The Blackfish and I

The Blackfish and I

Yesterday, I watched Blackfish, a documentary that was released just over a year ago, on the 19th of January 2013, which debated the practice of keeping orcas or "killer whales" in captivity. Whilst I have never been the best animal rights advocate - for instance I eat meat - I found this film very interesting and it inspired me to do further research.

Firstly, you must understand that Blackfish is a documentary created to portray a particular viewpoint. I went into this documentary with a mindset that I would not over anthropomorphise these animals, and that I would question what the documentary told me. I tell you this, not to degrade the documentary but to reassure you that I have tried to be as open minded as possible, and as thorough as is reasonable in my research, before writing this post.

Frankly, it's shocking. The fact that these creatures can be kept in captivity is shocking to me.

Killer whales, orcas (orcinus orca) are the largest species of the dolphin family. Found in all of the world's oceans, from Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas, they are opportunistic predators - apex predators meaning that in their natural habitat they are at the top of the food chain.

More than that, they are incredibly intelligent. There are five distinct "races" of killer whales, which have different manifestations of culture. The races vary in social behaviour, hunting techniques and vocal behaviours. Within their pods they are highly social. This sociability does not translate into captivity, as humans have a very limited understanding of the way that the pods interact and often the races are mixed. Whilst in the wild a calf will never leave her mother, in captivity they are often separated, and calves separated from their mothers struggle to ever raise calves of their own.

In captivity, killer whales are loved for their "trainability, striking appearance, playfulness in captivity, and sheer size". There are 45 orcas in captivity in the world, and 32 of these were bred in captivity. The documentary, Blackfish, focuses on Seaworld, with references to other parks; however orcas are kept in 11 different parks worldwide - SeaWorld San Diego, SeaWorld Orlando, SeaWorld San Antonio, Miami Seaquarium, Marineland Canada, Marineland (Antibes), Loro Parque, Mundo Marino, Kamogawa Seaworld, Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium and Seaside Dolphinarium. In captivity, they are kept in what are essentially "glorified swimming pools" whilst in the wild they swim up to 100 miles a day.

Whilst in captivity there are several statistics that make me a whole lot less comfortable with buying into Shamu. The most obvious is life span. In the wild the average length an orca may live for has been disputed - however most accounts with a scientific basis in fact seem to place the number from about 60 to 100 years for female orcas, and for males approximately 40 years, although some can live to up to 70 years old. In captivity, this is substantially shorter - most killer whales live into their mid twenties. It is important to note that there have been exceptions, Corky II and Lolita have been recorded as still being alive over 40 years of age in captivity.

The shorter lifespan may be due to the fact that in captivity orcas are far more susceptible to captivity. For instance, only in captivity has an orca died of pneumonia. More than that, pneumonia is an incredibly common disease in orcas with many - some studies indicate over 25% - killer whales dying of it. The majority of captive male orcas have a collapsed dorsal fin - in almost 90% of male orcas - as well as several female captive orcas. This is almost unheard of in the wild, with collapsed dorsal fins occurring in fewer than 1% of the killer whales, and this is normally due to serious injury, such as when the orca is shot or collides with a boat.  The most likely reasons for this occurring is the lack of space and too much time in the air as opposed to under the water, supported by a study in 2002 when a stranded orca's dorsal fin showed signs of collapsing, but when the whale was returned to open water the dorsal fin corrected itself.

Perhaps the most controversial of reasons to keep orcas in captivity is the large number of human fatalities and injuries caused by killer whales. In the wild, there have been no confirmed attacks - fatal or otherwise - on humans by orcas. In captivity, it is estimated that approximately 24 people have been directly attacked by captive orcas. The majority of these attacks are biting, but some include ramming in the water and dragging underwater. These attacks have lead to internal bleeding, broken bones, ruptured organs, heart attacks, drowning, hypothermia, blood infection and deaths.

Blackfish focuses mostly on Tilikum, the largest bull orca in captivity, who has been involved with three human deaths. He currently resides in SeaWorld Orlando. After his capture in 1983, he was placed in the since closed SeaLand, Victoria, Canada. Keltie Byrne according to different accounts either slipped into the pool or was - the more sinister of the two - dragged in by her boot. Tilikum and two other female orcas tossed her between them until she drowned. In 1999 a dead homeless man was found in Tilikum's pool, draped naked over his back, having suffered substantial injury. On the 24th of October, 2010, Dawn Brancheau was dragged into the pool by her arm after not rewarding Tilikum when he missed a cue. She died of hypothermia, drowning, multiple severe crush traumatic injuries, scalping and the complete avulsion of her arm. However, whilst Tilikum is the most infamous of the orcas, there have been other deaths caused by killer whales in captivity. In Loro Parque, Alexis Martinez was crushed to death in the jaws of the killer whale Keto. Aside from this there have been many near misses and cases of repeated aggression. Kasatka has bitten three humans in shows, and once dragged a trainer, in 2006 underwater, nearly drowning him. The trainer had puncture wounds in both feet as well as several severed ligaments in the left foot.

This aggression translates between the whales as well. "Raking" is when orcas assert domination and show aggression. The most famous incident of inter-whale aggression showed Kandu V attempt to assert domination over newcomer Corky because there was not enough space for them both. Kandu attempted to rake Corky, missed and collided into the edge of the pool, bursting an artery. She bled to death after a forty five minute hemorrhage. Other instances involve whales biting each others genitals and fins which does not happen in the wild as during altercations whales can separate.

So, what do you think? The culture of whales being kept in captivity is hugely controversial, and for me at least, I struggle to see the the perspective of those in favour of the institutes that keep the whales. Whilst they do raise awareness about the killer whales, orcas are not actually endangered and keeping them in captivity only encourages activities like whaling. What we see is actually a sick society which glorifies the animals in a circus like stadium but that is actually detrimental to the whales and keepers.

Free the orcas? Yes, please.