Seaworld and their new campaign Strategies

[TheMerthropologist]

I am familiar with blackfish and I read a lot of articles on the website https://www.thedodo.com/ so that's where my understanding comes from so there's my bias. These resources are pretty clearly anti-seaworld. I know some marine biology but I will be honest that a lot of my info nowadays comes from Octonauts (can I make an octonauts thread, would that be okay? I really like octonauts) and whatever pieces of documentary I can still remember. Most of what I've read about seaworld honestly just sickens me (Why should a whale need anti-psychotics? )

I know that recently seaworld has started to campaign more and present itself as a friendly place (Is it okay to assume a good number of people have seen the "meet Leon The Sealion" Commercial?).

More recently there has been a ton of hullabaloo with #askSeaWorld on twitter...I don't know why they thought that was a god idea...they set themselves up for that backfire...check it out if you get a moment to spare it's kind of comical in a sad sort of way (They resorted to tweeting how they didn't have time for trolls...).

So I'm interested in reading others opinions on there current strategies. Good idea, bad idea (I'm personally leaning towards bad)? Could they be improved? Can seaworld be redeemed ( how do you think seaworld could build a positive reputation back up? Is it possible?)

I've been meaning to look more into the seaworld side of the issue to see what they say and find other sources too. From what I have looked into so far (which I admit isn't a lot) seaworld does seem to be rather full of bs; their rebuttals are vague and seem to say "Blackfish was lie, we're the good guys". I feel like it's difficult to talk about seaworld and NOT talk about Orcas, is that just me? Could part of their new campaign to remind people they have more than just the Orcas and take the attention away from them and issues surrounding them?

SO yeah, hopefully that all makes sense and a discussion(s) can get rolling. I'd be happy to read other resource recommendations and good information to share.

[Nyx]

(This is all coming from memory, personal opinion, and personal bias. If I am wrong please do point it out!)
I feel like Seaworld is a swirl of mess-ups and seemingly good intensions (gotta give them the benefit of the doubt).
And while they DO seem to support ocean conservation a lot (from what I've read and heard), they are a company that largely focuses on making a profit. Now that people are starting to see them in a negative light and their income is decreasing, it makes sense that they are floundering to paint themselves as wonderful and worth supporting. Unfortunately for them it's all almost so forced that it's coming out as bs.
I think the only way I would once again enjoy seaworld is if:
1.They stop trying to breed their dolphins and whales. Or in anyway bring more into captivity.
2. Make the enclosures much more bigger, much more deeper, much more enriching and stimulating, much more realistic. Jut in general BETTER exhibits.
3.Or better yet, sea pens! But I don't know much about them soooo.
A lot of people want these animals freed and into the wild, but honestly that wouldn't be successful, it hasn't been before as far as I know. Logically, these animals don't know how to survive in the wild. It would be like letting loose your indoor cat.
It's in no way fully domesticated, and it has instinct for sure, but absolutely no idea of how to do with them.
The only thing that can be done is improve the life of those that remain in captivity until they all pass.
It's really all unfortunate.
And I'd even suggest keeping those exhibits for different fish or animals that would be humane to keep, and then if a dolphin that could not survive in the wild (similar to the case of Winter) it would have a place to live the remainder of its life.
But as it is I don't trust sea world enough to accept its judgment of which animals are unable to be rehabilitated.

[TheMerthropologist]

Keio was able to reenter the wild but I also saw a book floating around called "Killing Keiko" but I haven't looked further into it yet. I think an ocean pen could work but from what I understand the older whales would not do well do to numerous problems they already have (such as issues with their teeth).
I believe the dolphin pools are also over crowded which causes way too much stress on the animals

[AptaMer]

There's more on Keiko's story in the thread on Tilikum

http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?10366-Tilikum-in-worse-condition&p=178858&viewfull=1#post178858

and this review of "Killing Keiko" provides an excellent summary of what was wrong with the handling of Keiko's release.

http://www.livetradingnews.com/did-hollywood-kill-free-willy-65383.htm

[Echidna]

and this review of "Killing Keiko" provides an excellent summary of what was wrong with the handling of Keiko's release.

http://www.livetradingnews.com/did-hollywood-kill-free-willy-65383.htm

I can only hope that this guy primarily wrote the book to make press :/
I'm inclined to believe the people who were involved in the effort of accustoming Keiko to the Wild (there is a long, excellent documentary on the whole process).

http://www.oceanfutures.org/news/blog/truth-about-keikos-death

I wasn't there, so I have no idea who is telling the truth and who isn't.

