Why SeaWorld’s Tanks Will Never Be Big Enough

Candace Calloway Whiting, a volunteer at the Center for Whale Research, uses hard science and detailed graphs to show the glaring contrast between an orca’s life in the ocean and an orca’s life in a SeaWorld tank. See more details in a recent article by Whiting in the Seattle Post‑Intelligencer.

For example, whereas some wild orca pods dive up to 525 feet, orcas at SeaWorld are limited to about 34 feet. (In other studies, some orcas have been recorded diving 625 feet to nearly 1,000 feet, and one dive of 1,300 feet was logged.) The graphics are truly disturbing.

“By putting these animals in tanks we are missing the point of their existence. Whales are fully adapted to a different world than ours, and no tank can ever replicate their world or truly educate us about these peaceful, intelligent beings that share the Earth with us.” —Candace Calloway Whiting