Well that's what sea world does best is lies but they lie so well you leave the park believing in them. Cetacea ( the classification of marine mammals ) which include dolphins ,killer whales humpback whales etc , are highly intelligent, social , and family oriented creatures. Kind of sounds like humans right? Lets focus on killer whales they swim over 100miles a day form strong bonds from birth with their mothers so strong they stay in the same pod their whole life
“The average life expectancy for female orcas in the wild has been estimated at 45 to 50 years, with a maximum lifespan of about 90,” and, “the average life expectancy for a wild orca male is approximately 30 years, with an estimated maximum lifespan of about 60.”There is zero evidence to date to even suggest that captive killer whales live anywhere near as long as those in the ocean. Many orcas at SeaWorld have died in their teens, 20s, and often younger. This rate of death is extremely high, and much higher than what is found in the wild.
Captive female orcas give birth too young and too often, leading to both high adult and high infant mortality.
The most common cause of death for captive orcas is infection. Chronic stress may be an important factor in weakening the animals’ immune response.
Captive orcas have poor dental health compared to wild whales, which may be another factor in their susceptibility to fatal infections.
Orcas in captivity are more aggressive toward each other than in the wild. Females also behave abnormally toward their calves more often than in the wild.
While I'm not sure releasing these beautiful creatures is any longer possible we need to stop catching or breeding them improve there habitats and let them live out there lives and never repeat our mistake
I will have to respectufully disagree with you on several points. The first being that Seaworld lies. Seaworld is a well respected zoological facility that contributes to the rehabilitation and release of several hundred animals throughout the course of the year. While whales specifically aren't released, for the reason that they were born in Captivity and Captivity is all they have ever known, there are thousands of other wildlife that have been released by the park over it's almost 50 year history. Seaworld currently has 22 Killer whales at it's parks in the United states. Out of those 22 whales, 5 were captured from the wild. Though five of the whales were captured in the wild, they were not done directly by Seaworld themselves. I'll break it down:
The five whales that were captured from the wild:
Probably the most notable was Tilly who currently lives at Seaworld in Orlando. Tilly was captured off the coast of Iceland in the early 1980s. The capture was done by a defunct marine park in Canada called Sealand of the Pacific. This park has no affiliation with Seaworld in Orlando. When the park was close to closing down, Seaworld made an agreement with the park to give Tilly a new home in Orlando due to the fact that Sealand was unable to properly care for him as the park was shutting down.
The 2nd whale, Katina, also currently lives in Seaworld Orlando. Katina was also captured off of the coast of Iceland in the late 1970s. Katina was not captured by Seaworld either. Katina was captured by Marineland in Niagra Falls Canada. Marineland also has no affiliation with Seaworld. Katina did not get along well with the other whales that Marineland had at the time, and because of this, Seaworld bought her so that they could care for her and give her a better life.
The 3rd whale, Ulysees, currently lives in Seaworld San Diego. Ulysees was captured off the coast of Iceland in the early 1980s.Ulysees was captured by a marine park in Iceland before it shut down. When the park shut down, He was then sent to a Marine park in Spain. When Ulysees health declined at the spanish park due to the fact that he was living in poor conditions, Seaworld once again stepped up and bought Ulysees to bring him over to the United States and give him a better home at Seaworld. Both the marine park in Iceland who captured Ulysees and the park in Spain have no affilitation with Seaworld.
Whale number 4 is Corky. Corky was captured off the coast of British Columbia in the late 1970s. Corky was captured by a park called Marineland of the Pacific which was located in California. When the park faced financial hardship, Seaworld bought the park in order to transfer the animals to Seaworld parks to provide better living conditions for them. Seaworld then closed Marineland of the Pacific 6 weeks after they had purchased the park. Before Seaworld bought the small marine park, the park had no affiliation with Seaworld.
Finally, there is Kasatka. Kasatka was captured off the coast of Iceland in the late 1970s by a marine park in Iceland. Seaworld bought Kasatka from the park in Iceland in the late 1970s and brought her over to the United States. She currently lives in Seaworld San Diego. Seaworld had no affiliation with this marine park in Iceland.
