What do you guys think about Seaworld?

hmm because i dont know so much about seaworld and never completely watched blackfish, i can't have so much of a say in it.

i think about places like zoos who keep animals in captivity, often endangered species. and seeing people cry over the fact that they don't belong there and need to be released in the wild... it makes sense, and is completely understandable, and i personally would love for them to return to the wild where they belong, if only humans haven't destroyed it with deforestation/logging/poaching/dumping chemicals and trash in the ocean... humans made (and are making it worse) the "wild" an inhabitable place for thousands of species. humans already killed off a lot more species than we know.

many of them now have to seek sanctuary in a zoo, because their homes have been destroyed. so for many of them, its either be in the wild and go extinct, or live in a zoo as an endangered. and they need to find a way to make money to not only support the animals, but to pay for the people who work full time to support them.

i recently went to the LA zoo. some areas looked alright but in general, it was sad. a lot of the smaller ones where so caged up in layers and layers of metal, it was a little hard to see them. they looked like they needed more funding to improve on the habitats of the animals. in one particular case, we saw a man in an area with birds throwing rocks at them, and thankfully, their thick cages deflected the rock, but the eagle and the other birds were very stressed. when he saw us, he muttered something in spanish, grabbed his little 3 year old lookin' girl who was oblivious to what was going on, and quickly left.

and we noticed when we looked for them, that there weren't many workers around. and we thought "how come there isn't any security cameras anywhere? can they not afford them?"

im just thinking about how much they get from visitors, and whether their ticket prices, popularity, and i guess they just need funding. and also learn how to spend their money.

edit: also, on the topic of using animals for entertainment. i dont mind as long as it isnt harming the animals physically or mentally, and i even encourage it if it were to help the animals have some fun in doing some sort of activity.

(like sea otters playing with cups and other toys, id watch that all day)
that would be entertaining enough for me, haha.

I feel like they could do so much more in the ways of care for their animals, and I agree that with their long history of abuse I am hesitant to trust them or like them. I honestly wouldn't give them any business. Like you I am for zoos, at least most zoos that actually help and educate and fund preservation and stuff but there are still horrible ones. Seeing the poor exhausted, limp finned, over bred orcas makes me hella sad just in pictures, just wish they'd give the poor babies some respect. It's sad enough seeing the ones at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

KaydeeKrunk said:

I feel like they could do so much more in the ways of care for their animals, and I agree that with their long history of abuse I am hesitant to trust them or like them. I honestly wouldn't give them any business. Like you I am for zoos, at least most zoos that actually help and educate and fund preservation and stuff but there are still horrible ones. Seeing the poor exhausted, limp finned, over bred orcas makes me hella sad just in pictures, just wish they'd give the poor babies some respect. It's sad enough seeing the ones at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

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yeah. i love animals in general so much. they deserve better. i always keep track of good, well intended sanctuaries and zoos that actually care for their animals, so i can donate to them when i have the chance. its a really good feeling to know where your money goes, and goes for a good cause.

I don't know....I don't think they can really be trusted but then that could be said for a lot of zoos and aquariums.
A lot of places just use their animal for advertising but don't really care about them. Yet without some of these zoos many endangered species probably wouldn't be here now.

Never been. #FreeDaFish

I think the captivity is sad, when I found out that they literally tortured the animals to make them do tricks I was shocked, I always thought the trainers had special relationships and bonds with the animals for them to do that, I guess not... I like zoos because most of them aren't abusive and get a fairly large enclosure, but what seaworld keeps dolphins in whales in is just not on.

Not a fan. They constantly have done things for monetary gain that went against the advisement of marine specialists and have poor business practices. I do like zoos, though. People don't seem to realize that a good zoo helps the new generations understand the importance of animals and it is easier to feel bad for something dying when it is something you can see with your own eyes infront of you, rather than an abstract idea.

How the heck is it outdated? Did orcas suddenly become okay with tiny, shallow enclosures where their skin burns and are fed anti-depressants?

I don't really know anything about zoos and places like Seaworld. I have been to Seaworld, once when I was younger, and it seemed like a nice enough place. For most of the animals. I don't necessarily like the idea of any wild animal in captivity, unless for the preservation of the species. And while animals born in captivity may not necessarily feel as badly as animals caught in the wild, because all they have known is their enclosure, I still can't help but feel kind of bad. They may not know what their natural habitat looks like, but I'm sure they'd prefer it over their current home if they got the chance to experience it. Even domesticated animals are like that. I work for a cat rescue, and while fostering tons of kittens who were born and raised in my house, they still wanted nothing more than to go outside and explore. It's in their nature.

Now, on the topic of Seaworld again, the location I went to seemed alright, but iirc, the barracudas and sharks didn't LOOK like they had the best enclosures. I don't know how the park did things behind the scenes, such as feedings, and cleanings. But they had this huge water enclosure where guests could go snorkeling with all sorts of sea life, all of which were pretty safe to swim with, but within the large enclose were what looked like much smaller enclosures for predators. I remember the one glass wall I could see on the barracuda tank was covered in all sorts of scratches and smudges. Which I assume were from the barracudas smashing face first into the glass. I don't think the park would choose to use dirtied and damaged glass just for appearances. Thinking about a bunch of carnivorous and vicious fish being in such close proximity was unsettling, but even more so, knowing that they couldn't do anything or go anywhere freely. They just sat there, sitting (floating?), and watching everything outside of their tank.

