Unna at SeaWorld (Photo courtesy of SeaWorld)
An 18-year-old orca named Unna died at the San Anotonio SeaWorld yesterday, December 21st, which makes her death the third marine mammal to die at that park in the past six months.
“Unna suffered in a concrete tank for the entirety of her tragically short life. Every aspect of her daily existence was manipulated for showmanship and greed. She never had the chance to swim 100 miles per day in the open ocean or nurture relationships with a family pod. These remarkably intelligent animals, languishing in dismal pools across the country, are not ours to use for entertainment,” Adam M Roberts, CEO of Born Free USA explains.
Unna’s father is Tilikum (the infamous orca who killed trainer Dawn Brancheua and two other people) and her mother is Katina. She was born on December 27, 1996 at SeaWorld Orlando. She passed away a few days before her 19th birthday on December 21, 2015.
Born Free USA reports that this tragedy reinforces the cruel unsuitability of captivity for marine mammals and highlights the ongoing suffering of the 24 orcas who remain in tanks in the U.S.
Born Free USA is urging SeaWorld to yield to public sentiment and the welfare of the orcas, and finally end marine mammal captivity once and for all. An infant beluga died at SeaWorld San Antonio in July, and a two-year-old beluga died there in November. Now, Unna has died at less than half her normal lifespan.
SeaWorld’s empty promises to improve its facilities clearly cannot diminish the fact that captive orcas are susceptible to a range of ailments and issues that cause suffering and drastically shorten their lifespans. In the wild, the average lifespan is 30 years for males and 46 years for females, although they have been known to live 90 years. In captivity, most die before they reach the age of 25 in tanks that are only 1/10,000th of one percent the size of their natural home ranges. Orcas placed together in captivity are often from different pods, do not speak the same language, and can become territorial and even violent. Mental anguish takes a severe toll, too, and orcas have been known to self-mutilate out of boredom and desperation.
How long must we continue to witness these tragedies before something changes?
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Stop the Insanity SeaWorld! No one wants orcas at your park anymore.
Time to end the practice of keeping orcas penned up in small pools for their entire lives to be entertainment and a moneymaker.
They can’t defend keeping orcas in captivity any longer. With a third orca dying in less than six months there is no sound reason to defend their actions of keeping them in captivity!!! This makes me ill to know these beautiful mammals will never lead a normal life due to the greed of others. Shame on you, SeaWorld. You disgust me.
SeaWorld is fighting the ban on breeding. They don’t get it and they never will. If they cared about orcas as their commercials would lead you to believe, then they wouldn’t have orcas in captivity to start. This is cruel. I hope they’re not allowed to breed anymore. It is a life of misery not to be able to swim in an ocean- their natural habitat.