What I think is a given is that Keiko was only prepared to be set free once his health had deteriorated so much from the little exercise (space) and chlorine in his tank, that he would have died anyway had he not been put in the seapen, where he learned to feed himself.

Either way, his time in freedom was too short. RIP.

[MerShellly]

After reading this thread, I went on youtube to watch Blackfish because I've never seen it before. About a third of the way in the movie, I felt like I was going to throw up. Not exaggerating- I literally felt like I was going to have to make a Bline for the bathroom. I'm glad I watched it though because now I have a much better understanding of what's going on.
I think that was a bad yet comical move they did to create a #AskSeaWorld. That's like leaving the food out overnight and walking in the next morning to find a bunch of insects and other critters. I have a feeling SeaWorld is going to shut down. It's just a matter of when. Unless they could do something educational w/o making orcas do tricks that would be equally as "exciting".

[Elle]

I find it odd that there is so much bad press about SeaWorld in the U.S..... But we have Sea World in Queensland (with a space between the two words, don't know why) and I have never heard anything as negative as what is said about SeaWorld.

[MerShellly]

I find it odd that there is so much bad press about SeaWorld in the U.S..... But we have Sea World in Queensland (with a space between the two words, don't know why) and I have never heard anything as negative as what is said about SeaWorld.
I went on seaworld.com.au and in their list of animals and shows, it didn't mention anything about orcas, so they must not have orcas there in captivity like in the US?

[Elle]

I went on seaworld.com.au and in their list of animals and shows, it didn't mention anything about orcas, so they must not have orcas there in captivity like in the US?


No we don't have orcas.

We've got dolphins, seals, rays, sharks, polar bears, a variety of penguins and lots and lots of fish

[AptaMer]

I think the orcas are a particular flashpoint because they're kept in such tiny tanks, compared to their size, and because they sometimes go psychotic and kill people, or harm each other.

[Nyx]

^very true.
I don't think we had any previous issues or too much outcry until the whales started going nuts. I guess at that point it's hard to ignore that something isn't right.

[Elle]

I think the orcas are a particular flashpoint because they're kept in such tiny tanks, compared to their size, and because they sometimes go psychotic and kill people, or harm each other.


yeah, I looked at it on Google Maps. you can see the tanks and how much space the orca takes up.

[TheMerthropologist]

I find it odd that there is so much bad press about SeaWorld in the U.S..... But we have Sea World in Queensland (with a space between the two words, don't know why) and I have never heard anything as negative as what is said about SeaWorld.

From a quick google search it seems that Seaworld and Sea World are not related. They don"t have eachother listed in "parks" and wikipedia seperates the two.

[Nyx]

As much as I don't like Seaworld, I'm really excited about the plans they have on expanding the orca exhibit.
I just really hope I won't be disappointed.
I love innovative animal enclosures for zoos and aquariums, it's one of the things that I pretty much live for, and if this succeeds and does as much as it promises to do, it will be absolutely spectacular. And hopefully much MUCh better for the animals.
http://www.inparkmagazine.com/breaking-seaworld-to-invest-hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars-in-new-killer-whale-habitats/
One step at a time I suppose.
I just hope they improve the one in florida as well, and both dolphin exhibits. And as I said before, stop breeding programs.
We can only hope for the best.

[Elle]

From a quick google search it seems that Seaworld and Sea World are not related. They don"t have eachother listed in "parks" and wikipedia seperates the two.


