The release of a video showing Kasatka, a wild-caught orca enslaved at SeaWorld, exploding in extreme frustration at trainer Ken Peters in front of visitors to the theme park is sending shockwaves of outrage and dismay through the media and the public over the appalling pressures of captivity on orcas and other wild marine mammals—and the danger to those who come into contact with them.

As David Kirby describes in his book Death at SeaWorld, when Kasatka heard her calf's distress calls for her from another tank, she dragged Peters underwater repeatedly, shaking him about before the stunned audience. Eventually gaining his freedom, Peters required surgery for his injuries. But SeaWorld ignored the risks, permitting the perilous situations to continue.

This video footage was previously shown during the Secretary of Labor v. SeaWorld of Florida LLC trial, which resulted from the horrific death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau during a disturbingly similar episode involving another captive orca, Tilikum. Judge Ken Welsch, who called the video "chilling," held SeaWorld liable for permitting hazardous interactions between humans and the huge, dangerously stressed animals.

What You Can Do

Please join PETA in asking The Blackstone Group—the company that owns SeaWorld—to release its animal captives into sanctuaries. And if you know people who are planning a trip to SeaWorld, encourage them to visit PETA's new website, SeaWorldOfHurt.com, to learn what kinds of cruelty their dollars would support.

PETA Files readers know that SeaWorld hurts animals, so PETA's new website, SeaWorld of Hurt aims to return the favor, hurting the marine mammal prison by showing people that its parks are no fun for animals. 

SeaWorld's cruelty to animals was widely publicized during PETA's landmark lawsuit in behalf of captive orcas, which broke legal ground and gave rise to the idea that all species deserve protection from slavery. Our lead counsel, Jeff Kerr, recently presented PETA's argument for the release of enslaved orcas at the Superpod conference on San Juan Island, a meeting of orca advocates scheduled to coincide with the annual gathering of the "J," "K," and "L" pods of the Southern Resident orca population.

Animal advocates discussed efforts to secure freedom for marine mammal prisoners, including PETA's lawsuit on behalf of Lolita, an orca captured in 1970 who continues to languish in solitary confinement at the Miami Seaquarium, despite the fact that her pod has since been given protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Meanwhile, we're moving the conversation from the courtroom to the chat room, aiming to educate would-be SeaWorld patrons and make the parks' profits sink like a rock.

Join us! Ask the Blackstone Group—the company that owns SeaWorld—to release the orcas to ocean sanctuaries that can provide them with an environment that is closer to what nature intended, and post PETA's action alert to your social-networking pages.

eschipul / CC by 2.0

The death toll continues to rise at SeaWorld with the passing of a 12-year-old orca named Sumar at the theme-park chain's San Diego location. Sumar died far short of the expected 50-to-60 year lifespan of orcas who roam the vast oceans, his rightful home.

Whatever caused Sumar's death (and let's hope that there will be no cover-up this time), circling a tiny concrete tank at a theme park and deprived of all that is natural and enjoyable, was never a life at all. Instead of profiting from their domination, PETA calls on SeaWorld to release these animals to coastal sanctuaries.

Please contact Blackstone Group (which owns SeaWorld) and insist that it begin the rehabilitation process right away.

Also, be sure to visit the True Friends Memorial site set up in memory of Sumar.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor