ORLANDO, Fla. — SeaWorld’s recent decision to end its orca breeding program delighted animal rights activists. But it disappointed marine scientists, who say they will gradually lose vital opportunities to learn things that could help killer whales in the wild.
SeaWorld’s 29 captive orcas in Orlando, San Diego and San Antonio could remain on display for decades to come and will be available in the meantime for study by outside scientists, as they generally have been for many years.
But as SeaWorld’s orca population — the whales are 1 to 51 years old — dwindles, researchers will lose chances to collect data and make other observations, such as drawing blood, measuring heart rates and lung capacity, and documenting diet and growth. As the animals age, scientists say, research will be limited to geriatric orcas.
No other marine park or aquarium in the world has SeaWorld’s experience in maintaining or breeding orcas in captivity.