No, but I imagine one came first and the other country probably thought is was a good idea. Australia doesn't seem to be big on the Aquarium's like America does. We have our version of Sea World and Underwater World in Queensland. Then you have Sea Life Aquariums in New South Wales and Victoria....
I guess when you're an island there isn't much call for them

[TheMerthropologist]

Thanks for the sources AptaMer and Echidna! I think I should read up a bit about "Killing Keiko" author Mr.Simmons. He is the founder of Ocean Embassy, a company that constructs new parks and supplies them? They are pro-conservation and do a lot of conservation work but he is also pro-captivity... http://www.oceanembassy.com/passion.html That's what I have gathered so far. My previous knowledge Keiko had been able to learn to feed himself and survive so it should be interesting to dig around for more info. Now for older whales like Tilikum I can see how re-introduction into the wild won't work (he's much older, more issues). I still want to be hopeful and I wonder how far out there would an ocean pen at least be? The whales are definitely in too small tanks. I believe another reason the Orcas get so much attention is that seaworld had promoted them as a star attraction. People hear "Seaworld" and many minds jump right to "Shamu" do they not?

As for other animals at the park
Some of the things i've read are just so horrifying I don't know how you can make that stuff up such as the death of Eric the sea lion(keep in mind that I frequent The Dodo who is not fond of seaworld)
The NEW!Dolphin encounter does not sound as bad as stories I've heard about what it's been like in the past. There seems to be better supervision of course I don't know what it's actually like. They offer quite a few tours and interactions don't they...Of course reading and looking at pictures will only do so much, I don't know how the actual tour goes.

I took a look at the questions they did awnser at Seaworldcares.com ...They addressed "The "scandal" of providing vetrinary care to animals" which I thought would address what medications are they giving to the animals (what are they for, what do they do) but all it said was that they did indeed give medication to animals for medical problems... I was not impressed

[AniaR]

I totally don't think seaworld should ever care for another whale again. But as far as empty the tanks people think whales can just be thrown back into the ocean and that's not going to work. it's going to take time to either create sea pens or remodel sea world and rebrand it to be about putting the whales first and meeting their spacial needs. Rick O Berry from the Cove movies stepped up to try and buy sea world along with several other activists and they have a long term plan that is pretty much in line with what I think would be best. The best candidates for sea pens get put in them in marine reserves. But ones that would be more susceptible to detrimental behaviours or illnesses stay in a rebranded, re modelled sea world that isn't about having the whales perform, but about giving them as much space as able and as natural environment as possible to live out their days and no new whaled being bred or added.

[Talia]

Does anyone have data about how they breed whales/dolphins?

From my time working at a zoo, I know for a fact that they actually gave the female dolphins birth control pills, because they were having a lot of sex and getting pregnant very frequently. Pregnancies were not really planned or sought, they just happened. From time to time they had to stop the birth control pills to give their bodies some chance off the hormones. They were usually pregnant afterwards.

[Mermaid Galene]

I hope that SeaWorld will be financially forced to accept a buyout offer from a group with an orca rehab plan like the one Raina describes, with a care plan tailored for each whale based on its needs and abilities. That is the best outcome for everyone.

[Echidna]

They describe such a plan at the end of Blackfish.
Seapens for the whales which are too old to learn to live in the wild.

Technically, they aren't even that old.
Seaworld (I'm going to call them "Apecircus" from now on, because they are the antithesis of a sea world) is telling lies when they say captive whales live longer than those in the wild.

They reach a human life span in the wild, males die a bit earlier than females, but some females live to a hundred years, something you never see in captivity, where the usual age a captive dies at is 25-30.

So Tilikum has survived longer than most whales, but if he hadn't been captured, he'd still be in his middle years.

[TheMerthropologist]

I know they use artificial insemination but Seaworld doesn't really give any more information on their breeding than that http://ask.seaworldcares.com/?topic=breeding

The issues I've read about the program are breeding at too young an age, whales being inbred, breeding with tilikum despite aggressive tendencies, separating mother and calf and a large number of still births. I'm trying to look up more about the mother and calf separations especially in the case of Kasatka and Takara as mentioned in Blackfish. In this video they say that Takara was an adult with her own calf who went with her https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=46&v=R0v9xi2TcNY . When I looked up calf seperation at seaworld this chart does come up http://www.orcanetwork.org/captivity/CaptiveseparationlistFinal.pdf which does say Takara was 12 when seperated. However, look at all the other seperation ages, 2,4,6,1,8... Either way aren't Orcas highly social animals that live in family pods? Doesn't that mean a seperation at any age upsets the social FAMILY balance? In their ask campaign seaworld says they move whales to maintain a stable social environment but I don't see how that works if in the wild they have tight family bonds (Unfortunately I've lost track of which question it was so at the moment I can't provide direction to where they say this, I'll have to go back through all the questions they answered)

