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Death at SeaWorld: Shamu and the Dark Side of Killer Whales in Captivity, by David Kirby
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From the New York Times bestselling author of Evidence of Harm and Animal Factory—a groundbreaking scientific thriller that exposes the dark side of SeaWorld, America's most beloved marine mammal park
Death at SeaWorld centers on the battle with the multimillion-dollar marine park industry over the controversial and even lethal ramifications of keeping killer whales in captivity. Following the story of marine biologist and animal advocate at the Humane Society of the US, Naomi Rose, Kirby tells the gripping story of the two-decade fight against PR-savvy SeaWorld, which came to a head with the tragic death of trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010. Kirby puts that horrific animal-on-human attack in context. Brancheau's death was the most publicized among several brutal attacks that have occurred at Sea World and other marine mammal theme parks.
Death at SeaWorld introduces real people taking part in this debate, from former trainers turned animal rights activists to the men and women that champion SeaWorld and the captivity of whales. In section two the orcas act out. And as the story progresses and orca attacks on trainers become increasingly violent, the warnings of Naomi Rose and other scientists fall on deaf ears, only to be realized with the death of Dawn Brancheau. Finally he covers the media backlash, the eyewitnesses who come forward to challenge SeaWorld's glossy image, and the groundbreaking OSHA case that
challenges the very idea of keeping killer whales in captivity and may spell the end of having trainers in the water with the ocean's top predators.
- Sales Rank: #123747 in eBooks
- Published on: 2012-07-17
- Released on: 2012-07-17
- Format: Kindle eBook
Review
“Should some of the most social, intelligent and charismatic animals on the planet be kept in captivity by human beings? That is a question asked more frequently than ever by both scientists and animal welfare advocates…Now the issue has been raised with new intensity in Death at SeaWorld by David Kirby, just released in paperback.” ―The New York Times
“Kirby makes a passionate case for captivity as the reason orcas become killers (and) tells the story like a thriller. His argument is, for the most part, fair and persuasive… We probably can't free the orcas in captivity today, but we could make the current group of captive killer whales the last.” ―Wall Street Journal
“A chilling depiction… Kirby lays out a compelling scientific argument against killer whale captivity” ―New Scientist
“A gripping inspection… Hard to put down.” ―Booklist (***Starred Review)
“Brilliantly and intensively researched and conveyed with clarity and thoughtfulness, Kirby's work of high-quality non-fiction busts the whale debate wide open… Reads like a thriller and horrifies like Hannibal Lector.” ―San Francisco Book Review – FIVE STARS
“Kirby says people do not realize that whales often live with the same pod from birth and that when marine parks take them from their pods they are separated from their families… The killer whales then, in some instances, take out those emotions on other whales, which doesn't happen in the wild as much.” ―CBS This Morning
“Thanks to investigative journalist David Kirby, we are now equipped to consider (attacks in captivity) in context. His book is packed with facts about killer whales and the stress caused by keeping them in captivity and asking them to perform for humans. ” ―NPR.org
“Nature has a way of biting back. The true story told in the 2012 scientific thriller Death at SeaWorld exposes the dark side of America's most beloved marine mammal park. From the tragic death of trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010 to other less-publicized incidents, the book chronicles the perils of attempting to subdue the species.” ―Al Jazeera
“David Kirby, author of ‘Death at SeaWorld: Shamu and the Dark Side of Killer Whales in Captivity,' has posted a persuasive rebuttal. SeaWorld as much as self-indicts its orca practices as indefensible.” ―Chicago Sun Times
“Death at SeaWorld dismantles the carefully crafted industry myth of animals who are content to live in small tanks and perform tricks for spectators” ―All Animals Magazine
