“Anderson v SeaWorld”: Key Quotes from Expert Witnesses #3

Dec 02, 2019 | By Mark J. Palmer

Topics: Captivity Industry, Dolphin and Whale Trade, Dolphins, Orcas, Science, SeaWorld, Whales

Orcas Do Not Belong in Captivity: The 7 Truths SeaWorld Does Not Want You to Know!

The International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) of Earth Island Institute helped develop and is consulting on a lawsuit against SeaWorld (Anderson v SeaWorld), contending that the mega corporation has been deliberately lying to the public about the health and welfare of their orcas in captivity.

SeaWorld is being called-out on these lies, as never before, because of the groundbreaking legal battle we’ve been waging on behalf of captive orcas for more than five years! The case will be coming to trial at last this coming spring.

Usually SeaWorld bullies their way through litigation. They’re a multi-billion dollar company and pay multiple aggressive hired-gun attorney teams to do their bidding.

But this time, all five of SeaWorld’s attempts to have the case, Anderson v SeaWorld, dismissed have been denied. Their efforts to further delay and drag out the case and keep scientific expert witness reports sealed by the court and kept secret, are crumbling.

As part of this lawsuit, four world-renowned marine mammal scientists have prepared Expert Witness Reports for Anderson v SeaWorld. These reports, in redacted form, have recently been made public through the legal efforts of our lawyers. By pulling back the curtain on SeaWorld, we’ve uncovered startling new evidence of just how false their key claims are. SeaWorld is terrified about this material becoming public and will still try every legal trick they can to twist their way out of this mess.

But the simple truth is shining through: SeaWorld’s entire business model is predicated on the abuse of whales and dolphins. The case is scheduled for trial early in the new year. Over the next few weeks, we will bring you some of the facts that SeaWorld wants to keep hidden from the public:

FALSE CLAIM #3 BY SEAWORLD: SeaWorld recreates the wild by placing captive orcas together in tanks.

THE TRUTH: SeaWorld’s orcas are in artificial groups, nothing like the wild.

“By simply placing killer whales into artificial groups isolated in artificial settings and trained by human trainers, these animals are forced into groupings rather than voluntarily integrating as they would in the wild. Thus, SeaWorld’s artificial groupings do not resemble pods or social structures as they are known in the wild, and the primary bond that an animal in captivity may have is with its own mother, rather than the other whales it is artificially placed with.” – Dr. David Duffus, Associate Professor, University of Victoria

READ THE FULL EXPERT WITNESS REPORTS (REDACTED VERSIONS):

Dr. David Duffus, Associate Professor, University of Victoria

Dr. E.C.M. Parsons, Research Affiliate, University of Glasgow

Dr. Ingrid Visser, Director, Orca Research Trust, New Zealand

Dr. Pedro Javier Gallego, DVM, University of Liége, Belgium