November 10, 2011

To the editor:

Re: “One small step for orca, one giant leap for whale-kind”

When someone is taken from their home by force, locked up and made to work and has no chance of escape, that’s called slavery. It’s the exact reality for orcas who have been removed from the ocean and denied their family and companions, dumped into a tank at SeaWorld, and spend the rest of their lives performing tricks that demean and disrespect them.

The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits the condition of slavery without reference to “person” or any particular class of victims. Neuroscientists have documented that orcas have intelligence on par with humans. We know that these marine mammals have sophisticated social structures and communicative abilities and work together to solve problems. We also know that being jammed into an oversized fish bowl causes orcas to lose their minds. They destroy their teeth chewing on steel divider bars, they alternate between aggression and depression, attack each other, and sometimes they decide “not one more minute” and lash out against their captors … with tragic results.

Not too long from now, society will look back at detention centers like SeaWorld with revulsion and shame. But for far too many animals, it will be too late.

If you care about marine life, never buy a ticket to a facility that profits from their servitude.

Yours truly,

Jennifer O’Connor

Staff Writer

PETA Foundation

501 Front St.

Norfolk, VA 23510

757-622-7382, ext. 8003