“David Kirby, whose recent book ‘Death at SeaWorld' traces the history of killer whales in captivity, found that Tilikum was captured off Iceland in the early 1980s when just two years old. He was kept in a tiny covered pool for two years before being sold to a marine park in Canada which closed after he drowned a trainer. Kirby says Tilikum is a very disturbed and dangerous animal.” ―Sunday Times (UK)
“Recent publications like David Kirby's ‘Death at Sea World' are increasing recognition of the great wrong being done to the mind in the waters by continuing live captures and captive breeding of orcas. Some orcas in captivity do attack and kill or injure their captors. Tilikum, once captive at the former Sealand in Oak Bay, has killed three people.” ―Victoria (BC) Times Colonist
“'Death at SeaWorld' by David Kirby was just released in paperback. (It) tells a story of intelligent animals that, while often friendly to humans, nevertheless carry with them what some argue is inevitable psychological damage due to captivity.” ―Nature World News
“Detailed and thorough…Kirby writes objectively, and with a clear vision when discussing the history of killer whales in captivity. He also shows how SeaWorld is a microcosm where smiles are required.” ―Metro Montreal
“Death at SeaWorld, a 2012 exposé by David Kirby, is a comprehensive account starting from when the first orca was captured up until 2012, when OSHA hit SeaWorld with safety violations. It has helped change and educate the public about orcas in captivity.” ―The Manitoban
“Kirby shows that the reality (of orca captivity) is more akin to a circus, in which any benefits are outweighed by the cost to the whale – and sometimes to the keepers.” ―Financial Times
“Thorough and disturbing… One of the great books of the summer.” ―Columbus Dispatch
“SeaWorld got a firm slap in the form of journalist David Kirby's fascinating and deeply disturbing book.” ―Christian Science Monitor
“An outstanding book… very-well written, extremely well documented, and timely.” ―Psychology Today
“#1 Readers Poll Choice for Summer Books” ―Wall Street Journal Online
“An informed narrative that strongly suggests that despite their name, only when captured do the mammals become dangerous to humans. Free Willy, indeed.” ―New York Daily News
“Kirby has done his homework and does an excellent job of educating the public about orcas in the wild, as well as highlighting the dangers inherent in keeping these highly evolved, intelligent animals in captivity.” ―Examiner.com
“A masterful work.” ―Seattle Post Intelligencer
“Eye-opening poolside reading… Death isn't supposed to pop up in environments carefully choreographed for family fun.” ―San Francisco Bay Guardian
“A real-life scientific thriller.” ―Barnes and Noble
“One of the summer's most anticipated new releases” ―Apple I-Bookstore
“Well written, well studied so as not to come across as a misinformed or ill-informed journalism (as if we had any doubt), two sided, and done with a lot of emotion to help draw the reader in as if you were reading a murder mystery. Done like a true novelist... Definitely a five star review and a two thumbs up.” ―Artists On Demand
“A new book examining the dark side of keeping killer whales in captivity has slammed SeaWorld for its treatment of the enormous beasts and for massive safety failings which still haunt the world famous marine parks.” ―Daily Mail (UK)
“Fascinating, shocking, even infuriating, but ultimately rewarding… Discover the majesty of killer whales, the inherent cruelty of their captivity and the passion of those who fight for their freedom.” ―Shelf Aware, Online Book Reviews
“A page-turning book… a disturbing account that will be hard for SeaWorld to transcend… Kirby makes it horrifyingly clear how serious (captivity) can be for human safety and orca well-being.” ―Wayne's Blog, Wayne Pacelle, CEO of The Humane Society of the United States
“Even if you're not an animal nut like me, David Kirby's Death at Sea World is a fascinating book.” ―Sam Simon, Co-Creator of The Simpsons and leading animal-rights activist
“An exhilarating journalistic achievement--the reporting is singularly deep and wide, the research enormously meticulous, the storytelling as gripping as in a great novel.” ―Talking Animals with Duncan Strauss, WMNF-FM, Tampa
“I was sent a pre-release copy and can't put it down… Get a copy of this book. It's about time it was written.” ―Fayetteville Observer
“Kirby's knockout format is articulate and mind-blowing. This riveting read is not one that will easily be dismissed.” ―Digital Journal
“Lives are at stake here, and Kirby can be trusted to tell the story, having won a passel of awards for his investigative work.” ―Library Journal
