Orcas play a pivotal role in their environments by controlling other populations, providing resources, and ecotourism. When a predator becomes endangered, there are not enough consumers to control other populations in an ecosystem. Orcas prey on seals, fish, small dolphins, and sometimes other whales. With smaller populations of orcas present, other populations become too large, like fish, and then the ecosystem becomes unbalanced. Population control is one of the major components of a healthy ecosystem, and when it is removed the consequences can be detrimental. SeaWorld has certainly contributed to the overall decline of wild orcas, but hunting plays a part in the decline as well. In the past, when orcas were abundant they were used in items like medicine. Before the show ring, orcas were quite popular in commercial industries, but then using their bodies was deemed “cruel.” Orcas keep taking abuse from humans, whether it be through a net, or show ring. People have come to realize that keeping orcas in captivity is wrong, but the movement has not created enough force to demolish places like SeaWorld once and for all. Some musicians and other famous people have protested…show more content… I floated back to the surface, facing her. I had both hands on her but she went under and rolled again. She came at me once more, grasping me in her jaws, pulling me under a second time before releasing me, allowing me to float upward (p.3). Hargrove was a trainer for several years, and was hired soon after the opening of SeaWorld. The whale he was paired with was named Freya, and she was the one who attempted to attack him. Hargrove was able to safely exit the pool after Freya was distracted by other trainers. SeaWorld denies that captivity makes orcas aggressive, yet there has never been an orca attack in the wild. Unfortunately, SeaWorld ignores the blatant signs, and people have died because of
