Marine Mammal Behavioral Study

I would expect there to be large differences between the behaviors of captive versus wild pinnipeds, specifically in feeding behaviors and reactions to human interactions. I think that the captive pinnipeds would be much more docile in terms of feeding and when faced with human interaction. They are hand fed by humans, leading them to not exhibiting as strong of hunting behavior as a wild pinniped. Additionally, aquariums are for the public so the seal in captivity interacts with both the marine mammal trainers and the general public every single day making them much less scared of humans than wild pinnipeds, causing them to have a major difference in behavioral reactions to human interactions. 

After I get the results of this study I would like to further my work with this project and dive deeper into the ethics of captive animals. All of the pinnipeds at New England Aquarium are rescues but many institutions do not have rescue animals. I was inspired by Peter Singer and Temple Grandin's work in animal ethics and I would love to dive deeper into the ethics of captive animals after comparing the behavioral differences between them and the wild populations.