“ Journalist Kirby offers another passionate industry exposé ... the narrative goes into high gear with its concluding confrontation.” ―Publishers Weekly
“Simply superb… David Kirby has left no stone unturned. He has successfully refuted the arguments put forth by the pro-captivity advocates.” ―Philosophy Book Review
“Get insight into this excellent story by David Kirby about the human-amusement park's treatment of these animals via his book, Death at SeaWorld.” ―Sacramento News Review
“Captivity disrupts (orca) behavior in practically every manner. Contrary to marine mammal exhibition industry claims, orca lifespans are significantly shortened in captivity.” ―Animal People Magazine
“I particularly enjoyed this book. It reads very much like a novel to the point when you are staying up later than you should to finish it.” ―San Juan Island Update
“The bottom line of these findings is that keeping these magnificent beings in confinement is not a good thing.” ―Wild Time Radio TCR-FM (UK)
About the Author
DAVID KIRBY is the author of Evidence of Harm, which was a New York Times bestseller, winner of the 2005 Investigative Reporters and Editors award for best book, and a finalist for the New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism, and Animal Factory, an acclaimed investigation into the environmental impact of factory farms. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
1
Marine Biologist
Naomi Rose fell in love with dolphins at the age of thirteen. It happened in 1975 while she was watching An Evening with John Denver, a major television special that aired that year.
To Naomi, nobody was better than the Rocky Mountain songster with the boyish grin and dirty-blond mop. John Denver was the reason why she had purchased a cheap, used acoustic guitar and started strumming simple sounds from a chord chart. She had every John Denver album there was and soon taught herself to play many of his songs, belting them out with gusto.
Denver’s 1973 smash hit, “Rocky Mountain High,” had made Naomi a fan, but it also sparked her desire to work around wildlife, move to Colorado, and become a park ranger.
Another John Denver song, “Calypso” (1975), made her want to become a marine biologist. Calypso was the name of the retired minesweeper that Jacques-Yves Cousteau, a longtime friend of Denver’s, converted into a floating marine research lab. John Denver wrote the song—one of his signature hits—in celebration of Cousteau, his crew, and the beloved white vessel they made world-famous.
Naomi had tuned in to see her pop-country idol extol the wonders of the mountains and free-roaming wildlife. She wasn’t expecting a special appearance by the old marine biologist with the white hair, red cap, and cool French accent. But there he was on-screen with Denver, during a moving tribute to Cousteau’s work—the two of them sailing together on the Calypso as a cluster of dolphins surfed in the bow wave.
Naomi was transfixed. She watched the music video, primitive as it was, her eyes pegged to the screen.
As Denver’s song “Calypso” played over the images, Naomi stood and clapped along, bedazzled by the dolphins leaping through the white foam from the boat. She listened in amazement to the tune that changed her life:
Like the dolphin who guides you, you bring us beside you
To light up the darkness and show us the way.
The scene had a profound, lifelong effect on the young girl. Thanks to Denver and that seafaring Frenchman, Naomi was hooked on dolphins at a young age. (“John Denver was the gateway drug,” she would joke years later. “Jacques Cousteau was the addiction.”)
Naomi went into the living room to deliver the announcement to her folks. “I am going to study dolphins,” the thirteen-year-old declared with a calm smile. Her parents smiled back. They told Naomi that they trusted her judgment, and they gave her a lot of credit for knowing what she wanted to do, even though she was only a teenager. Naomi realized they didn’t believe her. After all, what thirteen-year-old kid knows what she wants to be?
But Naomi knew. She had never been so certain of anything in her life. There was something about those dolphins on the Denver special, just the sight of them playing at the bow of the boat. Naomi had watched Flipper as a kid, but that didn’t make her want to work with dolphins. It was just another fictional wildlife show. Naomi also watched Daktari, but that didn’t make her want to move to Africa and work with lions.