I wish I had more sources of scientific data to show but I do have this study http://www.freemorgan.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/olesiuk_et_al_1990_resiident_orca_bc_wa.pdf but I haven't had a chance to read through it yet. I found this only because this DODO article had the link https://www.thedodo.com/5-reasons-why-seaworlds-orca-b-531056663.html

[MerShellly]

@Echidna- I prefer to call them "SeaPrison" lol

[Echidna]

^^ ye, that's another good epithet for it.
I guess it was you in the comments on Blackfish then saying seaprison?

I nerdraged all over the comments once I finally watched it. :mad:

[SeaGlass Siren]

i withheld my nerdraging. instead i showed it to the hubby. and now he'd scarred for life.

[MerShellly]

No, I wasn't the one in the comments. I've heard seaprison somewhere else actually lol. I read those comments too.

[Echidna]

It took me until yesterday to even see it, because it was never available.
It seems to be removed as soon as someone catches on. And today it's gone again:


This video has been removed as a violation of YouTube's policy against spam, scams, and commercially deceptive content.

For real?
Deceptive content?
Try harder, SeaPrison.

[Moana.the.mermaid]

I'm a huge anticap. I've been to protests at $eaworld San Diego and am very vocal about how disgusting their business practices are.

First off, from personal experience, I used to work at a whale watch company out of Mission Bay - the same bay that slaveworld is on. I can't tell you how much pollution we saw floating in the bay from slaveworld alone. Napkins, bags, even clothing, like hats and necklaces. They claim to be into conservation but they can't even bother to conserve and clean the bay they border! I live about two miles from slaveworld as well and one of the biggest pet peeves is the noise pollution.

Every day during the summer, they have fireworks. Cool, huh? Unless you live nearby. And see, firsthand, how the noise affects local sea life. The inshore bottlenose population is pretty much gone during the summer and the sea lions on the bait dock? They swim north to La Jolla. They don't want anything to do with it. Imagine being an animal who's ears are so fine tuned for underwater noises....only to hear, night after night, loud booming sounds. What about the cetaceans in captivity? They use echolocation, but with the noise pollution, how are they supposed to be able to see at night? It's ridiculous.

Then there's the inbreeding. Would you breed your dog to her father? What about her uncle? No? So why is it ok for Slaveworld to do this to their orcas? And dolphins?

I could go on and on. Slaveworld is a disgrace. We need to teach our children that compassion is better than cruelty.

As for the release of the cetaceans? Only a few are suitable candidates for release - Lolita in Miami ' s Seaquarium is the best, so far. For the rest, a retirement to a sea pen, that is closely monitored by Slave world would be best. Don't make them perform, don't drug them, don't do anything to them but teaching them to be whales again. We want to phase out cetacean cruelty.

If anyone wants more info, please read Beneath the Surface and Death at Seaworld. :)

much love, one love - Moana

[MerShellly]

@Moana.the.mermaid- Wow, I didn't even take some of the things you said into consideration. This makes me hate them even more, if that's even possible lol. I couldn't even watch an orca show on youtube because I just couldn't stand to watch it, not even for a full minute.

[TheMerthropologist]

I'm a huge anticap. I've been to protests at $eaworld San Diego and am very vocal about how disgusting their business practices are.

First off, from personal experience, I used to work at a whale watch company out of Mission Bay - the same bay that slaveworld is on. I can't tell you how much pollution we saw floating in the bay from slaveworld alone. Napkins, bags, even clothing, like hats and necklaces. They claim to be into conservation but they can't even bother to conserve and clean the bay they border! I live about two miles from slaveworld as well and one of the biggest pet peeves is the noise pollution.

