My first trip to SeaWorld with a DSLR

My family and I went to SeaWorld San Diego in August. My husband, our 2 small kids, and my teenage sister and we had a blast! Managing two kids at an amusement park is possible. I even managed to take some pictures. We missed the dolphin show, Blue Horizons and that was a bit of a disappointment but the kids got fussy so it was time to head home. We all got to see our favorite animals though and for me that is the orcas!

Here are some of my favorites:

Nicely done! Orcas are cool.

Nice shots, but I truly feel terrible for those poor Killer Whales...go to Netflix and watch "Blackfish"

Thank you both!

JM Photos wrote in post #17314986
Nice shots, but I truly feel terrible for those poor Killer Whales...go to Netflix and watch "Blackfish"

I have seen Blackfish and have goneI've been following SeaWorld and their killer whales for about 10 years now, reading everything I can get my hands on on both sides of the coin. My initial reaction upon seeing Blackfish was just how emotionally manipulative it was and how little cold, hard fact there was in it even though it presented its claims as fact. I didn't go into the movie with no prior knowledge on SeaWorld and its orcas. I watched it objectively, open to letting it change my mind if it could present its argument well enough and back it up with cold, hard fact. I can't be won over by a purely emotional argument. I have no qualms whatsoever with making money off of animals provided some of that money goes into their habitats and care and that's exactly what happens at SeaWorld. This animal lover wouldn't be supporting SeaWorld if that wasn't the case.

SkyBaby wrote in post #17315175
Thank you both!

I have seen Blackfish and have goneI've been following SeaWorld and their killer whales for about 10 years now, reading everything I can get my hands on on both sides of the coin. My initial reaction upon seeing Blackfish was just how emotionally manipulative it was and how little cold, hard fact there was in it even though it presented its claims as fact. I didn't go into the movie with no prior knowledge on SeaWorld and its orcas. I watched it objectively, open to letting it change my mind if it could present its argument well enough and back it up with cold, hard fact. I can't be won over by a purely emotional argument. I have no qualms whatsoever with making money off of animals provided some of that money goes into their habitats and care and that's exactly what happens at SeaWorld. This animal lover wouldn't be supporting SeaWorld if that wasn't the case.

Respectable response. I just couldn't get past the one guy in the beginning of the film that said he went along on some of the captures and ended up seeing the babies taken away from their mothers and that some of the babies would die in the effort. I also don't respect that those whales were taken out of my backyard (Puget Sound in Seattle). Ive seen the whales migrate through Puget Sound before and could only feel bad when I watched the film.

Thank you. I agree captures were sad. There were some terrible things done to the orcas in those days. There were some terrible things done to the orcas for decades before that. Before killer whales became a mainstay in the aquarium industry, they were seen as vermin and were shot on sight by fishermen, and were documented as being used as target practice by naval ships during training drills, both of these things sometimes eradicating entire pods. People were terrified of orcas back then. They were as scared of orcas as people are of sharks today, if not more so. Both of those things happened up into the 1960s. SeaWorld has not captured any orcas (or dolphins to the best of my knowledge) since the late 1970s, before capture and importation were made illegal in the early 1980s. Those particular animals are now approaching 40 years old, one in her 50s.

Blackfish never mentioned how critically endangered the Southern Resident population is due to pollution, there not being enough food (salmon) to go around, and boat noise disturbing the animals. Other populations elsewhere in the seas are healthier and more plentiful, but Blackfish didn't mention that, either oddly enough. People like to get all dreamy about the idea of orca freedom, when wild life for these animals is just not all fun and games even in healthier populations. We don't even know if orcas are capable of understanding the human construct of freedom. Wild and captivity are just different and one isn't somehow better than the other. Not all aquariums are created equal, but SeaWorld is the best in the world and the aquarium that other aquariums in other parts of the world reach out to for training and veterinary consultations. Cetaceans are highly adaptive animals, and the ones at SeaWorld are thriving and receiving the best veterinary care and restaurant quality fish. Those born into the facility don't have any memory or even have any idea what the ocean is like. I believe those that are wild need to stay wild and those in captivity need to stay in captivity.

Sorry for the essay, I'm quite passionate on the topic.

Kind of sad one can't post pictures like this without it turning into a debate.

There's a time and place for debates in my opinion.

It's like going to a church fund raiser and slamming religion at the volunteers. Or it's like going to a soldier's coming home party and yelling at them that they're murderers.

Why bring it up when if you really feel strong on the topic, you could be yelling at those in charge of it all.

I could see JM Photos doing any of those things now. This place is called photo sharing, not a cspan style forum