Someday, she promised herself, she would work on a boat and swim in the open sea, observing the dolphins, just like Capitaine Cousteau.
Naomi Anne Rose was born in Hastings, Michigan, a typical small town far from the ocean. But her family soon moved to the tidy suburbs of Milwaukee, where she spent her formative years. Her father was a chemist by training and worked as a medical technologist, testing blood, urine, and other samples in commercial labs. Her mother, who did not finish her college degree until she was fifty-three, worked with her husband in the medical-testing field. The couple moved frequently to take new jobs.
Naomi’s mother, Reiko Kim, was born in Tokyo and lived there through the Pacific war. Her family moved to Okinawa soon after the fighting ended. There, Reiko learned to speak English and received her primary education at the local US Air Force base. Her Korean father was a translator for the US government, and all of her friends were American military brats.
The Kim family emigrated to Hawaii when Reiko was eighteen, and a few years later that’s where she met Naomi’s father, Raymond Rose, who was stationed there during his stint in the army. The two were married in 1958, and Naomi’s oldest brother, Greg, was born in the territory of Hawaii, in 1959. Her other brother, Lawrence, was born in the state, in 1960.
Naomi’s mother is, as Naomi has put it, “very Asian—inscrutable, quite reserved.” But Reiko was a good mother, if not the warm, June Cleaver kind. She was a good cook and knew how to make terrific Halloween costumes and kept her sons busy with judo lessons and her daughter enrolled in dance class. Naomi’s father, Raymond, never really understood Naomi, though he made it abundantly clear that he was proud of her. To a young Naomi, he was a distant dad, often away on business trips. Raymond moved his family around a lot because his ambitions sometimes got the better of him. It made for an unstable childhood.
Then there were the arguments between husband and wife. They weren’t violent, but the conflict and bickering often made life at home uncomfortable. When Naomi was eleven, the precocious girl flatly suggested that her parents seek a divorce.
Naomi’s brothers were fond of their kid sister, but often gave her a hard time. The bullying was typical sibling rivalry, but Naomi had no intention of putting up with it. The boys might win the physical fights, but Naomi got them back by finding ways to get them in trouble with their mom. Did that make her a tattletale? Perhaps, but it also kept Naomi from growing up as their personal doormat. Within a few years, they had worked out a suitable détente.
Naomi was always the good girl, and quite a little square: gifted in school, well behaved if a bit too opinionated for someone that young. Naomi had always been more confident than most people, even as a young girl telling her older friends what to do.
The Rose family moved several times as Naomi was growing up, living in Wisconsin, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York. When she was fifteen, they moved to Southern California. Though she was wary of yet another relocation, at least her new home offered access to two major marine entertainment parks. She could not wait to visit them: San Diego’s SeaWorld, home of the original Shamu, and Marineland of the Pacific, on the Palos Verdes Peninsula south of Los Angeles. Marineland had two famous killer whales: Orky II, the male, and Corky II, the female. Naomi loved seeing all the shows at both places. Now that she knew she wanted to become a marine biologist, she wanted to experience cetaceans up close. At this young age, Naomi saw only the excitement and spectacle of Corky, Orky, and Shamu leaping from the water, without giving any thought to what might be going on behind the scenes of the marvelous display. Not until years later, when she saw orcas in the wild, did she begin to think about what life must be like for them in captivity.
That summer before her junior year, the short, scrappy Asian-American teenager with wavy, dark hair, brown eyes, and steely self-confidence went on a scientific field trip up the coast of California. It was part of a summer school course she took on intertidal organisms and marine biology offered by the LA County Unified School District. After a few weeks in a classroom learning to identify tide-pool species, Naomi and several other students chaperoned by two adults drove a large RV up to Big Sur for a few days of seaside study. To her, it was the ultimate in student field trips.
The students were divided into small groups and assigned a tide pool to observe over time. They took measurements of salinity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, and pH. They created graphs and tables and did field drawings showing where all the organisms were located in each pool. They sketched individual organisms and conducted censuses by species. They did sediment analyses, took weather readings, and compiled other scientific measurements with an impressive arsenal of equipment. All the while, just offshore, Pacific sea otters played and foraged in the kelp, carefree as monkeys. Naomi loved every minute of it.
