Benjamin McEwen

English 2010

Briggs

MW 1-2:20

Wonderful Animals at SeaWorld

As human beings, we have always basked in the wonders of the world.

The biggest and most fascinating wonders of the world are animals. We have not

had the greatest understanding of these creatures, but as time goes by we attach

ourselves to them and different types of organizations have popped up to show us

and teach us about these animals. Organizations like SeaWorld have continued to

advance in the animal sciences, and shown us a great deal about these animals. I

do believe the best way to learn about these creatures that we share the earth with

is through knowledge and interaction, No matter how dangerous some of them can

be we will always want to interact with them and I think that is just fine. We should

continue understanding animals needs and have a respect for them. The best way

to learn about them is through interaction.

My little sister Caitlyn and my Caitlyn after realizing how great

mom, while my sister is unsure of animal interaction is
how to react to this wondrous
animal
 Since the beginning of my life, I have always been fascinated with different

types of animals. My mom likes to tell me about the times when I was a 2-year-old

and she would push us kids around the block in a stroller. While going around the

neighborhood I would make sure to point to every section that had a dog and say

oof-oof to indicate we were going to pass a neighbors dog. Ever since then all I

can remember is being interested in and loving these creatures which we call

animals. During my teenage years, I helped my sisters raise their sheep through a

program they participated in called 4-H. There were also a few chickens and a

turkey that were raised on the farm. I have had and taken care of dozens of pets

that my sisters and I have convince my parents that we needed to have, this ranges

from several dozen hamsters, half a dozen fish, gerbils, ducks, chickens, guinea

pigs, lambs, cats, and currently my dog Daisy. I believe that almost every human

has some sort of interest in animals,

My and
mom one ofI my
and favorite
at the beachplaces
in to experience
California when I was a baby
animals is SeaWorld.

Growing up in California, my family and I

lived about a half hour away from the ocean, and

by the ocean there is also a major oceanic park

called Sea world. I have visited the park several

dozen times and I loved it every time I went there.

The best thing about the park was learning about

the giant ocean animals that they kept at the park

through hands on experience. They have dolphins,

killer whales, sea lions, penguins, manta rays, and

smaller hands on pools where you can touch small sea creatures like starfish and
manta rays. These animals are all things that we have a limited amount of

knowledge about, because underwater sea exploration and study is relatively new

like most current sciences. Without somewhere that keeps large sea animals, has a

way to attract human attention to them, and takes care of them, we would know

close to nothing about these animals. Packer, Jan and Roy Ballantyne stated that

Zoos and aquariums with their unique resource of live animals, their expertise, and

their links to field conservation will be recognized as leaders and mentors

in formal and informal education and conservation(pg 25).

However, I do realize that having fun and touching sea animals is great and I

do also believe raising awareness through activities that allow us to interact with

animal is the fastest and most efficient way to gain attention. Most humans do not

contribute to anything unless they

have a reason to, and since most

humans do not seem to have a reason

to contribute to marine life they do

not. However, SeaWorld has given

many people, including myself, a way

to experience these animals. I believe Shamus show during a visit to

SeaWorld has been so successful in raising awareness and studying oceanic animals

it has started to negatively affect their business model of gaining attention through

entertainment and hands on experiences.

On call 24/7 to help animals, which is one of SeaWorlds websites, explains

their commitment to save animals. On Entertainment, SeaWorld Parks website it

explains, SeaWorld has spent millions of dollars conserving wild animals and wild
places (web). SeaWorld has rehabilitated and saved over 29,000 animals during

their time in business (on call 24/7 web). They also have a team of animal rescuers

and animal caretakers to help the wildlife in need (on call 24/7 web). In an article

published by The Science Times titled How SeaWorld Is Responding It details how

SeaWorld was helping wild animals after an onshore pipeline burst (How SeaWorld Is

Responding, web).

Wikipedia states, The Association of zoos and aquariums is a nonprofit

organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and public aquariums in the

areas of conservation, education, science, and recreation. (web). In an Article

published by Entertainment, SeaWorld Parks the AZAs CEO Jim Maddy explained

Of the animal facilities licensed in this country by the United States Department of

Agriculture, less than 10 percent, including SeaWorld San Diego, SeaWorld Orlando,

and Discovery Cove, have proven to meet these standards(Web). Which I believe is

a great step in the right direction because taking care of animals in the best way

possible is a great thing. On the AZAs website titled Conservation funding it says

AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums fund over 2500 conservation project in more

than 100 countries and spend an average of $160 million on conservation initiatives

annually (web). I believe that having associations like this is a good way to get

people to contribute to a good cause.

However, there are some dangers in working with large animals, I used to

work with large steer and they liked to buck their owners every once in a while if the

owners were not careful so I can only imagine what would happen if they were 10

times as big. I think the coolest animal that SeaWorld takes care of, is an Orca.

They can weigh 10,000 pounds which is way more than a human. Working with

animals can be great and humans have always and will always be interested by
these creatures and working with them. However, like everything else in this world

there are tragedies, and stuff goes wrong.

According to Wikipedia contributors Tilikum was an Orca that was kept at

SeaWorld for 25 years(web). Within his time in captivity, he killed 3 people, and

with each death a huge storm of controversy followed (Wikipedia Tilikum). Since

the deaths of the trainers, SeaWorlds president has received letters from PETA

members asking them to release the orcas (Wikipedia Tilikum). I fully understand

that death is scary and a person dying is also sad, however the only way to get

around death is to stay in your house all the time. Even then, you would still have a

chance of dying and living a life like that is not a life at all because the world is an

amazing place to experience. Working with these Giant animals must be an amazing

experience; otherwise, nobody would agree to take the time to go to school to be

trained for an opportunity to work with them.