Every day during the summer, they have fireworks. Cool, huh? Unless you live nearby. And see, firsthand, how the noise affects local sea life. The inshore bottlenose population is pretty much gone during the summer and the sea lions on the bait dock? They swim north to La Jolla. They don't want anything to do with it. Imagine being an animal who's ears are so fine tuned for underwater noises....only to hear, night after night, loud booming sounds. What about the cetaceans in captivity? They use echolocation, but with the noise pollution, how are they supposed to be able to see at night? It's ridiculous.

Then there's the inbreeding. Would you breed your dog to her father? What about her uncle? No? So why is it ok for Slaveworld to do this to their orcas? And dolphins?

I could go on and on. Slaveworld is a disgrace. We need to teach our children that compassion is better than cruelty.

As for the release of the cetaceans? Only a few are suitable candidates for release - Lolita in Miami ' s Seaquarium is the best, so far. For the rest, a retirement to a sea pen, that is closely monitored by Slave world would be best. Don't make them perform, don't drug them, don't do anything to them but teaching them to be whales again. We want to phase out cetacean cruelty.

If anyone wants more info, please read Beneath the Surface and Death at Seaworld. :)

much love, one love - Moana

I read something recently on their pollution of Mission bay, aren't they one of the worst offenders for pollution there due to dumping excessive amounts of animal waste?

As for the noise I'm not surprised it is another thing they lie to the public about http://ask.seaworldcares.com/?p=258 then. It's funny how they answer a lot of there questions with "reasearch from some study says" but they never actually provide information on the study.

I wonder if they'll answer my question on twitter about separation at any age causing a disruption in social balance. They "answered" a similar question before http://ask.seaworldcares.com/?p=33 by saying again they didn't separate kasatka and Takara as mother and calf and they would never separate mothers and babies (which is still bs because if you look up seaworld calf separations yes you find Takara was 12 but most others are age 2-6 when separated)

[Moana.the.mermaid]

I read something recently on their pollution of Mission bay, aren't they one of the worst offenders for pollution there due to dumping excessive amounts of animal waste?

As for the noise I'm not surprised it is another thing they lie to the public about http://ask.seaworldcares.com/?p=258 then. It's funny how they answer a lot of there questions with "reasearch from some study says" but they never actually provide information on the study.

I wonder if they'll answer my question on twitter about separation at any age causing a disruption in social balance. They "answered" a similar question before http://ask.seaworldcares.com/?p=33 by saying again they didn't separate kasatka and Takara as mother and calf and they would never separate mothers and babies (which is still bs because if you look up seaworld calf separations yes you find Takara was 12 but most others are age 2-6 when separated)
They are THE number one polluter in MB. It's disgusting. We used to scuba under our boat to clean it off and you'd see so much stuff from Seaworld. If you kayak near Seaworld, you'll actually fight against the current from the waste water they dump.

much love, one love - Moana

[Tiger Lily]

Ugh that is atrocious! I haven't seen blackfish yet but I'm about to watch it on Hulu and as soon as I'm done I'm going to comment. The abuse needs to stop now, not just to the animals but to our beloved Oceans as well.

[Mermaid Galene]

Moana, thanks for pointing out some of the hidden costs of orca captivity. It is is so important for the consumer public to learn all of the details about SeaWorld's crass, abusive, and neglectful practices. Most people are not educated enough to consider all the many ways in which cetacean captivity/entertainment impacts the captive animals as well as the ocean itself. We merfolk have, I think, a moral responsibility to bring these details to light via social media and our public interactions.

[Tiger Lily]

(Should be watching Blackfish but was sigting through the net to find a petition that matches my views) Galene you are so right - I'm going to gather more facts and if I can find my computer charger I am going to dedicate a website to this topic! If you wouldn't be offended may I put this in my signature?