All the other 17 whales in Captivity were born in Seaworld parks.
So given the Facts presented above, Seaworld currently has ZERO whales that were captured by Seaworld itself. The whales captured from the wild were done so by Marine Parks with no affiliation with Seaworld and were later bought by Seaworld to increase their quality of life. Today, Seaworld doesn't capture or take any animals from the wild unless the animal is injured, stranded and is unable to be released back into the wild. The pilot whales currently living at Seaworld in Florida are a perfect example as several animals were had been beached on the coast of Florida, the remainder of their pod had died, and the four whales were currently to young to fend for themselves in the wild.
The member who posted above me went on to say:
The average life expectancy for female orcas in the wild has been estimated at 45 to 50 years, with a maximum lifespan of about 90,” and, “the average life expectancy for a wild orca male is approximately 30 years, with an estimated maximum lifespan of about 60.”There is zero evidence to date to even suggest that captive killer whales live anywhere near as long as those in the ocean. Many orcas at SeaWorld have died in their teens, 20s, and often younger. This rate of death is extremely high, and much higher than what is found in the wild.
Seaworld parks has only been in existence for less than 50 years. So obviously it's impossible for a whale in one of its parks to have lived until the age of 90. We'll have to see in another 40 years how old the whales are until then, every "Fact" that animal rights activists like to present about killerwhales lifespans in captivity is merely an estimate, it's pure speculation.
Out of the 22 Whales Currently Seaworld parks around the world (And Remember, Seaworld parks have only been around for about 50 years)
The oldest whale is 44
The next two oldest whales are 35
The next oldest whale is 33
The next oldest whale is 30
The next two oldest are 25
The next two oldest are 21
The next two oldest whales are 20
The remainder of the whales, Seaworld's youngest members were born between 1996 and 2013.
Yes, there have been several whales that have died at a young age, some have died older. But death is a part of life, and you can't tell me for one second that every single whale worldwide living in the wild has been documented and is living well into their 30s and beyond. I'm pretty sure there are whales in the wild that die in their teens and 20s too. It's like humans. The average life expectancy for humans is 70 something. Some humans live to be 100 and some humans die when they're teenagers. When it comes to death, it's inevitable. As the years progress, the quality of care through advances in Veterinary technologies and knowledge of Seaworld staff improves and so does the already high quality of life that the whales receive at Seaworld.
To further discredit your sources, who are most likely two individuals, Dr. Naomi Rose and Dr. Lori Marino: Keep in mind that these two individuals who have claimed to have done extensive research on Killerwhales in the wild and in Captivity are Animal Rights Zealots.The two have called for total animal liberation by giving all animals similar rights to humans, they have called for an end to all consumption of animal products proposing that all humans should live off a strict Vegan diet, they have called for a release of all animals in zoos and other educational facilities such as Seaworld. I would be willing to bet that there is just a touch of bias in their scientific research. And then there is PETA who most the sane population of the world would agree is crazy. PETA recently sued Seaworld because they felt as if Seaworld was keeping the whales as slaves. The lawsuit said Seaworld was violating the whales 13th amendment rights. The lawsuit was dismissed by a court.
Unfortunately, a lot of the animal rights propaganda you see nowadays paints Seaworld to be an evil abusive organization. If you took the chance to go to the park and see how the animals are loved and cared for by their trainers and other staff, how their living conditions are world class compared to most other zoos and aquariums in the world, and understand the fact that these animals are living at the park for one reason or another but not because they were captured by Seaworld itself to make a profit as it's so often claimed, you might be able to be a part of the solution of helping animals in need instead of belittling a respect organization who does just that.
) the animals that are in the enclosures have been bred in captivity, therefore reducing natural instincts that they may have had if they were born in the wild. 
oh and if we're going to quote famous people how about “There is about as much educational benefit to be gained in studying dolphins in captivity as there would be studying mankind by only observing prisoners held in solitary confinement” – Jacques Cousteau