The animal rights activists named PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment

of Animals has constantly been trying to get SeaWorld to release its animals and

shut down. In the Salem Press Encyclopedia, Maroufi Chogollah explains that PETA

was founded on the principles of Animals are not on earth for humans to eat, wear,

abuse, or use for entertainment or experimentation. One of PETAs websites titled

about PETAs campaign against SeaWorld fully details their distaste for SeaWorld.

The website explains their stance by saying SeaWorld abuses its animals and has

enslaved them to do shows to gain a profit (About PETAs campaign, web). They also

fully detail that Peta and many others are urging SeaWorld to modernize its

business by ending the use of all animals and retiring the orcas, dolphins, and other

animals to seaside sanctuaries (About PETAs campaign, web). I know that some

people hate seeing animals in small ecosystems and animal keeping is not perfect
yet. However, focusing on one perspective that you do not agree with then trying to

shut down an organization that has played a major part in rescuing and

rehabilitating animals because of one tragedy is not going to help any animals or

any of the people employed to help those animals at SeaWorld.

In conclusion, I do believe that it is okay to keep and raise animals in

habitats that are not natural for those animals. I know that humans have always,

and will always be interested, and attracted to animals. Due to our understanding

about animals we will continue to grow as we interact with them, and we should

focus on expanding our knowledge of them. Tragedy does happen and there is no

way around it, however with better understandings humans can continue to live a

life of wonder while coming up with better ways to minimize tragedy. Yes, death is

sad, but we do not need to destroy things we do not agree with because of it,

because otherwise we would end up destroying the world full of disagreement

because of all the tragedies that happen in it.

I know that people will still believe interacting with animals is terrible and

that SeaWorld is a terrible place regardless of what I say in a paper. Im including a

picture of my baby sister smiling and having a wonderful time while at SeaWorld,

because it is adorable, and any place that can make a baby sister smile like this

cant be half bad. In hopes that everyone can further their understanding of them,

and I guarantee a life working with animals is a million times better then never

getting to understand them.

 Caitlyn McEwen choosing a new
stuffed animal after spending a
day at SeaWorld

Writers note: Cuteness is a cure

all for a hardened heart so I
included the cutest pictures
humanly possible because they
are great.

Proposal:

From birth, everybody starts with no knowledge. While growing up our

parents teach us many things about the world, and we learn through hands on

experiences, touching, smelling, hearing, tasting, and seeing. Without these

experiences, we would know nothing about the world including animals. I was lucky

enough to be born into a family that spent most of their free time outside learning

about animals, nature and everything around us. However, not everybody has the
Me petting a deer at a
petting
chance zoo
to witness the world through hands on experiences and I think that is a

shame because we live on a wonderful planet full of mystery and awesomeness. I

also feel like Junior high, and high school was a gigantic waste of time because it did

not teach as many real world skills as it should or let us experience anything the

world actually has to offer. I do believe that schools should have more interactions

with animals because most of my favorite memories, and growing experiences, all

pertain to an animal.
 I think that as human beings we

should open more places like Zoos,

aquariums, and SeaWorld in many more

places that can give everybody the

opportunity to witness the amazing

animals that the earth has to offer. This

includes real world experiences like fishing, and interacting with animals. Schools

should also spend some time teaching children about animals and how to interact

with them, because we share the planet with them. By setting up some sort of

government funding that helps these types of places open throughout the country I

believe we can make the world a better place because knowledge can save the

world. I also think we should spend a bit more time on differentiating the difference

between keeping, raising, training an animal, and animal abuse. We should also put

this into our school system because there is a huge misconception about these

things and all it does is hurt the organizations that have the ability to help animals,

but have a hard time doing so because the general public gets so set on destroying

them that they have a hard time involving themselves with animals. If everyone

was taught the right way to treat animals, and the greatness of interacting with

them then more people would have an interest in helping them.

We should spend some time updating the current laws that we have

regarding the treatment of animals, because they are not updated very often, and it

is an ever-changing science that should be updated with the greater understanding

we gain from then. I firmly believe that through more education, real world

experience opportunities, and laws that we can make the world a better place and
can have a better understanding about everything around us while interacting and

being in contact with these great things we call animals.

Works Cited:
"About PETA's Campaign Against SeaWorld." SeaWorld of Hurt. N.p., n.d. Web. 04
Apr. 2017. <http://www.seaworldofhurt.com/about/>.

"Conservation Funding." Conservation Funding. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.

<https://www.aza.org/conservation-funding>.

Entertainment, SeaWorld Parks &. "AZA Grants Accreditation to SeaWorld parks in

Orlando and San Diego and Discovery Cove." World Class Theme Parks &
Water Parks. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.

"How SeaWorld Is Responding to the Santa Barbara Oil Spill And What They're Doing
to Help." Science Times. N.p., 26 May 2015. Web. 07 Apr. 2017.

Maroufi, Chogollah. "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)." Salem
Press Encyclopedia, January. EBSCOhost, libprox1.slcc.edu/login?
url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=ers&AN=89474357&site=eds-live.

"On Call 24/7 To Help Animals." On Call 24/7 To Help Animals. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr.
2017. <https://seaworldcares.com/en/rescues/call-247?from=home%2F>.

Packer, Jan and Roy Ballantyne. "The Role of Zoos and Aquariums in Education for a
Sustainable Future." New Directions for Adult & Continuing Education, vol.
2010, no. 127, Fall2010, pp. 25-34. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1002/ace.378.

Wikipedia contributors. "Association of Zoos and Aquariums." Wikipedia, The Free

Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 24 Jan. 2017. Web. 5 Apr.
2017.

Wikipedia contributors. "Tilikum (orca)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 4 Apr. 2017. Web. 9 Apr. 2017.