Orcas, also called killer whales, are marine apex predators that rarely come in contact with humans, let alone show aggression toward humankind. In fact, according to Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s film “Blackfish,” there are no reported cases of orcas attacking or killing humans in the wild.

But in captivity, there’s a different story — over 70 attacks over the last 40 years, some causing human fatalities.

This statistic alone is enough to reconsider the quality of life of orcas in captivity. Unless conditions can improve substantially for the whales and human trainers, orca whales should not be kept for entertainment purposes.

The academic dialogue over the continued conditions in parks such as SeaWorld is finally highlighted to the public in “Blackfish.” Increasing research into the lives of whales, specifically orcas in the wild, coupled with information increasing about their lives in captivity, show differences that are cringe-worthy.

These complex creatures are still actively studied in the 21st century because there is still so much we do not know but we’re beginning to learn they are a lot smarter than we thought they were.

Orcas are social creatures, like other marine mammals such as seals, and they are highly intelligent. They live together in pods created out of close and extended family members. Some more recent data shows that orcas may have developed emotional and self-recognition spheres of the brain that could rival humans even.

While it is a stretch to compare a whale to a human, though the documentary does so to emotionally persuade viewers, the fact that orcas are so intelligent brings morality into the question of their captivity. Taking whales out of their extended family units and keeping them in isolation seems incredibly cruel in that respect.

Orca pods created in animal parks are a mishmash of different animals that are bought and sold through the animal entertainment industry. With this lack of familial bond, orcas are known to turn to violence against their fellow whales.

This is not uncommon for all sorts of animals kept in captivity. Though there are healthier and safer captivity environments, areas without sufficient stimulus, open space and equivalent environments to wild habitats can turn animals to violence and self-harm.

Often this happens with the animals deemed to be more highly intelligent.

Animals that do well in captivity are predominantly herd, prey animals with herbivore diets. Orca whales, as carnivorous apex predators, living in highly intelligent, socialized pods, not only do not fit into those categories but are seemingly the antithesis.

With all these issues, orca whales are extremely large mammals, making it difficult to create sufficient captivity environments.

Many parks throughout the animal entertainment industry are insufficient in meeting the needs of orcas and trainers, but the industry itself, along with the U.S. government, have kept a hands-off and lax approach that has jeopardized health and safety.

The industry specifically has used misinformation, about everything from whale facts to whale attack event details, to maintain the unregulated system. While this may not have been intentional, with so many human attacks and fatalities, the system needs to change.

When compared to other predators kept in captivity, orcas rack up far more attacks and fatalities. Keeping an orca in a concrete pool to do backflips does not provide the life that these creatures need to survive in captivity.

These highly intelligent creatures deserve more than that and with the safety of humans at risk, the only thing stopping this is an industry in denial.

Meg Callaghan is a senior environmental studies major at SUNY-ESF. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at mlcallag@syr.edu.

Published on January 23, 2014 at 2:10 am