I was very active on the other thread, didn't realize this was the same topic.
But see, people don't come into this argument with a reasoned set of views and demands without attracting, frankly, fanatical activists/apologists and perhaps somewhat naive people, on both sides, who refuse to compromise. I'm a realist not a seaworld apologist, I know that conditions are far from ideal at the seaworld parks, but I just can't see a way out, and I think that seaworld actually does some good for wildlife causes despite the more negative aspects of their operation.
You mention rehabilitation, but given the complicated hunting techniques used by wild orcas and their social relationships (much of which has been focused on in anti-captivity literature and media), could this be achieved? I'm doubtful. I've watched many an animal documentary in my time (from as neutral a source as I can get) and I've seen many examples of animals that cannot be released into the wild because of acclimatisation to human contact. Whilst I'm aware that orcas are perhaps more intelligent than some of these animals (though others like primates seem just as, if not more intelligent) I just can't see a method of rehabilitation that would allow captive orcas to reintegrate with the world. Undoing years of training and work with humans would take many years, if not decades, and most likely would be impossible in many cases it seems to me.
I could see no more breeding yes, there are enough whales there already anyway. But to achieve this what would you have happen? You would either need to seperate the whales up and keep them alone, sterilise them via operations (if even possible) or abort the calves. I can't see either of those options going down well.
Again, you mention sea pens, but where? How big would they have to be? Obviously bigger than seaworlds tanks, otherwise there would be little point, but the larger they are the more they would be vulnerable and expensive to maintain. Should we keep feeding them and maintaining human contact in these pens? That seems a little counter productive if we want to rehabilitate them. How would we teach them where to go, what time of year to find food, interact with other whales?
I'm sure answers to these questions are out there, but I've yet to find any that satisfy my doubts frankly. Seaworld isn't perfect, but I don't think they'll be going anywhere else soon, least of all the wild.
I'm sure this will seem brutal and uncaring to some, but frankly I can see causes both more urgent/deserving (in my opinion) and more likely to succeed out there that are neglected for whatever reason. It makes me a little sad to think that hardly anyone in the general public seems to care so much about the rare pet trade in endangered animals or products like ivory, or the dolphin slaughter mentioned earlier for example. And that's also a measure of Seaworlds impact I guess, the only reason killer whales are so prominent in culture today is down to seaworld and previous parks.
I'm not trying to disparage people who fight for what they see as a good cause however, we all have our beliefs.
