You mean the growth rates that are incomparable to wild orca considering the huge dietary differences between wild and captive groups, the mish-mash social groupings that got Orkidâs mother killed and Tekoa ripped to bits?
Again with the lactation study, what good does it do studying pollutant transfer in animals that are eating a strictly controlled diet? Most of the populations worst affected by pollution do not eat herring. The Southern Residents eat mainly salmon, which concentrate different pollutants in different measures to the herring/smelt/squid diet captives get. Seaworld themselves said that while the study provides a clearer picture of pollutant transfer, it is not applicable to wild whales because of these dietary differences.
And what naturalistic social structure? Katina had almost all of her offspring moved and mated with her own son. All of the captive born Loro Parque animals were moved away from their mothers at ridiculously young ages, which resulted in Kohana never learning how to raise a calf. You canât honestly tell me that having to hand-rear calves due to parental rejection is a sign of a healthy, thriving social structure. Taima and Kayla were both hyper aggressive towards their own calves too, so itâs hardly an isolated incident. Tilikum spends most of his time alone or with Trua, because Katina still attacks him. The only group vaguely resembling a natural pod structure is Kasatkaâs family, and even then theyâre missing the entirety of Takaraâs branch of the family. Splitting up what should be multi-generational families isnât anywhere close to naturalistic for this species.
Funny, the West Coasters havenât had any offspring for decades thanks to all the pollutants theyâve inherited or consumed, yet they havenât fallen apart at the seams. Same with the AT1s. Itâs almost like they donât actually need calves to have a strong, healthy social structure because their societies revolve around survival. Yes, there is an emphasis on raising the next generation, but thatâs true of every single species on earth. We donât consider it cruelty to keep other animals from breeding, especially in zoological facilities with limited room. And again, the current social structures donât mimic their wild counterparts anyway! But unlike the now unavoidable loss of the West Coasters and AT1s is a tragic loss of unique cultures and genetics, the loss of the horrific mess that is the captive orca population at Seaworld is not the end of an era, itâs just the natural progression of ethical aquaria.
I agree with you here. The tanks still need massive expansion. But that expansion isnât going to matter if they keep breeding and filling up the tank with new animals anyway.Â
I think you might have your wires crossed with this one. Tekoa was at LP when Amaya was born. The girls should never have had to adopt Sumar in the first place because Taima should not have been bred at such a young age. On top of that, Taima herself witnessed several normal births between Gudrunâs attempts to kill her other calf and yet still reacted to her own calves with violence. Same with Kayla. As for Adan, perhaps his life is better now, but what about Victoria? Can you honestly say she was better off for being born? Because I sure as hell donât think she was.
Maybe you werenât around at the time, but there was picture evidence taken at SW shortly after Shoukaâs move of her being locked in the med pool with Keet, Ulises and Ikaika. Took me all of five minutes to find it (though I canât find the better quality one, anyone got that anywhere?) Doesnât seem very impossible for them to position themselves to me, especially considering the length of the pool. If they werenât desperate to breed their animals, why did they attempt to AI Orkid so many times in the past despite how much she hated the procedure? Why did they rush into breeding Kalia before sheâd even finished growing, particularly when Shouka herself had settled in by this point and had much more experience with calves? Why was Taima bred so soon after having Malia, a pregnancy which ultimately killed her? Why was Kayla bred again despite the fact that she literally tried to kill her first calf? They were always desperate to keep the baby Shamus rolling in because it made a lot of money. Kalina was treated like a baby mill, she had calves every two years from 1993 to 1999. Considering they have a gestation period of between 15-18 months, thatâs not a lot of rest between offspring.
So having calves removed to be shipped off to other parks even though theyâll likely never see those calves again = a-okay, but simply preventing more pregnancies = terrible horrific trauma? The doublethink is strong with this one. You donât seem to care that there are orca living alone now. IIRC, you were totally fine with Kshamenk and Lolitaâs living conditions, because they had dolphins as companions! But suddenly, the idea of a Seaworld whale living out the final years of their life without another orca is too upsetting and cruel? Youâre honestly not making a lick of sense at this point, but then itâs not surprising.
Youâre not interested in their welfare and you never had been. Anything went so long as there were more whales to gawk at, but now Seaworld have made a responsible choice to limit breeding and instead focuses on rescue and conservation work - you know, things that will actually and actively make a difference - and itâs the end of the world for you. I thought you were one of the more rational and logical procaps on here, Iâm surprised at you.
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