by L.S. Watts

Created on: July 06, 2009

When people think of whales in captivity they often think about the Shamu Show at Sea World. In fact, thousands of people flock to Sea World each year focused on seeing the Shamu Show. However, the effects captivity has on these whales rarely even cross their minds.

In 1993, the movie Free Willy was released. This movie brought to light just a few of the detrimental effects captivity can have on whales. Unfortunately, not much has changed. Although the United States is considered an anti-whaling country, they still allow whales to be captured for public display. This falls under an exemption in the Marine Mammals Protection Act as using the whales for educational purposes. However, education isn't the first priority. Most people who capture whales for display are thinking about the profit they can make.

Psychological Stress

The psychological stress on a whale removed from the wild can impact them greatly. Most of the time, they are taken from their families and placed with other whales they are unfamiliar with. Even the stress of the transport can sometimes cause irreversible psychological damage or even death. If the whale survives the trip the psychological damage could result in the whale fighting with other whales and marine mammals in captivity or even an attack on the trainers and caretakers.

Having to deal with unnatural sounds such as cheering people and water pumps interferes with their ability to communicate with other whales. For whales that use echolocation to hunt for food and communicate, the small tank poses a problem. When the sound waves bounce off the walls it can cause the whale to become confused and frustrated, thus causing it to become aggressive.

Limited Movement

Whales in captivity have limited movement compared to living in the wild. Whales in the wild can swim for hundreds of miles yet whales in captivity are limited to relatively short tanks that only allow them to swim in circles. The legal standard for the size of a tank is only 24x24x6 feet which is nowhere near the depth of the oceans they are used to.

Whales are also voluntary breathers. In the wild they can spend most of their time a great depths, only coming up for a breath of air. In fact, they only spend ten to twenty percent of their lives at the surface. Whales in captivity are forced to spend most of their time at the surface instead, due to living in shallow tanks.

Dorsal Fin Collapse

Collapsed fins are common among whales in captivity. Because whales in captivity

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