3 reasons no one should love Marineland

Thanks to the popular documentary Blackfish (if you haven’t already watched it, check it out!), awareness surrounding the horrors of sea mammal captivity has grown immensely. While SeaWorld is the main attraction featured in the film and receives the most attention for their inexcusable behaviour; we as Canadians have a responsibility to also hold Marineland accountable for their similar actions…occurring right in our own backyard.

Here are three reasons Marineland should not be the home to some of the world’s most beautiful animals:

1) Tanks or bathtubs?

Marineland confines orcas, who can swim up to 160 kilometers a day in the wild, to holding tanks that, to them, are the size of a bathtub. They would need to swim close to 1,500 laps around the tank or close to 5,300 lengths of the tank to equal what they’d swim in the wild. Even then, they are still constrained to a tank only 100 feet in length and 20 feet in depth. Thanks, but no tanks (ha ha ha comment if you laughed).

2) Poor water quality

Have you ever walked into Marineland and smelt an overwhelming stench of chlorine (yes, even I use to visit the theme park before I was lead into the light)? 

As explained in a Canadian documentary, by former employees of Marineland, the sea mammals live in extremely poor quality water with a “chlorine concentration that is way too high”. Many cetaceans have suffered from their skin falling off in chunks, skin discolouration, and loss of eye-sight. Many seals, sea lions, walruses, and dolphins continue to have health issues associated with the water quality.

3) Gone too soon

Orcas in the wild have an average life expectancy of about 30 to 50 years—their estimated maximum lifespan is 60 to 70 years for males and 80 to over 100 for females. The average age of death for orcas who have died at Marineland is 14 years old.

After reading these facts, let me know in the comments if any of you feel your perception of Marineland has changed or if your opinions remain the same.

If you have been moved by the content in this post, I highly encourage you to continue to conduct your own research on the topic. To get you started here is a great article that was published in the Toronto Star.

Moved by the content above? Got two minutes? Sign this petition the help save the animals in Marineland!