Marine Animal Exhibits: Chlorinated Prisons

At aquariums around the country orcas leap through the air for a handful of fish and millions of tourists come to watch these wild animals, but many do not know what terrible conditions these animals suffer through everyday.

(Source: http://www.peta.org)

According to Peta's article, "Marine Animal Exhibits: Chlorinated Prisons" published on their website, peta.org, the astonishing living conditions given to these aquatic animals are finally exposed. Read the Q & A below for more information.

Q: Are families torn apart when capturing animals? 

A: Yes, families are brutally torn apart. Many times they will take the baby orca away from its mother because it is the smallest and easiest to transport. Orcas travel in "Family groups, or “pods,” which consist of a mother, her adult sons and daughters, and her daughters’ offspring. Members of the pod communicate in a “dialect” specific to that pod. Dolphins swim together in family pods or tribes of hundreds." Therefore putting orcas or dolphins in a tank with other orcas or dolphins that are not from their pod or family is like forcing them to live with a total stranger that they cannot even communicate with. Capturing even one wild orca or dolphin disrupts the entire pod. 


Q: Is it hard for such a large animal like an orca or a dolphin to adapt to living in such a confined space? 


A: Yes, it is very difficult. In the wild, "orcas and dolphins swim up to 100 miles per day. But captured dolphins are confined to tanks that may be only 24 feet long, 24 feet wide, and 6 feet deep." Therefore, these animals are not getting proper exercise and nearly go insane from swimming the same circles over and over again. Dolphins and orcas also do not do well living in such a confided space because those animals both "navigate by echolocation—bouncing sonar waves off other objects to determine their shape, density, distance, and location—but in tanks, the reverberations from their own sonar bounce off the walls, driving some dolphins insane." Therefore, these animals need a much larger space to live in than just a tiny tank that barley gives them any space to move around. 


Q: Do aquariums or places like SeaWorld do a good job of mocking or imitating the animals natural habitat in their tanks? 


A: No, they do not even attempt to make their tank or "habitat" suitable to the animal at all. They make it suitable for their visitors by making the water blue and crystal clear so that the visitors can clearly see or view the animal and so that their physicality looks "pretty." At aquariums, "Tanks are kept clean with chemicals that have unknown side effects. Because of high chlorine levels in their tanks, dolphins at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida were unable to open their eyes and their skin began to peel off."

FUTURE RESEARCH: Are sanctuaries as good as people believe they are for animals?