“Opinion: SeaWorld vs. the Whale That Killed Its Trainer”

I feel as if the natural thought of an orca nowadays would be a Shamu or the movie Free Willy. Not to say that these are bad thoughts, but orcas have been held in captivity for decades, forcibly taken from their homes and families. However, I had very little knowledge as to how the capture of these whales was executed. After reading the article written by Kenneth Brower, I got very curious as to how whales were captured and why they did what they did to some trainers. Brower begins his article clearly stating his disbelief that SeaWorld is an O.K. facility; I have to say I’m with him on this aspect. These people literally kidnap orcas, and various other animals, from the oceans and from their families to put on a show for everyone. How would you like it if someone kidnapped you and made you live in a bathtub for the rest of your life? I sure wouldn’t enjoy that too much. A comparison Brower makes is the good twin evil twin concept, so it’s Tilikum and his twin Keiko, who later became known as Free Willy and was released back into the wild, and how they were both captured at around the same age. Another heart-wrenching fact SeaWorld released was that over half of the captive orcas we have now have Tilikum’s DNA because they used his sperm for in captivity breeding. While this is more of a moderately humane way of getting orcas in SeaWorld, it’s still not okay. Granted they aren’t ripping them out of the ocean, but still, it’s absolutely ridiculous. Brower isn’t holding back when he says that killer whales are one of the most powerful creatures on our planet, I know how powerful they are, so why try to contain them, SeaWorld? Also I’d like to point out that Orcas are the largest out of the dolphin family, Orcas are not whales, sorry guys.