It's been nearly two months since Sea World Gold Coast has, despite public enquiries, provided any news about the well-being of a false killer whale 'rescued' by the theme park's Research and Rescue Foundation, after it stranded on a Casuarina Beach in March.
The most recent public announcement about the health of the juvenile (Pseudorca crassidens) was posted to Sea World's social media on 13 May, stating that park staff remained "hopeful for a positive outcome."
What that 'positive outcome' looks like now however, depends on perspective and remains to be seen.
Sources tell us the young cetacean is now out of critical care, however no further comment has been made by the park's management regarding her wellbeing nor, more importantly, her prospects for release.
As expected and detailed in Advocating Wild's previous article, published shortly after the cetacean was taken to Sea World, it would likely be impossible for the park to release her back to the wild now, regardless of her health.
Mr. Wayne Phillips, Sea World's head of marine science stated at the time of her stranding that finding "an appropriate pod for her to join would be tricky," seemingly setting the expectation that this baby would likely never leave the amusement park.
Add to this, she has now spent 3 months in a Sea World tank being handled by keepers. Habituated to humans feeding and caring for her, in addition to the park's silence – release will no doubt be out of the question. The animal will remain at Sea World and be put on public display.
Dr. Ingrid Visser of the Orca Research Trust, a scientist and cetacean expert,
has observed over 730 individual captive cetaceans of 16 species in no less than 46 dolphinariums across 17 countries, including Sea World Gold Coast. She states the following about these situations:
"Such inappropriate use of cetaceans not only promotes poor conservation outcomes, but is consistent with them, as the individuals are effectively prevented from contributing to the wild populations. The industry then falsely portrays these ‘rescues’ as conservation initiatives, whilst also declaring such ‘rescues’ as justification for commercially keeping cetaceans.
These claims are, in effect, nothing more than ‘greenwashing’ by the corporations."
"International conservation treaties, policies and laws need to be elevated to better protect rescued cetaceans from exploitation and to ensure respectful treatment of these sentient beings. All breeding and public displays/interactions should be illegal when used for commercial purposes. Such actions would minimise the inappropriate taking of rescued cetaceans for commercial use and would increase the likelihood that organisations instigate rescues for true compassionate conservation, not for corporate gain."
Sea World would have taken the animal from the wild to its park under a Queensland government authority rubber stamp, however the necessity for her taking would have been determined based on expert opinion by Sea World itself. In addition, her keeping, absorption into the amusement park's 'collection,' and ultimately her display for commercial purposes will also be determined by Sea World's own advice to authorities – in effect Sea World decides her fate.
So why the silence?
Typically Sea World refrains from making announcements that the public might find distasteful, such as breeding failures, animal aggression, untimely dolphin deaths or even an intended overseas polar bear swap for breeding purposes.
Sea World is also well aware that the longer this poor false killer whale is kept in its care (and the public is kept in the dark), the more assured the amusement park will be of retaining her in its pens.
Once she is added to display permits and given time – if you purchase a ticket – you will be able to then learn more about her – solely from a Sea World Gold Coast perspective.
Disclaimer: Advocating Wild receives no funding and do not collect donations. Our blogs are opinion pieces unless otherwise stated and the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of mentioned organisations. All information we provide is accurate and true to the best of our knowledge, however there may be omissions, errors or mistakes. Our blogs are for informational and awareness raising purposes only and we are not professional marine mammal experts. Advocating Wild reserves the right to change the focus or content of our blogs at any time. All images contained in this blog where stated have been used or created with permission.This page may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorised by the copyright owner. Credit is given to the author of quotes, photos and other related materials. We source these materials from various public internet sites, in an effort to advance understanding of animal rights issues. We believe the use of materials on this site constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material and is distributed on this site without profit. If you wish to use any copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain expressed permission from the copyright owner. If you are the owner of any copyrighted material and believe the use of any such material does not constitute “fair use”, please contact us, so we can make proper corrections, and ultimately, take it off the post if requested and or if proven necessary.The owner of this page, its administrators, or representatives will not be held personally responsible, nor liable for any damages, actual or consequential, for any posts by third parties which may violate any law. All quotes obtained directly or through our sources and provided for our use.