We merfolk have, I think, a moral responsibility to bring these details to light via social media and our public interactions. ~
Mermaid Galene

[MerShellly]

Moana, thanks for pointing out some of the hidden costs of orca captivity. It is is so important for the consumer public to learn all of the details about SeaWorld's crass, abusive, and neglectful practices. Most people are not educated enough to consider all the many ways in which cetacean captivity/entertainment impacts the captive animals as well as the ocean itself. We merfolk have, I think, a moral responsibility to bring these details to light via social media and our public interactions.
Yes!!!:clap:

[Moana.the.mermaid]

Moana, thanks for pointing out some of the hidden costs of orca captivity. It is is so important for the consumer public to learn all of the details about SeaWorld's crass, abusive, and neglectful practices. Most people are not educated enough to consider all the many ways in which cetacean captivity/entertainment impacts the captive animals as well as the ocean itself. We merfolk have, I think, a moral responsibility to bring these details to light via social media and our public interactions.
Yes! Thank you, yourself, because every voice for the voiceless is a voice for compassion and empathy. I agree, it is our responsibility, as humans, as mers, as lovers of the water. If you love something or someone - a pet, your child, your significant other, even a family heirloom - you take care of it and baby it. So we need to care for and baby our waters, which includes all animals and plants.

much love, one love - Moana

[TheMerthropologist]

Well people are becoming aware, this is what caused their products disaster on twitter. Seaworld is drowning and they are trying save themselves. There is plenty of information out there the credibility of some of it can be questioned. I'm sure it isn't hard to find already existing animal activist websites. Activism inew general is a different conversation. Conected but different to the topic at hand

I want to ask again : is redemption possible?
Is there any way for Seaworld to save its sinking ship or is it too late? What do they have to do and what is actually feasible? What is fact and what is fiction? Obviously Seaworld has f***ed up on numerous occasions. I like citations so I can see just how many there were and where were things exaggerated and if they have ever done good.

[Moana.the.mermaid]

Well people are becoming aware, this is what caused their products disaster on twitter. Seaworld is drowning and they are trying save themselves. There is plenty of information out there the credibility of some of it can be questioned. I'm sure it isn't hard to find already existing animal activist websites. Activism inew general is a different conversation. Conected but different to the topic at hand

I want to ask again : is redemption possible?
Is there any way for Seaworld to save its sinking ship or is it too late? What do they have to do and what is actually feasible? What is fact and what is fiction? Obviously Seaworld has f***ed up on numerous occasions. I like citations so I can see just how many there were and where were things exaggerated and if they have ever done good.

I'm permamobile but many of my citations come from books and testimonies from friends who were former trainers, vets, employees, etc at Seaworld. I'll see, once my computer is fixed, if I can get you any info.

As for your questions...

I think it is too late for Seaworld to recover as a show/entertainment park. Will they go out of business within the next five years? No, I doubt it. They will slowly cease to be Seaworld, imo, and perhaps change up to be more of an amusement park, with rides vs shows/entertainment exhibits. They've already started with their Orlando parkand adding the 3d rides and roller coasters. I think they will end up selling San Antonio and keeping just two parks, expanding those two orca exhibits, and eventually listening to the general public and phasing out the breeding. Do I think it will happen right away? Nope. I think it will take a good 10-15 years, but I have hope.

much love, one love - Moana

[TheMerthropologist]

That information would be awesome Thank you!

These things do take years to really sort out don't they. Based on what I've seen on their twitter they seem to be trying to highlight their conservation work. Do you think it's possible they will shift their focus to education and awareness at all or will they just drop it in favor of entertainment without the animals?

I wonder what would happen if they went out of business because I would be worried about what happens to the animals should that happen.

[Tiger Lily]

I'm concerned about the animals too should the parks close. I think it would take time but a layout of the plan from sea world would help things.

[Moana.the.mermaid]

That information would be awesome Thank you!

These things do take years to really sort out don't they. Based on what I've seen on their twitter they seem to be trying to highlight their conservation work. Do you think it's possible they will shift their focus to education and awareness at all or will they just drop it in favor of entertainment without the animals?

I wonder what would happen if they went out of business because I would be worried about what happens to the animals should that happen.

No promises - my computer got fried in a power outage and had been out of commission for over two months now. Ugh. But def read Beneath the Surface and Death at Seaworld as well as some of the scientific papers written by Dr Ingrid Visser.

Honestly, their conservation work, although noble, is not very helpful. We had a female California sea lion that had fishing line choking her since she was a pup. At our wit's end, we called the seaworld rescue crew. They told us that they couldn't help us. Not to mention that if Seaworld was so intent on conservation, they might want to start conserving our oceans so that animals, such as sea lions, don't require human intervention to be saved. But I don't see that happening, what with the pollution I've seen in Mission Bay.

