Morgan Pritchard- Marine Park Article

While looking for research articles for another class, I found an article on China's marine park industry and whale trade. A documentary called Blackfish was released in 2013 that was centered around SeaWorld and the death of one of its trainers by drowning from a whale. This caused outrage in the general public because it showed the poor living conditions of the whales. But this reaction isn't occurring in China, where instead the demand for these entertainment parks is increasing. This is due to the government having control over the media in China and limiting the information about the poor conditions and whale trade. The article states that there are 44 ocean theme parks operating in China with 18 more being constructed/scheduled to open soon. The article also discusses the number of whales being exported from Russia to China was a total of 84 live mammals since 2016. This is causing concern due to the unknown number of orca whales left in Russia and the lack of regulation on the whale trade.

Marine parks are unethical forms of entertainment for many reasons. One is how little space the whales have. The article states that whales are social creatures and are “not meant to live in confinement”. But, due to the small exhibit sizes in marine parks, whales often live alone. It also states that whales can swim up to 100 miles per day which is also impossible in small enclosures. Another need that is not being met in captivity is dietary needs. Orcas can be separated into groups by what they eat. A majority of orcas transported to China from Russia are the transient type which means they eat mammals and hunt for their prey. These orcas are then forced to eat frozen fish which causes some to starve.

The article states that “since the 1960s there have been over 30 attacks on humans by orca whales in captivity, with at least four of them being fatal”. These whales are not killing with malicious intent but because they are frustrated and aggravated in captivity because they are going against their natural behavior. This article was very informative and shows how unethical marine parks are and relates to our class discussion on zoos.


Li, M. 2018, Spring. The ocean’s animals on land: the rise of the marine park industry and whale trade in China. Harvard International Review 39:41–43.

 

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