“Anderson v SeaWorld”: Key Quotes from Expert Witnesses #4

Dec 09, 2019 | Mark J. Palmer

Topics: Captivity Industry, Cetacean Habitat, Dolphin and Whale Trade, Dolphins, Orcas, Rehabilitation, Release, 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!

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 #4 BY SEAWORLD: Orcas live as long at SeaWorld as wild orcas do.

The TRUTH: Orcas in captivity have shorter life spans than orcas in the wild, and, even by SeaWorld’s analyses, orcas in captivity are only doing as well as endangered orcas in the wild.

“In summary, it is my opinion that SeaWorld’s statements – going back at least to 2013 – regarding captive orca lifespans are false, or, at the very least, misleading. The scientific literature and available data show that orcas in captivity have a higher mortality rates that orcas in the wild. Moreover, the statistical analyses conducted by SeaWorld employees as part of a paper published in 2015 do not support the broad statements SeaWorld has made regarding how long its captive orcas live, nor are they consistent with known (emphasis in original) data regarding orca lifespans.” [...] “Orcas that have lived and died at SeaWorld – including both orcas born in captivity and orcas captured in the wild and housed at SeaWorld, but excluding all orcas that were born at SeaWorld and did not live past 6 months – had an average lifespan of 15.9 years… Wild orcas, on the other hand, are estimated to live as long as (that is, their maximum possible lifespan is estimated to be) 90 years of age… The average life expectancies for wild orcas that have survived the first six months of life have been determined to be 46 years for females and 31 years for males.” [...] “Therefore, captive orcas are only doing as well as orca populations currently at risk of local extinction from a wide range of threats, such as pollution and starvation – which is hardly something to boast about.” -- Dr. E.C.M. Parsons, Research Affiliate, University of Glasgow

“Lifespans of orca in captivity do not match healthy populations in the wild. A smaller percentage of captive orca achieve important milestones (such as sexual maturity and/or menopause), compared to those orca who are free-ranging.” -- Dr. Ingrid Visser, Director, Orca Research Trust, New Zealand

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