Personally, I'd like to see them shift to amusement parks. As it stands, they claim to be based on education. So I doubt they will change that at all. They think they are educating the public.

If Seaworld does go out of business, for whatever reason, I'm sure the animals won't be left. Many zoos have come and gone and they all had their animals taken care of. Most animal care facilities have a plan in place, in case that happens or, for whatever reason, the park can't remain open.

much love, one love - Moana

[AptaMer]

While I'm sure some facilities provide for animals who are surplus, and some provide ongoing care, there are other rogue parks that shoot their surplus animals and cut back on maintaining the animals' environments if funds run short. Unfortunately, Marineland in Caada seems to be one of the latter.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2012/09/08/marineland_allegations_of_poor_treatment_of_deer_b ears.html

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2012/08/15/marineland_animals_suffering_former_staffers_say.h tml

[AptaMer]

Also, in another development, a woman from South Carolina is filing a class action lawsuit that could act as a key to force disclosure of what is really going on at SeaWorld. If the lawsuit cets certified and goes to the discovery phase, SeaWorld could be forced to reveal everything about the psychiatric drugs they give the orcas (the orcas are given antipsychotic medications)

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/10/seaworld-florida-killer-whales-lawsuit

[Mermaid Mutiny]

Moana, thanks for pointing out some of the hidden costs of orca captivity. It is is so important for the consumer public to learn all of the details about SeaWorld's crass, abusive, and neglectful practices. Most people are not educated enough to consider all the many ways in which cetacean captivity/entertainment impacts the captive animals as well as the ocean itself. We merfolk have, I think, a moral responsibility to bring these details to light via social media and our public interactions.

I actually think what you're saying is the key to making a difference here. Unfortunately the methods activism employed in the past no longer work in our late capitalist, social media laden society. The average individual has learned to ignore protesting, sit ins, and petitions, brushing these off as forms of radicalism. The reason I wanted to be a Mermaid is to make a change in a way that is effective long term and it starts with little things like inspiring a single child to recycle and turn off the lights. To bigger things like Hannah swimming with Whale Sharks and Manta Rays. These become inspiring and catch the attention of those who are immune to traditional forms of social change. But this is just my opinion; social media and public interactions in a creative manner are the new way to make these changes.

I totally disagree with nearly everything SeaWorld does, and honestly believe they're doing more harm then good. But I have to agree with Moana that unfortunately we won't be seeing them closing anytime soon. I think they can never truly "redeem" themselves but will continue to invest more funds into their PR and eventually the repercussions of things like Blackfish will be buried. We've seen it with all kinds of large American entities like Disney World and McDonald's. The best thing we can do is to inspire and educate so future generations associate entertainment with positive change rather then captivity.

[TheMerthropologist]

A sea lions lens actually popped out the eye? And a guy shoot a deer through the windpipe over euthanization? my god...I can't even

I heard about the lawsuits, I want to say SeaWorld claims one of them is a political stunt by Hargrove for his book but I honestly can't remember where I read it and I'm sure I'm misquoting it. I definitely want to know more about the mental health of SeaWorlds animals. A lot of people asked about the antipsychotics but those questions were never answered. The only medication info they provided was that they gave medication when needed...so not really any information. I feel like they're dodging some questions and probably won't answer any more.

[TheMerthropologist]

lawsuit number 3 https://www.thedodo.com/seaworld-third-lawsuit-1090437186.html

A new video they posted on dolphin training https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugjWVxoFpr0

Their response to seapens http://ask.seaworldcares.com/?p=278

They don't seem to be answering many questions any more their recent activity in that was a couple of additions to FAQ and the only direct response to someone was about blackfish. I have noticed that some questions that have yet to be answered are being retweeted and quoted on twitter with the addition of #AnwserTheQ I don't know if SeaWorld will follow up on questions being pushed or they are hoping everyone will just forget about them.

[Sammyantha171]

The whales need anti-psychotic medication? It hurts imagining how bad it must be for them.
Looks like I've got a lot of reading up to do with everything you've all posted about here.