But Naomi wasn’t like the other, wilder LA kids. They liked to procure illicit bottles of Boone’s Farm white zinfandel and get rather buzzed and giggly while writing their field reports. Not so Miss Rose. When offered some wine from one of the boys, she politely declined. The boy thought that was pretty cool. “You can say no without being a buzz kill,” he marveled.
At sixteen, Naomi asked if she could go away to study at the Colorado Rocky Mountain School—mostly because she wanted to stay in one place for the rest of high school. That the boarding school was near Aspen, John Denver’s home, was an added benefit. Naomi was so square that she still liked the singer and admired his environmental work. She didn’t think she’d run into the star, and she never did. But the secret hope remained.
School was easy for Naomi and she excelled in all her classes, earning straight A’s without much effort. She loved science most, especially animal behavior and ecology. Mostly Naomi just liked knowing things. She possessed an extraordinary memory to store them in: a brimming internal database of assorted factoids, both weighty and trivial, that she could retrieve at will with unnerving alacrity.
In selecting a college, Naomi made a counterintuitive choice, given her desire to study marine creatures. She planned to attend school away from the coast and wanted to get a good, solid biology degree before she specialized, she explained to her friends.
She selected Mount Holyoke, the Massachusetts liberal arts college for women, and f...
Most helpful customer reviews
37 of 43 people found the following review helpful.
Review of "Death at SeaWorld"
By Mark J. Palmer
Review of "Death At SeaWorld: Shamu and the Dark Side of Killer Whales in Captivity" by David Kirby, St. Martin's Press, 469 pp.
By Mark J. Palmer
Associate Director
International Marine Mammal Project
Earth Island Institute
SaveJapanDolphins.org
Author David Kirby has written a shocking expose of the SeaWorld marine parks and the dangers posed to both SeaWorld trainers and the captive orcas from captivity. "Death at SeaWorld" was inspired by the tragic death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010, when a captive male orca Tilikum grabbed her and pulled her into the tank with him. She died from blunt force trauma.
What is especially shocking is that Dawn was not the first trainer to die. Nor was she the first trainer to be killed by Tilikum. Furthermore, many captive orcas have died in SeaWorld over the years. As Kirby shows throughout the book, the deaths of trainers and orcas are related. Large carnivorous orcas do poorly in captivity, dying at young ages (Kirby notes that orcas in SeaWorld die at a rate two and a half times higher than orcas in the wild). And they can lash out at their trainers, with fatal results.
Kirby profiles Dr. Naomi Rose, a marine mammal biologist who has been in the forefront of efforts to stop the keeping of orcas and dolphins in captivity for the Humane Society of the United States. Also important to the story were several trainers who quit working at SeaWorld and came out publicly against the programs they originally were hired to serve. "Death at SeaWorld" follows Dr. Rose as she studies the behavior of wild orcas in British Columbia (where orcas in the wild behave much differently from captive orcas, Rose notes) and parallels the SeaWorld trainers who grow disillusioned as they realize SeaWorld's public claims of "happy orcas" in captivity conceals serious problems.
Kirby describes the host of problems that beset orcas in captivity. Wild orcas cannot drink seawater, but get their water from the fish they eat. In captivity, orcas are fed dead fish that have been frozen and then thawed, losing most of their moisture. Orcas have to be fed immense amounts of gelatin to replace water they lose, just to keep them hydrated.
Orcas often break teeth in chewing on the concrete sides and metal gates in their marine park homes, resulting in serious infections if not treated. But orcas cannot be anesthetized like humans - they need to be awake in order to breath. So dental work has to be done on the wide-awake orca, drilling out the pulp from the teeth to prevent a lethal infection.
