Keeping orcas captive demeans us as humans | Philip Hoare
News that SeaWorld is to phase out its captive orca programme in San Diego sounds like a good thing, and so it is. Although its decision seems to be economic rather than ethical, the company's latest announcement follows other damage limitation exercises such as the proclamation of new "environments" for its captive orca, and would also seem to be a clear response to the state of California having outlawed breeding of new animals, and their sale or transfer (although SeaWorld has announced that it will contest that). And yet the trade in capturing orca from the wild continues. Cathy Williamson, who observes captivity programmes for Whale and Dolphin Conservation as part of its ongoing campaign to stop the trade, notes that captures are continuing in the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia's far east. "At least 15 orcas have been captured between 2012 and 2015," she says. She believes that "at least three orcas are now in Moscow, and that Russia has exported at least seven to China". The Russians claim to be undertaking "research" on these animals as to why they "aggressively steal fishermen's catch".
Yuri Blinov, deputy director of Tinro, the research facility, explained: "There was a recent problem in that killer whales have become parasites. They remove catches from longlines. The main goal now is to " find humane ways to isolate the killer whales from the fishermen." Our human instinct to extend dominion over the natural world knows no bounds, apparently.
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