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Orca Identified As 103 Years Old
guises (2423402) writes "The oldest known orca has recently been spotted off western Canada at an age of 103. A female nicknamed 'granny,' photos exist of her from the 1930s, where she can be identified by her distinctive saddle patch. The news has prompted calls for another evaluation of marine mammals in captivity — orcas in captivity usually don't live beyond their 20s."
I'm taking my wife on vacation to a resort. She has always wanted to swim with dolphins, and given the recent hate mongering about captive cetaceans I anticipate it the opportunity will be lost forever in the US within 15 years. So, we definitely made this a must-do activity on this trip. It's unfortunate our kids won't have the same opportunities.
Taking this campaign to its logical conclusion, they will probably eventually call for a closure of all zoos. I mean, if this is cruel for cetaceans, then it must be cruel for primates, big cats, elephants, giraffes, etc. Are there any clear, bright lines of demarcation to say captivity of this animal is fine, but captivity of that animal is cruel? Will zoos be relegated to being nothing more than collections of slugs and insects on display because captivity of any higher animal is "cruel"? Oh, and god forbid you go see animals on safari. That's exploitation as well.
Some of these people are the type that would prevent anyone from visiting Yellowstone in order to "preserve its natural beauty". That's absurd. We also can't turn the entire place into a parking lot to maximize visitor capacity because that would defeat the point. There needs to be a balance. I'm fine with places like Sea World. I wonder how many of these people protesting cetacean captivity are still willing to eat meat? How many are willing to exploit cows in captivity in order to have milk and cheese for their pizza?
Your tasty snack is based on the suffering of dairy cows, who live for only a few short years before they are brutally killed and ground into burger. How can you live with yourself?
Or, you know, you can decide it's fun to swim with captive dolphins because they're cute and playful. YMMV.