Due to SeaWorld, zoos, and other domestication of wild
animals, it is common for most people to misinterpret the danger and violent
these once wild animals hold. As
expressed in the article, many peoples initial or only thought of killer whales
are creatures like Keiko and Shamoo. I
am one who falls victim to this. To us
this is all we know about them. We don’t
know the process that was taken to retrieve them from their natural habitat and
bring them to one that is convenient and entertainment for society. The article brings our attention to this and
articulates that the blame of these episodes of violence shouldn’t be placed on
the animals but the people who captivate these animals. Throughout the piece he
builds his argument by pinpointing the counter arguments SeaWorld has
challenged and then dismisses their challenge with evidence on how they are portraying
it. Sure SeaWorld may never punish them
or hurt them in any way when training them, but they harm them the moment they
take them out of their natural habitat.
And at that moment is when they place danger on the trainers they hire.
Right away
the author, Kenneth Brower, establishes his view of the issue by stating,
“there have been dozens of attacks on trainers by orcas in marine parks around
the world. These are not bad whales;
they just come with all instincts of predators.” He also goes on by stating how powerful they
are in the wild when they capture their prey.
This past semester I took an oceanography class, one of the smaller
units we covered was marine life. In the
class we watched this documentary on whales, and in one of the clips it covered
how killer whales hunted their prey. I
remember watching these whales flick seals in the air, making them go flying
out of the water, and killing and stun their prey. I remember laughing at the time, in
disbelief. These creatures are can truly
be powerful; it makes me wonder who in their right mind ever thought about
capturing and training them to provide entertainment.
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