Sunday, March 21, 2010

Carol A.
Eng 122
Preliminary thesis: Captivity of whales is inhumane and should be banned.
Emotional
Skoloff, Brian. "The Associated Press: Orca Attack Raises Question of Captive Animals." Google. Web. 04 March 2010.

Many zoo and captivity centers claim that these facilities are a looking glass into how these animals communicate, function, and overall live their life. They do recognize, however, that it would be best if it was a possibility to be able to study them in the wild rather than behind glass walls. Whilst making that recognition these zoologists are still blind to the fact that this is cruel, they hide behind their pomp and circumstance of education for the public. “Former SeaWorld head trainer Thad Lacinak says captive killer whales serve as ambassadors of the species to educate the public and help protect them in the wild. ‘These animals are invaluable in terms of what we can learn from them. And you cannot learn about killer whales through a pair of binoculars,’ Lacinak said. Using killer whales to perform, or displaying animals at zoos, brings them to life for the public, he said, something that watching the Discovery Channel just can't do”(Skoloff 1). Although the Discovery Channel cannot provide its viewers with visions of flipping dolphins and leaps from killer whales; what they do provide is a real view of real animals. These creatures in captivity are caricatures of what is their true behavior. When watching an animal perform stunts and play with toys with trainers that is not a natural behavior for them it is a learned trait. Although trainers tout the benefits of teaching these animals these tricks these are not applicable behaviors in the wild. And once an animal is captive too long it is very difficult for them to integrate back into wild pods.

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