Kirby recently released a video [...] that came out during the SeaWorld investigation following the death of Brancheau. The video was from an incident in 2006, covered up by SeaWorld, in which an orca seized the foot of a trainer and almost drowned him. Kirby noted that the female orca had been separated from her calf and forced to perform - the orca turned on her trainer when she heard the calf calling from another tank.
Orcas in tanks are ticking time bombs for the trainers. Orcas in the wild virtually never attack humans. But they do in captivity.
Kirby says he came to the research for the book as neither pro- or anti-captivity for orcas, but he now supports retiring all captive orcas to sea pens, with potentially some of them being released back into the wild. This has been done by Earth Island Institute and the Humane Society with Keiko, the whale star of the hit movie "Free Willy."
Earth Island formed the Free Willy/Keiko Foundation, which built a new state-of-the art tank for Keiko in Oregon, and then, after rehab, moved him to his home waters of Iceland, where he remained for six years. He swam a thousand miles in the north Atlantic to Norway, where he died at the age of 25.
"Death at SeaWorld" is one of the most important books written about the problem of keeping intelligent whales and dolphins in small concrete tanks for their entire lives just to amuse us. As I write this review, the Georgia Aquarium is seeking permission to bring eighteen beluga whales into captivity in the US from Russia. This deadly trade in captive marine mammals must stop.
80 of 98 people found the following review helpful.
A Significant and Authentic Account of Killer Whales in Captivity and Beyond...
By Karin Susan Fester
David Kirby's book Death at SeaWorld documents and effectively engages with the fierce debate about whether it is good and right to keep killer whales (orcas) in captivity at marine theme parks for the purpose of entertaining the public. For his compelling argument, the author employs a wide range of sources: empirical evidence, scientific expert opinions, and numerous interviews with trainers and a host of others. Each chapter is packed with essential information and supports the author's comprehensive argumentation.
In February 2010, Tilikum, a male killer whale at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida killed Dawn Brancheau, an experienced trainer, during a public performance. Tilikum is also directly linked to the death of Keltie Byrne in 1991 and Daniel Dukes in 1999. This is not only a human tragedy, but also one for the orca involved--Tilikum. The marine animal display industry has been harshly criticized already for several decades because they maintain orcas (killer whales) in captivity. The horrific tragedy in 2010 is now a catalyst for moving the debate forward. Anti-captivity advocates hope orca captivity will finally come to an end. However, it is not so simple.
Kirby provides critical discussion from both sides of the debate. He vigorously argues with support of insurmountable evidence and source material, that Tilikum, like countless other orcas held in captivity, is a genuine victim of humans' cruel, ignorant actions. The immense revenue generated from killer whale performances only perpetuates the ongoingmiserythat these animals must endure in their daily lives. And the aggressive behavior imposed on trainers and other captive orcas is apparently the result of the cruel and violent way they were initially captured in the wild, the post-capture stress they suffered, the way they are confined in marine theme parks, and numerous other reasons. Inevitably society has moral obligations to these animals, but at what cost?
Dawn Brancheau's death in 2010 has inevitably fueled and agitated the debate even further between pro- and anti- captivity advocates. Naomi Rose, the chief marine mammal scientist at the Humane Society of the United States, set out to prove scientifically that "keeping killer whales in captivity was unethical, indefensible, and hazardous to both animals and their trainers" (p. 238).
David Kirby presents two profound questions in the Introduction of his book: (1) "Is captivity in an amusement park good for orcas: Is this the appropriate venue for killer whales to be held, and does it somehow benefit wild orcas and their ocean habitat, as the industry claims?", and (2) "Is orca captivity good for society: Is it safe for trainers and truly educational for a public that pays to watch the whales perform what critics say are animal tricks akin to circus acts?" (p. 7).
The book is lengthy, the main text is 440 pages plus an extensive notes/reference section and a comprehensive index. This book should not be viewed as merely something to read, but also as a source for useful information and for encourageing in-depth discussion. Therefore, the scholarly character of this particular book--it's rigorous and systematic analysis of diverse source material and in-depth engagement with the core issues--makes it ideal as a supplemental text for courses in animal ethics as well as interdisciplinary studies in political science, cultural and social studies, economics, environmental studies, and moral and political philosophy.