I think my youngest brother ran off on his own when he was like 3 or so in it

I don't even want to go there unless it's to benefit the animals.

just thinking about seaworld makes me pissed off. i remember when i was 13 i really wanted to go to seaworld, not really thinking about the fact that the animals there are suffering for absolutely no reason. i'm sorry, but you can't just keep massive animals in very small tanks. massive animals are supposed to be free for a reason, so that they can roam and have the whole ocean to their disclosure. i think if i were an animal living at seaworld i'd go insane from looking around the same tank and moving around in the same direction over and over and over again. and don't get me started about the way the animals are treated...

they should be free. i can understand if they were found hurt as babies and could never go to the wild again because they don't know how to survive. but if not, then that's just sick and not cool. big animals should be free because they need more space. it's easier to give a larger living space to smaller animals and i'm not so against that, i'm actually a fan of zoos and aquariums but if the animals have nowhere to move around, then that's just terrible. and i definitely don't support that.

Hopeless Opus said:

just thinking about seaworld makes me pissed off. i remember when i was 13 i really wanted to go to seaworld, not really thinking about the fact that the animals there are suffering for absolutely no reason. i'm sorry, but you can't just keep massive animals in very small tanks. massive animals are supposed to be free for a reason, so that they can roam and have the whole ocean to their disclosure. i think if i were an animal living at seaworld i'd go insane from looking around the same tank and moving around in the same direction over and over and over again. and don't get me started about the way the animals are treated...

they should be free. i can understand if they were found hurt as babies and could never go to the wild again because they don't know how to survive. but if not, then that's just sick and not cool. big animals should be free because they need more space. it's easier to give a larger living space to smaller animals and i'm not so against that, i'm actually a fan of zoos and aquariums but if the animals have nowhere to move around, then that's just terrible. and i definitely don't support that.

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Any zoo that isn't rehabilitation or helping an endangered species is corrupt and unjust.

Do you believe SeaWorld could be considered educational, though?

nintendofan85 said:

Do you believe SeaWorld could be considered educational, though?

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That's why we have documentarys, books and so on, you barely learn anything new because you're to busy watching an Orca bouncing around.

Whiteflamingo said:

That's why we have documentarys, books and so on, you barely learn anything new because you're to busy watching an Orca bouncing around.

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I see your point, but I gotta admit, seeing penguins up close was interesting and cool to me, and felt a lot more real than just seeing it on TV.

nintendofan85 said:

I see your point, but I gotta admit, seeing penguins up close was interesting and cool to me, and felt a lot more real than just seeing it on TV.

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I love my little penguin's. <3 (I own them all!) ^_^

Experiencing the presence of all these gorgeous animals is breath taking and it is much more fun than watching a documentary, however you aren't learning anything that you couldn't learn on the internet, a book or a documentary so whoever uses that as an argument Ill just ignore them.

Whiteflamingo said:

I love my little penguin's. <3 (I own them all!) ^_^

Experiencing the presence of all these gorgeous animals is breath taking and it is much more fun than watching a documentary, however you aren't learning anything that you couldn't learn on the internet, a book or a documentary so whoever uses that as an argument Ill just ignore them.

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I understand. I'm just saying, I'm not gonna lie, if I hadn't visited SeaWorld when I was 8 and my local zoo when I was 6, I don't think I'd be as interested in animals as I am now.

Whiteflamingo said:

That's why we have documentarys, books and so on, you barely learn anything new because you're to busy watching an Orca bouncing around.

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Seaworld actually has this cool thing where they show you a turtle's life in a dome and also how people have hurt them. I'm in no way defending them b/c a lot of the things they do is wrong, but it's definitely way cooler seeing these things in person because they help make more of an impact than reading. Also I wouldn't really be saying what the animals do if I'm pretty sure you haven't gone there... ?\_(ツ)_/?

nintendofan85 said:

I understand. I'm just saying, I'm not gonna lie, if I hadn't visited SeaWorld when I was 8 and my local zoo when I was 6, I don't think I'd be as interested in animals as I am now.

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I can always appreciate a kind person who adores animals. c:

- - - Post Merge - - -

Bunnilla said:

Seaworld actually has this cool thing where they show you a turtle's life in a dome and also how people have hurt them. I'm in no way defending them b/c a lot of the things they do is wrong, but it's definitely way cooler seeing these things in person because they help make more of an impact than reading. Also I wouldn't really be saying what the animals do if I'm pretty sure you haven't gone there... ?\_(ツ)_/?

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No, I haven't gone there, but here you go: Bouncing around preforming tricks, I know exactly what they do, I don't need to be there.

I also said the experience is much more thrilling and exciting than just reading a book/watching a documentary, I know it leaves a better impact.