Showing posts with label Sea World. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sea World. Show all posts

September 26 - Happy Birthday, “Shamu"

 Posted on September 26, 2021


This is an update of my post published on September 26, 2010:




On this day in 1985, the first orca to be born in captivity and survive took her first breath. She was named Kalina, but when she grew up and performed in the Sea World show, she was called the stage name Shamu. (Of course, there have been lots and lots of Shamus!)


Orcas are sometimes called killer whales because they kill and eat other marine mammals such as seals and porpoises.


Actually, only some orcas hunt marine mammals. One glorious summer I went whale watching off of Washington state's islands, and I got to see three orcas that are called “transient”: they travel around a lot. These transient orcas, we were told, always eat mammals. While we were watching these orcas, they surrounded and ate a seal and, later, a harbor porpoise!!! (Luckily, the messiness and blood I assume was involved in this hunt were all underwater, hidden from our sight by the churning waves the orcas created as they circled their prey.)


Later in the whale watch, we saw a huge pod of orcas that are called “residents” because they always stay near their particular home island. And they don't eat marine mammals—they only eat salmon!


These salmon-eating orcas showed off a lot, and I decided that watching them was like watching a Shamu show at Sea World. Various orcas flipped up their flukes (tails) or their pectoral flippers, and several breached, which means that they leapt out of the water and let themselves slam down again.




Of course, in some ways the experience was really different than watching a show. By law we had to watch from a respectful (safe) distance, so we were watching through binoculars. And of course, there was no trainer telling us where to watch or what to expect. I probably missed some flashy orca moves, but -


BUT I cannot tell you how absolutely more thrilling it is to see these behaviors in the wild!!!!


Speaking of orca shows... because we now know how intelligent orcas are, many, many people in the world started complaining about the ethics of breeding orcas, training them to do OUR commands, and presenting them in shows. In 2016 Sea World announced that it was ending its orca-breeding program. In 2017 orca shows were halted at the San Diego Sea World, and by 2019 they were halted in all U.S. Sea Worlds. I have no idea if there will be orca shows in the newest and only international Sea World - in Dubai, United Arab Emirates - which is planning to open next year.





Learn more about orcas!


National Geographic has a page about orcas. 


Here are some orca coloring pages.


Here is a really hard (but free) video game. Notice that this orca eats small fish rather than seals, smaller whales, and large fish like salmon. Hmmm...not very realistic!


On a more serious note, here is a lesson plan about orcas.


Check out the dorsal fin of the orca in the wild, above.
Below: most orcas in captivity have a
partially or completely collapsed dorsal fin.


 




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September 26 – Shamu Day

Posted on September 26, 2017


I've always thought that "killer whale" sounds kinda sorta scary. 

 "Orca" is a friendlier name. More friendly still is the name "Shamu."

 "Hey," you might say, "Shamu is the name of one particular killer whale. It isn't the name of the species, or anything."

 If you said that, you would be partly right. Shamu is not the name of a species. Both killer whale and orca are informal names for one particular species, whose scientific name is Orcinus orca.

 But you would also be partly wrong, because the aquatic theme park Sea World trademarked the name Shamu and gave the name to more than a dozen shows and to the various orcas who starred in those shows. 
The original Shamu performed in shows in the late 1960s and the early 1970s. She died in 1971. 

 The reason for the date of Shamu Day being September 26 has nothing to do with that original Shamu. It isn't, for example, her birthday. Instead, it is the birth date of the first surviving orca born in captivity, on this date in 1985.

 Good, bad, or dangerous?

 Over the years, there has been a lot of outcry over the Shamu shows and, actually, every show featuring performing animals. The changes Sea World is making to its program indicates that "the times, they are a-changin'" in regard to animal shows.

Good - Here are some good results of animal shows:

1. Shows can educate people about the animal. For example, the last show I saw about killer whales didn't have a silly plot line or entertaining jokes, but instead focused on natural behaviors - with the animals demonstrating the behaviors on cue, for a reward - and even talked about when and our best guess about why orcas do those behaviors.

Since that last show (years and years ago, now), I have gone whale watching and got to see all of those behaviors in wild, non-performing whales!

 2. Shows can make people care more about animals. When we see whales up-close and in action, we are far more likely to really connect with them than if we only see their dorsal fins slicing out and then back into the water.

It's important that people care about animals, because then they will tend to favor environmental protections and other 

3. In putting together shows, trainers and scientists can learn more about what orcas and other performing animals can and cannot (or at least will and will not?) do. So experts on these creatures become even more expert.

Bad - Here are some bad results of the shows:
1. To some extent, being trained to perform in a show takes away freedom from the trained animals. And maybe performing takes away some of the respect we would have for wild animals?

 2. Since dolphins and whales (and apes and elephants) have large brains, complex communication with one another, and possibly what could be called "culture," many people wonder if it is ethical to keep them in captivity at all, or train them for any purpose, or capture them, or breed them. 

 Think of it this way: we would be horrified if an advanced alien species captured a bunch of humans for a zoo or for a performing-animals show, right?

 3. All aquaria are not equal, and all zoos are not equal. And then there are circuses and other places where animals are trained to perform...Some of these places are horrible, with enclosures that are way too small for the animals and with trainers and keepers that mistreat the animals.

 Dangerous - Animal shows can be dangerous for both the animals and for the trainers. Over the years, there have been a number of incidents in which trainers were hurt - and one trainer died while tourists watched in horror. 

 Orcas, too, and other performing animals, face dangers and stresses - although many captive animals have more food and medical care, and face fewer predators and other dangers, than would animals in the wild.

 One of the big dangers facing captive orcas is loss of appetite and depression. Even the dorsal fins seem depressed - in the wild, most dorsal fins stand straight up, but the fins of many captive whales (including ALL of the captive males!) flop over.


Captive animals have health problems from their reduced activity level, and captive orcas are in danger of getting sunburns (their pools are a lot less deep than the ocean!). Also, animals have more difficulty breeding, birthing, and raising young in captivity.


 When we know better, we do better...

 Either because of the injuries and deaths or because of the outcry against using orcas in shows, Sea World has announced that they are ending their breeding program. Since 2010, trainers no longer enter the water with orcas during shows. The newer shows are (like the last one I saw) more naturalistic, rather than theatrical. Sea World says that they focus on "orca enrichment, exercise, and overall health."

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