Another Orca Dies At SeaWorld Orlando; IDA calls for end to public display of captive orcas

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http://www.idanews.org/ida-breaking-news/another-orca-dies-06-07-2010/

June 7, 2010, 15:19

San Rafael, Calif. – In Defense of Animals (IDA) says the death of Taima, a 20-year-old orca who died Sunday while giving birth to her stillborn calf at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida reinforcs IDA’s argument that orcas are unsuitable for life in captivity. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) must create regulations to prohibit captive breeding and phase out the public display of orcas. Tilikum, a six-ton orca also held captive at SeaWorld, is the father of Taima’s stillborn calf. Tilikum killed his trainer in February.

Orcas do not thrive in captivity and die decades before their average life expectancy in the wild, which is 80-90 years for females and 50-60 years for males. Most captive orcas die before they reach 20. Over the past 24 years, 23 orcas have died at SeaWorld facilities with 22 of them less than 25 years old. Over the past 44 years, 24 orcas have injured or killed their trainers. Four people have been killed as a result of their public display – zero people have been killed by orcas in the wild.

“Public display of orcas only serves SeaWorld’s corporate need to profit from dangerous and unnatural stunts. It provides no meaningful education about protecting orcas in the wild and their natural habitats,” said IDA President Scotlund Haisley. “As NMFS deliberates changes to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), new regulations must stop all captive breeding and public display of this species.”

As the largest species in the dolphin family, orcas can reach 28-32 feet in length. At marine parks like SeaWorld, the Miami Seaquarium and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, they live in tiny, concrete, chlorinated tanks where they barely have enough room to swim a few strokes in any one direction. They use echolocation (sonar) to hunt, communicate and navigate through the ocean. In captivity their sound waves bounce off the walls of their tanks, which must be psychological torture to them.

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