The Orca's intellect, playful nature and athletic ability have made it responsive to humans and easy to train. Yet, as knowledge about the Orca's unique intelligence and social structure becomes more pervasive, there is increasing resistance to capturing live animals for display in theme parks.
Apart from the animals that are traumatized or killed as a result of capture operations, the life span of captive orcas is less than a quarter of those in the wild. In fact, 95% of all orcas captured since 1964 are now dead. Many whales die of infections, or refuse to eat. There are also incidences where animals thrash themselves against their concrete pens or each other in violent behavior that is never seen in the wild and often leads to their own deaths. And most whales, effusive in the wild, will become silent when surrounded by a concrete wall.
The physical limitations of putting an animal that can swim 100 miles in one day into a concrete pen for the rest of its life is inherently cruel. One whale, Lolita, is in a tank that is just twice as long as she is and twenty feet deep. Moreover, separating individuals who would normally spend their whole lives no more than a body's length apart is heartless. The Free Willy films and the rehabilitation of Keiko provide hope that someday soon all captive orcas will be reunited with their families. 126 Orcas have died so far in captivity (as of this publication). Only 46 are still living.
