There are orca in the wild - NEVER been captive - who have curved fins. I saw one for myself in Alaska.
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Doesnāt this say something about what these small tanks do to their mental well-being if they donāt act that way in larger enclosures? 
Man, I seriously wish theyād remake the Beyond Disney with the other stuff again like NASA. I mean the Christian theme park is out of business so itās time for an update even if they donāt do these every year. I also seriously want another Disney Paris and a new Disney Tokyo. They have the online Tokyo so seems should be a good starting place for a book. I really loved their Vegas book. The probability math of gambling was fascinating to me and though I donāt gamble I passed on their advice to my step-mom who used the machines they said gave the gambler the advantage and she won!
Yes but ā100% of captive adult males have totally or partially collapsed dorsal fins .ā There is something different about captivity. I saw one theory about temperature maybe causing it.
*Which leads me to wonder if global sea temperature rise could increase the numbers in the wild with this phenomenon? Guess weāll find out in the coming decades.
Or there could be genetics involved since many of those in captivity would come from common gene lines. This one in particular that I saw was male - a LARGE male and he had a harem of females.
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Or maybe itās both environmental and genetic? Like human personality disorders which are thought to be both genetic but triggered into existence by certain environmental factors.
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Could be.
My one and only trip to Vegas we used the Unofficial Guide
Lol considering all the chatter about adults and disney - would love to see the grownups book back too. I am trying to plan out a Paris trip and would ABSOLUTELY love that one but the latest addition I can find is from 01ā¦To much has changed for that to be relevant. I know where I would be staying but after that I am at a complete lossā¦
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Apparently is related to warm temperatures.
This was 2015 in Alaska. And this guy was known to be at least 30 years old.
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You see, DD9 says she wants to be a wildlife vet or marine biologist. Maybe someday she will tell us 
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Here are my thoughts on Blackfish (which I havenāt seen) and Sea World.
- There was likely a lot of truth in the documentary, and itās good that Sea World has tried to change things in response
- It was also (by accounts from people I trust) very biased and one-sided, and all documentaries tend to be edited in such a way to evoke an emotional response
- The documentary is quite old now (almost a decade) so the practices shown in the film are stale. Itās a completely different group of individuals running the company now.
- There are a lot of things about real life that are upsetting, but thereās no solution thatās going to make everything better. Animals suffer regardless of whether they are in captivity or not, but if in captivity we can do things to maximize their quality of life.
- Having marine life parks raises awareness for marine life and plays a huge role in developing young peopleās fascination with and sympathy for animals
- Thereās likely still more work to be done and eyes need to stay on Sea World and other parks to keep them accountable
- As long as Sea World is doing their best to treat their animals ethically, is using animals who are either descended from existing captive animals, or animals that are being rehabilitated, and are using safe methods with trainers and handlers, etc. I see no problem with continuing shows.
- I have taken my kids to Sea World and plan to again.
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In the wild, the average life expectancy for a female orca is 50, and some live to be 80 or 90 .
In captivity, their lifespan has been averaged between 10-45 years .
For most animals life expectancy is better in captivity but this is not true for them in captivity by a long shot. Tilikum died of a lingering lung infection while in captivity. How did he get an untreatable lung infection in captivity? And with half the life expectancy in captivity, it is plain we are not maximizing the quality of their life. Sea World split babies that would have spent their entire lives with their mothers in the wild. This is not maximizing their quality of life. The new owner has reversed the previous owners plan to phase out orca shows. This is the wrong direction.
For many animals, captivity can provide a better life but itās plainly not the case for orcas who swim 160km in a day and at sea world even with tank doubling they are 350 feet long.
Itās still animal cruelty and the facts still support that in 2022.
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Youāre right.
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Iām hoping DD16 wants to do DC/SW/AQ mother-daughter grad trip when itās her turn.
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I donāt disagree with anything you said and thatās why I hope Sea World continues to move away from orca shows and the ones they have are with whales that were already in captivity rather than capturing new ones.
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Someone on my hometown facebook group posted this picture of a coupon they found while cleaning out some old boxes. It made me think of this thread and group, since the Ohio Sea World was brought up. I think the date on it says 1993. Two theme parks for $22, a steal 
This was where I spent my summers as a kid, although as the above posters have already discussed I do have moral reservations about SW now.
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Ironically we moved about 2.5 miles north of Sea World the year it closed so I never actually visited while it was Sea World. And unfortunately both sides have now been closed awhile and the site hasnāt really been repurposed for anything despite years of rumors of various developments occurring. One day perhapsā¦
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At one point when planning our recent trip to WDW, I asked DW āso think we can do all of Sea World in one day, or shall I schedule a second day?ā
She works with Animal Welfare.
I found her look of mild panic amusing.
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Meaning, you didnāt go at all?