Why is Nakai, one of the orcas at SeaWorld San Diego, swimming around the tank with half his chin missing?
On September 20th, the killer whale was found with a huge wound in his lower jaw. A whole chunk of chin had been sheared off and was found lying at the bottom of the pool. There are two possibilities: one is that it happened when Nakai was bitten after getting into a stress fight with two other orcas during a private show for a corporate group. The other is that he smashed into the side of the pool – or something on the side – and the object sheared off this enormous piece of flesh. Later Seaworld released a statement "The injury to Nakai, an 11-year-old whale, is believed to have occurred when he came into contact with a portion of the pool on Sept. 20, said Sea World spokesman Dave Koontz." Whatever the exact cause of Nakai's injury, one thing is for sure: things like this don't happen to orcas in the wild. Their whole social structure and culture is geared to avoiding fights that result in serious injury. Incidents like this one, where orcas or their human captors get hurt, only happen in the confines of a marine zoo or circus. |
Dental problems at SeaworldThe damage is much more than cosmetic. When the orcas, bored by captivity, begin to chew on the hard parts of their tank, they fracture their teeth. The fractures expose the dental pulp, the living tissue within their teeth. Not only is this painful, but the fractures act as a "direct portal" for bacteria to enter the bloodstream — and can lead to heart problems, pneumonia, sepsis and death.
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Collapsed Dorsal finThe exact reason for the orcas dorsal fin being collapsed is not yet known but knowing that less than 1% of wild orcas have a collapsed dorsal fin shows that it is due to being kept in captivity.
One theory is that a wild orca will travel far, deep and quickly. The water provides pressure to the fin, keeping the tissues inside healthy and straight. Captive orcas do not have this freedom. |
RakingRaking is an action which is performed on orcas by other orcas. It is said by some that it is a form of dominance, others say it is punishment. When one orca does not perform adequately they are all food deprived, the raking is by other orcas for further punishment to the orca which did not perform properly. This would not happen in the wild as the orca could simply swim away.
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