orca-friend:mryarra: anthropologicalmushroom: merciresolution: anthropologicalmushroom:merciresoluti
orca-friend:mryarra: anthropologicalmushroom: merciresolution: anthropologicalmushroom:merciresolution: anthropologicalmushroom: merciresolution: anyways skyla did not die due to a broken heart because she was in captivity, stop that Blackfish was accurate in some places and unaccurate in others. But the main point stays the same: whether they were born in captivity, rescued from a show, or taken from the wild they need to be cared for properly, with enrichment, sociality, and specialized healthcare.Remember how orcas have that long dorsal fin? That fin weakens and bends in captivity, as seen at SeaWorld and in Free Willy. Orcas with that bent dorsal fin will die if released into the wild. That fin helps them swim, turn, and guide themselves. When it is bent they cannot complete basic tasks such as hunting or evading predation/humans. Remember that tiktok about the high school girl who bought a goldfish from the store and released it into the ocean? Regardless of good intentions, get informed first. Don’t cause more harm. Your first paragraph was correct. But about dorsal collapse… Not quite.Port and Starboard are two wild orcas with collapsed fins, but they’re hunting and surviving just fine. What caused their collapse is unknown, but it’s not a death sentence. They can be a sign of poor health, as K21 Cappuccino was seen with a collapsed fin shortly before his death, but they can’t be reliably used as health indicators. Roughly 1% of males have collapsed dorsal fins, and no females recorded in the wild have collapsed dorsal fins. It impacts the way they swim and turn, which can impact their safety. While outliers exist, marine biologists have been saying for years to not release those with collapsed dorsal fins back into the wild because it hinders their survivability, their chance at mating, and even the odds of being selected by a pod. I’d love to see some sources on that, if you don’t mind. I’ve heard experts say orcas should not be released due to health problems, like broken and drilled teeth. Never have I heard dorsal collapse to be the primary issue. That would imply animals like Corky (who does not have any bend in her tall fin) are viable candidates for release, when in reality her health problems would likely kill her. Though SeaWorld claims “Neither the shape nor the droop of a whale’s dorsal fin are indicators of a killer whale’s health or well-being,” collapsed dorsal fins are extremely rare in the wild. When they do occur, they are the result of serious injury or environmental contamination. Two male orcas were found with collapsed dorsal fins after they were exposed to the Exxon Valdez oil spill, for example. They both died shortly after.SeaWorld Fact Check - Dorsal Fin CollapseIn short, as stated earlier, collapsed dorsal fins are not the sign of a healthy orca. You’re not incorrect there, but the direct cause of dorsal collapse is thought to be an effect of gravity from the whale logging at the surface a lot. Captive orcas do this because they have little else to do, wild ones do it when they’re sick or injured. The collapse isn’t the cause of the orca’s ill health, it’s just another symptom.More importantly, collapsed dorsals can’t un-collapse. If an orca is sick and its fin collapses, then it recovers, the fin’s going to stay collapsed. and you haven’t shown any research that the collapsed fin by itself is super detrimental. I’ve watched this video before and can say with certainty that guy is NOT a killer whale expert and his word should not be taken as credible evidence. That video was meant to discuss animal behavior in movies and the man speaking studies wildlife behavior not health and physiology, even less so the health and physiology of marine mammals.Find better sources from people who are actual experts in the marine mammal/cetacean area of the field and not random biologists who are talking about animal behavior in movies. -- source link