David Kirby has left no stone unturned. He has successfully refuted the arguments put forward by the pro-captivity advocates (the marine theme park industry). He has presented valid and convincing arguments as to why orcas should not live in captivity and also why this is not good and for society.
After reading Death at SeaWorld, I came away with the gut feeling, that I, like so many people--even those who think they know something about killer whales--still have so much to learn about them!
I have seen the killer whales when I visited SeaWorld in San Diego and Orlando. Instantly my first thoughts were,"How can they be happy living like this...they don't have much room?! Don't they miss the open ocean? Don't they get crazy?" I am certainly not the first person to ask such questions.
The readers of Death at SeaWorld must now decide for themselves: Is it good and right to keep killer whales in captivity?
David Kirby's book is simply superb!
Review by Karin Susan Fester (c) 2012.
Disclosure: I would like to thank St. Martins Press for providing me with a review copy of Death at SeaWorld.
The review here on Amazon is an "excerpt" of the orignal which appeared on my blog: Philosophybookreviews
57 of 69 people found the following review helpful.
Death at SeaWorld exposes the lethal legacy of orca captivity
By Elizabeth Batt
From horrific orca captures to the tragic death of trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010, David Kirby's groundbreaking investigative thriller chillingly exposes a side of SeaWorld deftly hidden from public view, including the vast difference between orcas in captivity and their wild counterparts.
In the Northern Resident orca community for example, "orcas have their own cultures," Kirby explains, with each pod having its own signature collection of clicks and whistles. Rose discovered and wrote in her dissertation, that "Residents travel in matrifocal [centered on the mother] units called matrileneal groups." In other words, Kirby said, from infancy to old age, male orcas "spend most of their time by their mother's side," thus making them "the planet's ultimate mama's boys."
Quite unlike their Resident counterparts, Transient killer whales are less vocal and less maternal, the book says. In fact some scientists the author explained, "now believe that the two ecotypes should officially be designated distinct species." These two types of orcas Kirby adds, really "do not like to mix." It's a point hammered home harshly later in the book, when SeaWorld's breeding program is explored in more depth, and it is revealed that Transient orcas are bred to Resident orcas, without any regard for the differences between "species and races."
Former trainers at SeaWorld said the compnay possessed a culture all of its own. A world of "operant conditioning" and smoke and mirrors designed to obfuscate the most discerning guest. Use of industry "buzzwords" coupled with drilled responses were part of a comprehensive handbook and repertoire that trainers were compelled to learn.
There was an entire list of words to avoid said Kirby, as trainers were "spoonfed corporate soundbites." Marine mammals were "not captured," they were "acquired." Captivity was a "controlled environment" or animals were in "human care." Marine mammals did not live in "tanks," they resided in "enclosures" or "aquariums." In one particular memo passed down the chain, trainers were told that no matter what happens on any given day, "Stay positive and keep [explanations], on a 5th grade level."
Kirby shows that behind the glitz and glamour of a self-regulating SeaWorld, is a corporation that clearly brooks no opposition. For decades, and occasionally with the aid of private and government entities, the organization has bought, bullied and battered those who oppose it, right down to the little guy.
Far, far louder, screaming in fact, is the realization that trained orcas in parks bear little resemblance to their counterparts in the wild. Learned behaviors in artificial environments could not be more different, despite the company mantra that captivity for orcas is "educational" for the public. One only has to look at "the wildly popular raspberries," Kirby writes, "when whales make farting noises from their blowhole;" there could not be a more perfect example of how anomalous these animals have become.
Sadly, such parlor tricks, have turned one of the ocean's top predators into little more than a circus act, and Death at SeaWorld's crucial exposure of the industry left me feeling betrayed by an organization that courts families on a daily basis, then misinforms them.
If you TRULY love orcas, then you need to read this book.
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