thumper

The Shame...The Plight of Captive Orcas In a pool which measures approximately 24 foot in diameter, a fully grown male orca lies motionless. There's no place to move. On his back are the signs of sunburn or airburn where the skin has bubbled, caused by the orca's inability to stay under water, he can barely move. Around his blowhole is more evidence of the pitiful exposure to the sun. A plume of chemicals snakes around the pool, it keeps going for nearly three quarters of an hour. Poor whale, it is obvious he is dying, by inches. Condemned to a slow torturous release from life as his giant heart keeps beating. A strong heart - made to power a majestic body capable of swimming hundreds of kilometres of the turbulent oceans, taking seals, sneaking up on careless penguins, leaping, breaching, wild and free. His dorsal fin is almost completely curled over. Someone tells me that whales and dolphins never sleep as they're voluntary breathers. So there's no relief from their conscious state in these dreadful tanks. Keeping a fully grown orca in this tiny pool is like locking a human into a broom cupboard for the term of his natural life.The space is not nearly big enough for these creatures from the wild, its a bathtub. The pool is bare, the walls silently reflect streams of sunlight and a profound sense of loneliness which is awful. I imagine what its like for a creature of the sea to be deprived of the wonder of the sonic world he comes from.