Sea World San Diego first opened on March 21, 1964, first opened by Milt Shedd, Ken Norris, George Millay, and David DeMott. Starting in 1861, the first marine mammals were taken into captivity. Nine beluga whales were captured and put into tanks for viewers to see. In 1930 people came to look at the new dolphins captured at Marine Studios. Employees started training dolphins how to do tricks like jump through hurdles in 1950. In 1972 the marine mammal protection act was passed. A major uproar started against Sea World in 2017 over the death of Tilikum.

Since the movie “Blackfish” uproar about killar whales in captivity have started. But what about the other marine animals. All animals are affected not just Orcas. People for the Ocean said  “300 dolphins and whales, and 400 walruses and seals have died on Sea World’s watch. An 18 year old beluga whale named Nanuq got in a fight with another animal under Sea Worlds watch and was left with a broken jaw. A walrus that also happened to be blind died from psychological distress at 18. Two polar bears died in 2017 after stress of being separated. 

These are just some of the stats that provide evidence that Sea World exploited their animals. First of all 55 killer whales are held in captivity, from that 22 are captured from the wild and 33 were born into captivity. Orcas have the least amount of whales alive in captivity throughout the world.  “There are fewer than 60 orcas alive in captivity worldwide, compared to roughly 300 beluga whales and 3,000 dolphins” says Tove Danovich. Just like mentioned previously animals lives are cut in half in captivity compares to the wild.