Content Research

1. Content Research
- Seaworld is no longer breeding Orcas
- They are also no longer doing shows where trainers get in the water after the death of Dawn
Brancheau in 2010
- Most Orcas in captivity have a flopped over dorsal fin, which is a sign of stress and depression
- The average life span for an orca in the wild is around 50-60 for males, and up to 100 for females.
In captivity, the average age for Orcas, any gender, is 15, meaning they barely reach maturity.
- Orcas are incredibily intelligent animals, with a social structure that humans could never
understand due to them having an extra part of the brain for social activities that we do not. They
are also very sentient, having thoughts and emotions just like we do, and have been documented
to commit suicide rather than live in captivitiy.
- Though Seaworld has stopped breeding and capturing Orcas, it still happens in other countries,
primarily China and Russia.
- Orcas are captured in a very harmful way, often leading to the deaths of some of the pod
members, and traumatising experiences for the rest. Orca families stay together for life, even the
males stay in their own family groups, only leaving to mate. They have a long term memory and
will remember their stolen family members for the rest of their life, which would impact them
greatly. The act of tearing away young Orcas from their mothers is incredibly inhumane
cosidering all this, yet in some parts of the world it’s still legal.
- The case of Lolita is very popular. Lolita was captured in 1970 in Penn Cove. Four baby whales
drowned during this capture, and one mother drowned while trying to reach her captured calf.
Lolita was 4-6 years old, and was sold to Miami Seaquariumto acompany a young male there
named Hugo (captured 1966), who just so happened to be from her clan. In 1980, huge rammed
the wall of the tank and died, assumed by brain anneurysm. Lolita is miraculously still alive in
2020, 54 – 56 years old. She still lives in the same tiny 35ft long tank. There have been an
abundance of protests for her to be released, especially considering the fact that her family is still
out there, including her mother, who is 90 years old. Rehabilitation would be possible through
her family and seaside sanctuaries, but she is too valuable to Miami Seaquarium.

2. Bibliography
• https://www.orcanetwork.org/Main/index.php?categories_file=Lolitas%20Capture Orca Network
– 2002
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_whale - 2020
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38531967 - January 6th 2016
• Lolita The Killer Whale: Slave to Entertainment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaPmkL4kN48&ab_channel=timgorski - 2013