and premature deaths. These activities of humans should be controlled because no animal has the right to die in captivity conditions.
Orcinus Orca was never considered an ordinary animal and in a recent trend of showcasing wild animals, they have also been captivated by many themes or marine parks for entertainment purposes. The Orcas have been captured for the first time for this purpose in the early 1960s. Since then almost more than 166 Orcas have been captured and taken into captivity. Currently, about 60 Orcas have been held in captivity. Several negative impacts of captivity on these creatures have been reported. The very first negative impact is seen to be of premature deaths. Their average life expectancy is about 30 to 50 years in the wild, and maximum up to 80 – 100 years but while in captivity the life span of Orca is 15 years (Hui and Ridgway). One of the main causes of death among the Orcas is reported to be infectious diseases, including viral, bacterial, and fungal. Evidence of trauma in the captive Orcas was also found (Marino et al.). Most of the Orcas in captivity have tooth damages and are not fed well by the captors if they do not perform correctly.
Another major negative impact of captivity is hyper aggression. These creatures in normal conditions have rarely shown hyper aggression but when in captivity, they have been reported to show a higher level of aggression resulting in fatal encounters with the trainers. Due to their aggression, self-inflicting injuries have also been reported which is very rare when in the ocean. For this reason, many Orcas are heavily medicated (Graham & Noonan). The main reason for their aggressive behavior is said to be because of the confined concrete tanks in which they are kept. Due to the limited space, they are unable to avoid the conflict as compared to the open spaces of the ocean and hence results in hyper aggression or self-inflicting injuries. The Orca in captivity also experiences sunburns and dehydration. Collapse occurs in less than 1% of wild killer whales, while in captivity the 100% of male orca experience collapsed dorsal fins because of usually the limited and confined space they get to swim in their tanks, this confined space also affects their well-being because of the difficulty of adaptation to the new habitat and poor facilities. This confinement of space is reported to be the cause of stress e.g. adrenal hypertrophy (Marino et al.).
Being held captive also affects the social, hunting, and sensory skills of Orcas. Orcas tend to have a very social life in oceans, they have unique skills to catch their prey and more often contact other marine animals through auditory stimuli. The lack of the use of these skills in captivity not only causes stress and behavioral changes among orca but also affects their immunity, reproductive system, and mental well-being (John; Marino et al.).
The higher number of mortalities of Orca’s and attacks on their trainers needs to be studied in more depth. The evaluation bodies should be established to keep a check on the well-being of captive Orca’s and the culture of using animals for entertainment purposes should be rejected for the welfare of animals.
In captivity, several captured orcas were born and raised, although this was not really the situation. Orcas were captured for the television programs beginning in the 1960s. The massive seizure in Penn Cove, Washington, was one of the most notorious. A total of seven whales were extracted from the L group on August 8, 1970, while five perished in the method. Among the shots and killing, Lolita is the only survivor standing. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Estonian coastline was also the scene of orca catches, where hostages such as Tilikum and Keiko are still found. As their captive outlets continue to rise in importance, orcas are still being amok in Russian waters for export to nature reserves in China as well as Russia even today.
Although there are practically no recorded human attacks by killer whales in the open, there have been four deaths and several other’ injuries’ in containment. For three of those deaths, Tilikum was considered to be presumed liable. Although it is difficult to tell why these actions take place, it is thought that the tension of imprisonment plays a significant part. Apart from the conduct of self-destruction, captive orcas often exhibit aggression towards each other (Burford). Rike wounds and bruises sustained on captured orcas are frequently observed, while captive marine dolphins are often well-enough to indulge in unhealthy stereotypic activities such as nibbling and biting down on the pipe walls.
In detention, approximately 160 orcas have perished, and this percentage would be much more if there are miscarriages reported. Also, among victims, however, health conditions are plentiful. Most importantly, the pectoral fins collapse in male orcas and teeth injury in captured killer whales. Male posterior end loss is associated with an increased likelihood of the orcas’ failure to move on flat surfaces and establish muscle strength that’d be normal in the ocean while diving. In nearly all killer whales, who sometimes bite on fences or floors out of rage, serious dental complications present themselves. Their teeth are polished and left unfulfilled to prevent diseases, involving regular rinsing and occasionally rehabilitation with antibiotics. Because of such daily procedures, orcas get sick, and they can be immune to medicines because of the continuous interventions. For multiple captured orcas, resistant bacteria of pneumonia and other diseases became the cause of death.
In captive conditions, killer whales do not survive, and there are at least 60 orcas in detention across the country currently. The remainder is the result of breeding programs, aggressively sought by nature reserves to maximize their stock of entertainers. At years less than 8, female orcas in confinement have been impregnated, whereas the median age for breeding is 15 in the wild orcas. Females are inseminated continuously, not permitting their calves to be grown for the usual hours after having a baby (Jett et al.). Calves and mothers are split, and calves are shipped to other sites, even if they’ve lived together surviving in the wild. Orcas suffering from pregnancy loss or abortion as crossbreeding among surviving captive animals is becoming more prevalent.
To keep anyone hostage is to deprive her of a wide array of products in several different ways and infuriate her desires. From the entire debate, it is concluded that confinement is referred to as a state in which an adult person that is ordinarily operating is restricted and regulated and relies on those in command to fulfill its essential needs. Human beings typically work since dependent infants, and human adults with severe developmental deficits are not commonly treated as prisoners; since they are reluctant to control themselves, they inevitably rely on others to fulfill their basic needs. While the same liberties as those we deem prisoners that be withheld, that is primarily for their own benefit in children and seriously cognitively disabled people. Some believe that it is for their benefit to retain naturally behaving adult animals in cages, but this is a controversial argument and relies primarily on the individual species.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Work Cited
Marino, Lori, et al. “The harmful effects of captivity and chronic stress on the well-being of orcas (Orcinus orca).” Journal of Veterinary Behavior 35 (2020): 69-82.
Graham, Melissa A., and Michael Noonan. “Call types and acoustic features associated with aggressive chase in the killer whale (Orcinus orca).” Aquat. Mamm 36 (2010): 9-18.
Hui, Clifford A., and Sam H. Ridgway. “Survivorship patterns in captive killer whales (Orcinus orca).” Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 77.2 (1978): 45-51.
Jett, John, and Jeffrey Ventre. “Captive killer whale (Orcinus orca) survival.” Marine Mammal Science 31.4 (2015): 1362-1377.
Burford, Caitlyn, and Julie Schutten. “Internatural activists and the “Blackfish Effect”: Contemplating captive orcas’ protest rhetoric through a coherence frame.” Frontiers in Communication 1 (2017): 16.
Jett, John, et al. “Tooth damage in captive orcas (Orcinus orca).” Archives of Oral Biology 84 (2017): 151-160.